The Saddest Song

Chapter 19

Rainey

Garrett and Max had been born three minutes apart, with Garrett being the eldest. Their birthday was on Friday and I didn’t know how I felt about that, or more importantly how Max felt. At school he had been in such a good mood that I didn’t want to bring it up. But as sad as I felt about Garrett not turning eighteen, I wanted to be able to celebrate with Max. I wanted him to have presents and a cake and all the usual birthday traditions. But would he relapse if I gave him those things? We had both come so far in our grieving process, I didn’t want to send him backwards. As well as I knew him, this was something I didn’t know how to address. Turns out, my mom came up with the solution. Probably while trying to keep me from relapsing into constant tears. On Monday after coming home from doing my homework at Max’s, she was waiting for me.

“Hi babe. How was school?”

“Good.”

“Want to give me a hand with dinner?”

“Sure.” She handed me a bowl, a grater and a large block of mozzarella cheese. I washed my hands and then began to shred cheese while she put lasagna noodles into a pot of boiling water.

“I was at Shelley’s today.” Shelley was Mrs. McKinley’s first name. “We were talking about how hard the boys’ birthday would be for everyone.”

I nodded while I continued with the cheese.

“She’s kind of torn about how to handle it. She is heartbroken about Garrett, but worried about Max having his day ruined.”

“I know Mom, me too. He says he wants to skip it completely, but how will we be able to do that?”

“Well, I had planned to decorate the Christmas tree this weekend and I thought we could do it on Friday night and turn it into a party. We could have the McKinley’s over and you could invite your friends too. We could say it’s a holiday party but also have a cake ready for Max.”

I could tell mom was really trying to help and I loved her for it. “That would be nice, mom. It wouldn’t put any pressure on Max and it would be a good distraction for all of us.”

“Shelley seemed to like the idea. We’ll have fun. I’ll have lots of food and you can order Max’s favorite cake at the bakery.”

“Okay,” I said, finishing up with the grating. “Let’s do it. Maybe Grandma will make some of her sugar cookies.”

“You know she will. It will be a fun night. Plus, it will be great to get the house ready for Christmas.”

Now I just needed a gift for Max. I solved that dilemma a couple hours later when I called Rylee and Colin to invite them. Colin was in the process of ordering concert tickets to see a band all of the guys loved. “Colin was just telling me to text Max to see if he wanted to go,” Rylee said.

“No! Buy two tickets for us and I will pay Colin back. They will be the perfect gift for his birthday! Thanks Ry!”

The gift was perfect. Things were falling into place. I called Sophie and Ethan and they said they would be there. Caitlynn said she would bring Hudson. I texted Max later that night and casually mentioned the tree trimming party Friday night. I told him our mom’s were both in. He said to count him in too. I smiled at the idea of surprising him with our friends. I refused to let Garrett’s not being here for his own birthday make me cry. I was sad and it was painful, but Max was the one it was toughest on. My feelings had to be put aside if it was going to be a celebration for Max. Garrett would understand.





Max

I’m not gonna lie. It sucked to wake up on my birthday and no longer share it with Garrett. All week I had kept it out of my head. Today I needed to pretend it was any other day. Nobody at school, except Rainey, knew it was my birthday and she had promised not to make a big deal out of it. I got through all my classes just fine and although Rainey kept smiling at me in a concerned way she kept to her word and didn’t talk birthday at all.

Mom and Dad knew how I felt too, but they still got me a gift. I had dropped Rainey off at her house after school to prepare for her mom’s Christmas party and when I walked into my house both my parents were waiting.

“Are you guys still up for the Martin’s party?” I asked.

“Yes, I think it will be fun,” Mom smiled. Her smile looked genuine, but her eyes looked a little red. This had to be a tough day for them too.

“Max,” My dad said, “We understand why you wanted us to ignore your birthday. But we did get you a little something. We wanted to mark your eighteenth birthday.”

I didn’t say anything. He pointed to a large wrapped box with a big red bow on top. “Thanks,” I said, with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

“Open it,” Mom prompted. So I did. I didn’t care what was inside but I couldn’t hurt their feelings. I untied the bow and ripped off the paper and then I think I actually gasped when I realized what I was looking at. It was incredible. Unbelievable. It was a guitar. Not just any guitar. A Martin D-45! The guitar of my dreams, of any musicians dreams, the kind of guitar that costs as much as a used car. I just stood there, speechless.

“Do you like it?” Mom asked.

“Like it? Mom, this is the best gift I have ever gotten. Thank you. Thanks Dad. Thank you so much.”

They laughed. “You’re welcome buddy. Don’t you want to try it out?”

I reached out and touched it. It was mine. I couldn’t believe it. “You guys, this cost a fortune.”

“You are worth it,” said mom.

“But, really…”

“Max, you deserve it. Happy Birthday son,” Dad said. “Now go on, take it upstairs and play it until we have to leave for the party.”

They didn’t have to ask me twice. I played until mom threw a clean shirt at me and made me leave for the party. When I got there, Rainey greeted me with a smile, and behind her stood all of our friends. I greeted them all and told Colin and Ethan what my parents had given me. They wanted to leave the party then and there to go see it for themselves. Rather than ruin the party, my dad drove back to our house to get it.

The tree trimming was fun, the food excellent and at the end of the night Rainey brought out a huge cake in the shape of a guitar and everyone gave me gifts. The concert tickets from Rainey were awesome and so were the other things that our friends gave me. I was touched, and happy that they had cared enough to make my birthday special. I hadn’t wanted to celebrate but I was so grateful for the people I still had in my life. I celebrated them.

After we waved goodbye to the last guest Rainey hugged me. “Happy Birthday, Max,” she said. I held her, leaning down to put my head on her shoulder, and breathed in the scent of her perfume. I didn’t let go. I could’ve held her forever.

“Thanks Rainey, for everything,” I whispered. She pulled away first and smiled up at me. Our folks said their goodbyes, and I carried my new guitar out to my parent’s car. I wasn’t ready to leave. It was hard to, actually. More and more I just wanted to be where Rainey was.