Source: Pxhere
* * *
30 years later
Lee was serene but his mind kept flashing back to the movie of his childhood in the city he had never thought of returning to. He wondered, as he sipped his favorite beverage while it was still warm, why he needed that reencounter.
Meanwhile, in a rental car, her parents Mrs. and Mr. Moon were on their way to the hotel.
-Harold, I'm nervous because it's been so many years since Lee left.
-He was always strange but he is our son.
-Harold doesn’t say Lee is rare! Margaret exclaimed.
Margaret put her hand on Harold's leg and looked at him with a gesture of anxiety and concern. She was a gray-haired woman in her sixties. Her blue eyes were already senile. She was wearing a floral print dress and carrying a small purse.
Harold was 64 years old, dressed in a gray suit with a blue and black striped tie. He was a man of few words and little expressivity.
When they arrived at the hotel, a bellboy opened the door of the car from which Harold and Margaret got out. She showed him the invitation card they had to go to the terrace, and the bellboy showed them where to go.
Lee was deep in thought. He remembered the beating he had received that left him with the scar. He also remembered his mother's blue eyes and the smell of the apple pie she made him every Friday afternoon.
He thought of the bicycle his father gave him when he turned 11 years old and the rides in the park as he taught him how to ride it.
Mr. and Mrs. Moon climbed the stairs that would lead them to the terrace. They walked slowly but Margaret's heart was pounding.
When Margaret saw Lee her eyes filled with tears. She had not seen him for many years and recognized him immediately. His brown eyes were just like Harold's and the unforgettable scar above his eyebrow.
She walked quickly to him as Lee stood up from his chair. They embraced tightly.
Harold who had lagged looked up at him and said.
-I knew you were different.
Lee, touched by his mother's embrace but self-confident, replied
-We are all different. No one in this world is the same as anyone else.
-Harold, pleeease, Margaret interjected, he's our son, remember.
-Yes, he's our son, but I don't recognize him anymore. Look at his lips and face.
-I knew you were going to act like this. You always looked at people over your shoulders, Lee said.
Margaret felt uncomfortable about the tense situation between her son and her husband. So, she asked them to sit down to talk.
The three of them sat down at the table, and there was a brief silence. Lee looked at them both lovingly. He took the last sip of tea left in his cup and told them that he had called them for this reencounter because he was marrying his lifelong partner and wanted them to come for his marriage.
Harold looked at Lee remembering his smile when she was still living at home. He also remembered the afternoon when Lee came in with his face and t-shirt covered in blood. He was the one who healed the wound on his face.
-Lee, if you had told us about you, we would never have parted. You're my son, and I love you. Harold said in a dry tone.
Lee looked at him gratefully and said
-Thanks, Dad. I love you too.
He reached out his hands to theirs and grasped them tenderly. The wedding will be in two months, and there will be few guests, Lee said looking at them.
All three smiled.
Margaret looked at her husband and then at Lee.
-Honey, we'll be there!
My exercise. Lee's reencounter with his parents after 30 years without seeing each other. Lee is gay and ran away from home and the town where he was born at the age of 15. He wishes his parents were at his wedding.
