Comin' Home to You (45 page)

Mother and son waved bye after Ben brought Austin’s bags full of clothes and toys into the house. Once he left and the two of them were alone, Ali wasted no time in giving him another hug. The two talked for hours. She asked many questions. How was the start of school going? Meet any pretty girls? Are you behaving yourself? Austin answered every question truthfully, even admitting he got into trouble last week for talking too much.

Time passed quickly. Before they knew it, the sun was already going down. Austin had the bright idea of playing catch. Ali agreed. There was still just enough light left to see the ball. Finding the gloves, he stopped for a moment, holding Owen’s glove in his left hand. Ali could tell sadness still lingered within the boy. Owen had been the one playing catch with him for all these years. This must have been tough for him. There were bunches of fatherly roles that she had to fill. One of thm was playing the simple act of catch. God, she was pissed remembering all the times she declined his requests in the past. But those days were over, and a new mother had emerged. This boy could now only depend on her and her alone. She was ready for the challenge. Her father helped her see the light.

After fun-filled minutes of throwing the baseball around, though her rustiness of catching and throwing probably dampened some of the fun, Austin stated that it was getting a little difficult to see. She agreed. The last fastball he threw almost hit her in the face. Walking toward the house and her son, she noticed Austin was transfixed, his gaze locked into the setting sun.

“The sunset sure is beautiful, isn’t it?” Ali pointed out, rubbing his slightly sweaty neck with her thumb and middle finger.

“Me and Grandpa watched the sun set a lot.”

She suddenly remembered her father’s final words to her. “Yeah? I can see why.”

Austin turned his head to his mother. “Grandpa always said that no matter what happens in life and no matter how many times the sun sets, it will always rise again. He told me that whenever I was down.”

She didn’t dare pry what he was down about in the past. Ali was sure it related to her. “Your Grandpa was smart.”

Feeling the mood take a downward spiral, Ali showed Austin the baseball in her right hand. Then, inexplicably, she threw the ball high into the sky above them. Austin’s eyes grew wide. For a moment, he tried to locate the ball in the sky. But with the dusk heavens already making it almost impossible to see, he thought it safer to turn tail and flee from the area. Ali had done the same, her plan of replacing the depressing ambience with inexplicable and dangerous excitement was a success. Running away and turning around, the two watched as the ball plopped onto the hard August ground just a few feet where Ali was standing.

“What was that for, Mom!?” Austin inquired with laughter.

Ali just shrugged her shoulders and smiled so widely that it made her cheeks hurt. Austin ran to the ball and picked it up with his glove. He jogged back toward his mother, where she rubbed his head and parted his bangs away from his eyes. She could see her father in a lot of his features, something she was thankful about. Owen had made his mark on both of them, and that would be a fact neither could deny for the entirety of their lives. Ali bent down and kissed his forehead, meanwhile realizing that things were on the right track. Before retiring into the home, the mother and her son took one long look into the orange setting sun. Feeling such warmth and contentment, she felt like her father was right by her side, taking in the sunset with them.

That was all she ever wanted to feel.

Copyright © 2016 by Dustin McWilliams

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Cover photo copyright © 2016 by Samir Dave. Other pictures can be viewed at samirdave.com