“This is nice,” her mom said.
“Mom,” Nat said in a warning tone.
A waiter approached and asked for their drink orders. All three of them ordered tea. It was that kind of weather day. Plus, Maisie needed the warmth with the extra chill coming from her mother’s direction.
Once they’d ordered drinks, her mom focused on Maisie. “Your father wanted to join me for this but he was called in to assist on a surgery.”
Maisie bit down her retort. She realized that while her dad didn’t get on her nerves nearly as much as her mom, the reason could be, quite simply, because he wasn’t around enough to do so.
Maisie said nothing, so her mother continued. “Your siblings and father feel I’ve been too hard on you.”
There were so many things wrong with that sentence that Maisie didn’t know where to start. She didn’t expect words to come tumbling out of her mouth.
“You came all the way from Boston to tell me that the people in our family who support what I do forced you to take a look at how you treat me? Not that you shouldn’t be so hard on me or that you love me and are proud of me? No, you came all that way to tell me thattheythink you’re too hard on me. Well, I’m with them but I’ve realized Idon’t really care. You don’t have to love what I do, Mom. Because I love it and that’s all that matters. And while you’re here, I might as well pile on some news. You’ll have to share it with Dad, of course, because he’s always got somewhere more important to be.” She looked at Natalie to make sure she was following along. She’d address her sister blindsiding her later. Maisie looked back at her mom. “Nick is moving to Seattle. We’re moving in together. I’m in love with him. Like, hopelessly, ridiculously in love with him. And Christmas wasn’t the first time we met. I had a one-night stand with him at my friend Hailey’s wedding last summer. I’m done making excuses for the life I live, because it’s a damn good one. I have a job I cherish, a man I love who actually loves me back, amazing friends, and a family who, in most cases, has my back, even if recent events suggest otherwise.”
Her mother’s gaze seemed to widen in small fractions as Maisie spoke.
Nat gave a small gasp. “You’re in love with him? I thought you were just—?”
Maisie quieted her sister with a glance but replied, “Yes. In love.”
The waiter warily brought their tea. Once he’d left, Maisie started to speak again, feeling like she was on a roll.
Her mother lifted her hand. “Maisie, please. Let me process.” She stared at her youngest daughter. “First, I don’t know why you said ‘actually.’ Of course he loves you back. You’re beautiful and smart. You’re funny, creative, and full of happy energy. He’s lucky to have you lovehimso there’s no ‘actually’ about it.”
Maisie’s jaw dropped. Her mother took her time adding cream and sugar to her tea, staring back and forth between Natalie and Maisie as she stirred it.
“I’m sorry, Maisie,” her mother finally said, and Maisie was glad she didn’t have a mouth full of tea because she definitely would have spat it out.
“Thank you?” Maisie looked at Nat, who looked just as surprised.
Her mom looked at Nat. “There’s no guide for parenting, you know.” She turned to Maisie. “I want all of you to have everything. Your father and I both believe in always pushing yourselves harder, going that extra bit. Striving for more, not becoming complacent, is important. You know how I grew up, and while I wanted to instill that passion for learning, the love of it, really, I shouldn’t have put so much emphasis on it. There are certainly other ways to succeed, which I’m trying to open my eyes to more. I don’t like the way things are between us and I realize that it’s largely my fault. But I never meant for that to make you feel like less. I’m sorry for that. What I should have focused on was your happiness. But, I’m not perfect and I haven’t been fair to you.”
Tears burned. “Thanks, Mom,” Maisie whispered.
“With you being the youngest, I worried that we’d overlooked you. That you’d feel like we put all of our energy into your siblings and so I probably pushed harder than I should have. Learning didn’t come as easily to you and you were always so artsy and, if I’m being honest, a little bit in your head. I thought I needed to help you focus, push you more, so you wouldn’t sell yourself short and lose out on opportunities you deserve.”
Maisie took a deep breath. “I don’t plan on being tested because at this point, I find ways to accommodate my challenges, but there’s a very real possibility that I have a learning disability. I know my teachers mentioned it to you several times throughout my school years.”
Her mom’s face grew pale. “But I dismissed it. Because I believed hard work could overcome any struggle.”
Swiping at a few stray tears, Maisie admitted something she never had. “I did try really hard. And maybe if it hadn’t been so incredibly hard, I would have found more joy in school and I might have gone a different way. But I truly can’t imagine doing anything else. It fulfills me the same way teaching does for you or working with animals does for Nat.”
Her mom dabbed the napkin against her under eye, her gaze watery. “I didn’t want you to settle for good enough but the truth is, if it makes you happy, then itisgood enough and I shouldn’t have made you feel differently.”
Unsure what to do with this swift and sudden turn of events, Maisie looked at her sister.
“Would you have continued to push Maisie if she’d gone into a different field? Do you understand how incredible her work is? They’re not just photographs, Mom. They’re art. She sees things in a way none of us could and then she finds a way to share it with the people around her. It’s a gift.”
Her mom nodded. “I know it is. I just wasn’t sure it could give you the future and security you deserve and need. The world isn’t an easy place to navigate and as wrong as it might be to say, money makes it easier. I don’t want my children struggling to make ends meet or wondering where their next paycheck is coming from.”
Maisie reached out and covered her mom’s hand with her own. “Mom. I’m booked almost a year out. I was recently asked to do a gallery showing and the owner of the gallery told me today that she’s presold two of my photos. I’m working at the university starting Monday and I was recently contacted by the mayor’s assistant to talk about the possibility of taking part in a museum retrospective on different Seattle neighborhoods that will highlight, through photography, their history.”
“Holy shit,” Nat said.
“Language,” her mother said.
“Oh my God, Mom. It’s okay if I swear. It’s okay if Maisie isn’t a doctor or Dad’s tie doesn’t match your dress. Stop worrying about the small things and start focusing on the fact that you have two daughters who are incredibly in love with their partners, as well as a son who can say the same,” Natalie said, then paused and pointed at Maisie. “We’ll be coming back to that, Ms. Withheld-important-details.” She reached out and covered her mom’s other hand. “There’sno surefire recipe for happiness, Mom. I love what I do but it isn’t my whole world. Kyle and this baby are. Maisie could have ten degrees and still be miserable. Money and prestige don’t equal perfection. There are definitely unhappy millionaires out there. I know when I have this baby, I’m going to want them to have the world, but honestly? All I really want is for them to grow up strong, happy, and healthy.”
