Olivia was sitting in the living room with her 12-year-old daughter Mia. Her daughter was reading her book, while Olivia was reading her own book. But when she had looked at her daughter, her heart skipped a beat.
Onyx earrings were dangling down from Mia’s ears, as they were the keepsake of Olivia’s family.
“Honey,” she called to her daughter, “where did you get those earrings?”
“I borrowed them,” Mia responded.
“Borrowed? From whom?”
“At my classmate’s, Daisy,” Mia said then.
Who was Daisy? Olivia tried to remember that if her daughter had ever mentioned about this Daisy before. And how could Daisy had the earrings which were the heirloom of Olivia’s family. Her sister Amelia had them lastly, but she was not on speaking terms with her.
Olivia was going to school with her daughter on the next day and meet with Daisy. This was not about her family heirloom. She was thinking that she was about to unravel a hidden part of her family story.
When the morning came, she was observing the onyx earrings. She remembered the past then.
Amelia was almost seventeen, a teenager who was struggling with her parents like any other. She was looking for her freedom, and wanted a life out of their small town. She was also in a relationship with a boy who her parents didn’t accepted.
And one night, she saw her sister Amelia leaving in the middle of the night. She took the onyx earrings from Olivia’s dresser. Olivia saw everything but didn’t said anything to her sister. She was aware that Amelia wanted a piece from home with her so she took them.
She left a note, which made Olivia cry when she first read it. The letter was a simple goodbye, with a promise of reunion one day.
Then she heard her daughter, Mia, who was coming downstairs for her school. When they arrived at the school, many children were playing on the schoolyard, which made Olivia nervous. She wanted to know how did Daisy had them, and what would Olivia ask to her.
“It’s going to be okay, Mom,” Mia said when she noticed hos nervous her mother was.
When Olivia took Daisy to her classroom, she saw Daisy. A little girl with curly hair, the same hair Amelia had. Her eyes, her smile… Everything was resembling Amelia. Olivia was sure that Daisy was family.
When they started to talk, she noticed that Daisy was already aware that Olivia was her aunt. “You know,” she said, “Mom always told me about her family… about you, Aunt Olivia. She said you were really close when you were kids.”
“Mom left home when she was really young. She was super scared ’cause she had me in her tummy and she wasn’t married. She thought grandma and grandpa wouldn’t understand.”
“She and Dad made a new home for us, but she missed you guys a lot. She always looked at these earrings,” Daisy looked at the onyx earrings, and continued, “and told me stories about her sister who loved her very much and would understand her one day.”
“Mom was afraid to come back. She thought maybe you all were still mad at her for leaving. But she kept saying maybe, just maybe, one day we’d all meet and be a family again.” Daisy smiled.
“And she was right, wasn’t she?” She asked then to Olivia. “Finding these earrings with Mia, coming here today… it’s like a dream Mom always had, coming true!”
Then Amelia went into the classroom. As the school bell ranged, they looked at each other, and saw beyond their eyes. The other students were watching them in curiosity.
They had promised to meet that evening, and went back to their homes. When the evening arrived, the dinner table was ready. When everyone were at the table, it was a moment of reunion. The years of pique was over.
They exchanged their stories, and watched their children play in the backyard where they shared their laughter.
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