Rusty's Birthday

As rusty rolled over he realized it was morning, he looked up at the clock to see it was 9am, on a Saturday, usually Rusty would still be sound asleep… he started to wonder what woke him up when he put his head back to the pillow attempting to catch a few more hours he realized he smelled pancakes….possibly some eggs, and then it hit him like a sudden wave…Today was his Birthday.

Rusty slid out of bed in his Pj pants and t-shirt, hair a complete mess as he walked down the hall following the smell…he walked past the couch and into the table set for two…Sharon behind the stove working on breakfast, already dressed in her blue jeans and red casual t-shirt, her hair around her shoulders, her glasses framing her face as she looked over smiling at him.

"Good Morning, how did you sleep?" she smiled as she brought a plate of already made pancakes over to the table for him.

" Good, what's all this for? " he looked at her in a bit of confusion, Sharon rarely made breakfast, at least nothing Rusty would get more than ten feet from. Usually it was some cereal she ate that looked like pine cones in a cup, or this awful smelling drink she called delightful … that looked more like green mush, never something that looked edible… usually anything that tasted like food was Rusty's department. He often wondered how her own children survived all the years living with her horrible cooking skills.

Sharon smiled and walked over to the counter picking up a blue card and a gift which looked like a book from his view, and walking back over to him sitting down smiling, " Happy Birthday Rusty" she grinned with excitement as she waited for rusty to open the card and the gift. Rusty knew his manners and opened the card first a little excited, it's been awhile since anyone thought to get rusty something for his birthday, even a card…his own mother's memory hadn't been so great the past few years and Rusty didn't complain when she occasionally forgot until a few months later. Rusty opened the card to read "Happy Birthday, you've meant a lot to me over the past few months: Messier spaces, bigger grocery bills, a few broken glasses, your bed never made. You've also meant…more love, more hugs and a whole lot of adventure, Happy Birthday Rusty, thank you for being a part of my family"

Rusty's laughed a bit about Sharon's sense of humor, she always mentioned how messy he kept things every chance she could…reading the last few words created some tears in his eye, as well as hers " a part of my family" Rusty couldn't believe that not long ago he was on the streets working to have food, and now he had this amazing new life, a new beginning, a place to belong. He looked up at Sharon to say something seeing a tear drop from her face and she quickly wiped it away not giving him a chance. "Okay open your gift already!" she smiled sitting back in her chair watching him open the paper in excitement.

Rusty opened the gift to find it wasn't book after all, but a movie he's been talking about the past few weeks. Sharon smiled seeing she had gotten what he wanted. "Are you surprised? " she smiled looking at him over the table seeing his smile only nodding his head in approval until he looked up, " thanks Sharon" he smiled and moved over giving her a brief hug and sitting back down.

" Your welcome Rusty" she smiled getting up to grab her some more orange juice moving around to the fridge as rusty began to dish himself the pancakes, " So where do you want to go to dinner tonight, anything sound good? "

Rusty looked over at Sharon shrugging his shoulders a bit "I don't know, what do your kids like to eat? I don't want them to go somewhere they don't like."

Sharon smiled at Rusty sitting back down at the table" They will eat anything, and it's YOUR birthday, which means you get to choose, they are just excited to finally meet you"

Excited? Rusty wasn't sure he honestly believed Sharon, I mean…Rusty wouldn't be excited if his mom brought home a new kid home. I mean she usually brought home a new boyfriend and he was never very excited about those either.

Sharon could see the wheels turning in Rusty's head and stopped him before he had a chance to really think everything through.

"Rusty, my kids are excited to meet you, my son has been talking about that same movie for the past few weeks, I'm sure he'd be more than thrilled to watch it with you and my daughter will be excited to have someone new to play chess with, she was the captain of her team her senior year at St. Josephs." Sharon scooped a few pancakes onto her plate as well as grabbing some fruit from the bowl looking over in Rusty's direction, "eat, we have a day full of fun, and it's going to require your energy."

Rusty nodded finally digging into his pancakes observing Sharon as she cut hers up into smaller pieces, being graceful as usual, unlike Rusty who was a teenage boy and could devour anything in sight. "Hey Sharon…"

"Hmm" Sharon looked up from her plate over at Rusty's direction seeing the worried look in his eyes " What is it Rusty?"

Rusty looked at Sharon with the same sad eyes he had after finding out his mother wasn't coming back, "what if they don't like me…" and there it was, the same feeling of rejection rusty had felt months ago and never wanted to experience again, he wasn't sure his heart could take it.

Sharon looked over at Rusty and reaching out to take his hand smiling as he didn't resist the contact, "Rusty, you are a part of our family now, and they will love you just as much as I do, I promise." And with that she gave Rusty's hand a gentle squeeze and sent a smile in his direction that calmed every nerve.

" I love you too Sharon."

The End