I pulled into my parents’ driveway around six in the evening, carefully balancing the wrapped portrait in my arms. The thing was huge and awkward to carry, but I didn’t care. I had spent almost six months working on it, and I knew Mom would love it.
My name is Kelly, and I’m thirty years old. I work as an accountant at a midsized firm downtown. Nothing fancy, but it pays well enough.
I’ve always lived a pretty normal life, growing up here in this house with my parents and my younger sister, Judith. She is twenty-four now, six years younger than me. We were close as kids, but things changed as we got older.
Mom was turning fifty-five, and Dad had organized this whole party for her. The house was already buzzing with people when I walked in. I headed straight to the hallway where they had set up a gift table.
There were already a bunch of presents there, all wrapped in shiny paper with bows. I carefully placed my gift among them. The frame was heavy, a real baguette frame that cost me almost three hundred dollars alone.
But it was worth it. I had taken art classes for over a year. Drawing had always been my thing, ever since I was a kid.
But recently, I’d decided to get serious about it. The portrait I painted for Mom was my biggest project yet. I used her wedding photo as the reference, wanting to capture that moment for her.
I worked on every detail: the way her hair fell over her shoulders, the smile on her face, the light in her eyes. When I finally finished, I knew it was good. I walked into the living room and immediately got swept up in the party.
Mom was in the center of it all, wearing a blue dress and looking happy. She hugged me tight. Dad came over too, a quiet man who lets Mom do most of the talking.
Judith showed up about ten minutes after me. She made a big entrance, loud and dramatic as always, in a tight red dress and heels that were way too high for a family party. Her fiancé, Mark, was with her, looking uncomfortable in an expensive suit.
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