Will dug through the snow, hoping that his cousins on the far side of the pond stayed there. Flora, who was standing next to the tree, started to nod, as if she understood what he was thinking. He was about to stop digging when he felt something hard hit his hand.
He lifted the box out of the snowy ground, dusting off the fluffy flakes. Slowly, shakily, Will opened the box. As he did so, two of his cousins, Ben and Bradley, walked up behind him, peering over his shoulder. Their mother, Will’s Aunt Tina, and her brother, Will’s uncle, Darryl, watched curiously as well. Luckily, the annoying cousins, Libby and Robert, were still searching on the other side of the pond, even though they saw everyone crowding around Will.
Those two would do anything to avoid admitting that he was ever right. While the twins continued to search for nothing, Will pulled out a watch from the box. On the back, an inscription read, “Michael Damaris”. Will rubbed his thumb over the inscription, feeling the grooves that Michael’s carved name had left in the metal.
“Who’s Michael Damaris?” he asked aloud, not really expecting anyone to be able to answer.
“Your father,” Flora said, a hint of surprise in her voice. “Did Lily never tell you his name?”
“She was never able to talk about him without getting upset, so I never asked much,” Will replied, staring at the watch.
“Can I see that, Will?” Darryl asked, holding his hand out. Will handed it to him slowly. Darryl looked at it before holding it back out to Will. When the latter reached for it, instead of placing it in his palm, Darryl clasped the watch around his nephew’s wrist.
Will looked at the watch with a bit of awe, since it was the first thing that he was aware of having from his father. Just then, Libby and Robert rushed over, though they were silent for once. Will looked back in the box to see small packages inside for all of his family members. He passed them out to his family members.
Darryl opened his, read the note inside, and then looked up. Will was surprised to see the eyes of a man whom he had always thought of as cold and detached filled with tears. When Aunt Tina looked up from her package, she also had tears in her eyes. Even his cousins looked surprised, with the exception of Ben, who hadn’t been born yet and didn’t have a package of his own.
Will, unaccustomed to this kind of behavior from his abnormal family, asked, “What’s inside?”
“It’s… one of her paintings,” Darryl mumbled, his eyes still watery. “The note says,” Darryl continued, reading the poem.
‘For all the evenings you had to drag me inside
For all the things I made you find
For all the times you convinced me not to hide
Thank you
For all the flowers I made you hold
For all the canvases you had to unroll
Thank you
For all the times that I was wrong
For all the times that you were strong
Thank you’
By the time Darryl had finished, the tears were rolling down his face. Libby hugged her father, one of the first mature things Will had ever seen her do. The evening kept getting more and more surprising. The only thing that could make it more surprising was Robert not being a complete fool. Will looked at the painting in Darryl’s hand.
“That’s a sedum lineare,” Will said. When Flora and his family turned to look at him, he clarified, “A needle stonecrop. Known for their needle-like petals, needle stonecrops are resistant to tough droughts and intense heat. Stonecrops are some of the most resilient wildflowers. Aunt Tina, what’s in yours?”
“I have a painting too. And a poem,” Aunt Tina said, unfolding the note again to read it aloud.
‘For every time you gave me advice
For when you helped me conquer heights
For all the smiles that broke the ice
Thank you
For all the times I made you pose
For when you showed me my first rose
Thank you
For when you comforted me as I cried
For when you always took my side
Thank you’
Aunt Tina showed Will the painting that had been in her package. After taking a second to marvel at his mother’s talent, Will said, “That’s a calopogon tuberosus, a pink orchid. Pink orchids are commonly associated with gratitude and gentleness.”
Bradley began to read his note before anyone asked him to.
‘Soon-to-be big brother
Make sure you always look out for one another
And since you know I never forget
I thought I’d get you that brand new pet’
Will stared at him for a minute. “Pet? You mean how you were always asking for a cat?”
When they were younger, Bradley had always been begging his mother to let him get a cat. Will, whose mother volunteered at a cat adoption event every two months, had tried to help convince Aunt Tina to let Bradley get a cat. Secretly, he had only been helping because he figured that if Bradley had a cat, then Will could come and play with it whenever he wanted to. Every weekend, Bradley would come to Will’s house and the two of them would come up with lists of cat facts that could possibly convince Aunt Tina to get a cat. It never did work.
Bradley turned his note around. Taped to the bottom was a check for adopting any pet of Brad’s choosing. “I can’t believe she remembered!”
Aunt Tina sniffled and laughed. “Lily always had a soft spot for cats. And before you two start asking,” she added, addressing her sons. “Yes, you can get that cat.”
While Ben jumped up and down with excitement, Bradley showed Will the canvas that had come with his package. Instead of one flower, there were two; a smaller one and a larger one.
“Those are gardenia jasminoides,” Will said. “Commonly known as cape jasmines, gardenias often symbolize childhood and family.” Bradley smiled and put an arm around his younger brother.
Now, Libby read her note aloud.
‘Imagination
It can take you lots of places without exhausting you’
Robert stared at his sister. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Darryl laughed. “I’m pretty sure it’s a reference to how Libby was always bored when she was little. Remember? Every time Lily used to watch you, you’d tell her you were bored and ask her to come up with a game for you and Will to play. And once your mom started taking you for activities, you’d come home exhausted every day.”
Instead of being offended, which Will would have expected his cousin to be, Libby smiled at the memory. Will vaguely remembered a time, before Robert was old enough to annoy people, when his mother used to put together games and crafts for him and Libby. Once Robert had turned three, Libby started doing all those sports and activities, leaving no time to hang out with her family. A few years later, Will’s mother’s car crashed. By the time Will had come to live with his uncle’s family, he and Libby had lost whatever friendship they had once had.
When Libby turned her painting around to show the others, Will offered her a small smile as a peace offering. A chance to be friends again. She accepted with a smile of her own. Will surveyed the painting for a second before speaking, since it was clear everyone was expecting him to identify the flower.
“That’s a delphinium, sometimes referred to as a larkspur. Named for their dolphin-like shape, larkspurs are often associated with fun and liveliness.”
Everyone turned to Robert, who was the only one still holding a note and painting. Robert began to read aloud.
‘Have fun
But don’t do it by annoying everyone’
Robert looked up and, instead of being angry, he began to laugh. “I forgot how funny Aunt Lily was!”
Libby looked at her brother with disgust. “I agree that Aunt Lily was funny, but I don’t think that this statement in particular is meant to be funny. At all.”
“Yeah, Robert,” Will said. “My mom was funny, but I don’t think she was joking with that one.”
Robert stopped laughing and scowled. “Shut up, legal document. Why don’t you do that nerdy thing and classify this flower?” Robert suggested, showing Will the painting from his package.
“Torenia fournieri,” Will said, rolling his eyes at his cousin. “Also known as clown flowers.”
Everyone laughed at that, even Robert. It seemed like the guy finally knew how to take a joke against himself. Now, Will could confidently say that nothing else about this day could surprise him.
“Will, there’s one more package in the box,” Flora said, peering over his shoulder.
Will reached into the box and pulled out a package labeled with his name. The painting inside was of a camellia japonica, a Middlemist Red. Middlemist Reds were some of the rarest flowers in the world. Will looked at all the other paintings.
“I remember when my mom painted those,” he said softly. “But I never saw her painting this one.” He looked around at his family. “She’d have been happy to see us all like this again.”
“You got that right, son,” a voice said. They all turned to look, Flora standing a bit straighter and looking almost as formal as she had when she had first arrived.
Mr. Sharp had arrived.
