To the Future

Joel Jr. sat on the arm railing of the front porch watching his mom, Emma, rush around the yard fussing over all the table decorations for the party. With her hair in large curls and pinned over her shoulder, she looked pretty when she dressed up, Joel had to admit.

But it seemed dumb to be having a sweet sixteen party for a boy. He rolled his eyes and exhaled, exasperated. Two more years and he could tell her no if she wanted to fuss over him. Eighteen just couldn’t get here fast enough.

The sun was setting behind the distant mountains and the air was crisp. It was just the way he liked it. With his left leg bent and knee close to his chest, his right dangled and tapped against the boards. He pulled at the tie trying to strangle him. His dad, Logan, waltzed onto the porch and slapped his hand away from the tie.

“Don’t even think about it, kid. There’s no way your mother’s going to let you take that tie off even if it’s your birthday.”

Joel frowned at his father and then stood. For being only sixteen, he was proud to be just as big as his dad. He wasn’t as filled out, but he was working on that by lifting weights for football. His hair was black like his mom’s, yet his eyes matched his dad’s. There was no way his dad could deny him being his son. They were a match.

“Dad, I have work to get done. Why did she have to throw a party. Couldn’t we just go to Lucy’s Diner or something?”

“Get over it, kid. You’re the oldest and the first boy in the family. Everyone is going to fuss.”

Grandpa Miller walked out in a suit. “Looking sharp, Gramps,” Joel said, walking over to have a look at him. “I’ve never seen you look so…clean.” His grandpa chuckled and then clasped both muscles opposite his neck. “You too, kid.”

Joel smiled widely.

Grandpa Miller released him when a soft cough drew his attention. He bent from the waist and opened the front door. Joel’s sister, Addie, sashayed from the house and spun in a circle. She wore a short gold dress with black lace over it. Her hair was done up the same as their mom’s.

Joel’s eyes bulged. Wow. She looked great. No one would ever guess she was only fourteen; she looked eighteen, easily.

“She can’t wear that!” Joel cried.

“Why not? She looks lovely,” his dad said, kissing Addie on her cheek.

“Yeah, sure! You say that now. You just wait until Bow or Tucker show up for the party. Then you’ll be sorry.”

Addie slugged Joel in the shoulder, hard. “Traitor.”

Logan shoved his hands in his pants pockets and scowled at Addie. “Bow and Tucker are Joel’s friends. They’re almost seventeen. They better not be floating around you, Addie.”

She smiled sheepishly at her dad. “Oh look, mom needs help. I better go.” She sprinted off the porch. Grandpa laughed as she went.

“We just had to try for a girl,” Logan said. “Now look, the pretty little thing is going to make me have to shoot not just one boy, but two. Let me go get my gun now so I can scare them when they arrive.”

“Dad, a gun isn’t going to scare Bow or Tucker.”

Logan pinched his chin for a minute. “Right. Let me go get the tractor.”

“Logan, she’s a good girl and she has a nice right look. The boys won’t be a problem,” said Grandpa Miller. “Now, how about you give this strapping young man his birthday gift before everyone shows up.”

His dad draped an arm over his shoulders and directed him around the side of the house. Grandpa walked beside them.

When they rounded the corner, there was “Big Red,” his dad’s 1956 Ford truck, looking shiny with a new paint job. His cousin Olivia stood in the back along with her brothers Eric and Shane.

“Surprise!” they all cried joyously at him.

Joel’s jaw dropped. “What?”

His dad dropped the keys to Big Red into his hand. “He’s all yours.”

“I can’t believe it,” he yelled. “Woohoo!” When he turned to give his dad a hug, he saw his mom and his aunts, Bethany and Daisy, and his uncles, Cole and Peter, smiling and laughing at him. His youngest cousins, the twins, Tiffany and Julie, hugged their mom, Daisy. Everyone was there. Joel felt love and excitement mixed with gratitude for his family. Tears threatened to fill his eyes. No, he was a man now; there would be no tears, only laughter.

“Who wants a drive down the road and back before the guests get here?”

Addie came running and threw herself into the back of the truck. “I do. Come on everyone, we can all fit if we put down the tailgate,” Addie exclaimed.

To Joel’s utter shock, his mom, Aunt Daisy and Aunt Bethany squeezed into the cab while the rest of the family piled into the back of the truck. He climbed in, slammed the door closed, and fired up Big Red. He sounded great. He must have gotten a tune-up along with the paint job.

Joel crept down the road as several conversations took place, along with bouts of laughter. He was so high he didn’t think he was ever going to come down.

“So, do you like your gift?” asked his mother, who was sitting right next to him. Her amber eyes glowed, and Joel’s heart beat faster. He loved it when her eyes sparked at him like that because he knew it was her love radiating out for him to see.

“It is amazing. You didn’t have to give me a truck.”

“We know that. But you’re such a good kid, how could we not?” Suddenly, her expression grew serious. “Don’t think you’re going to take off all the time and run around with your friends.”

“I won’t. I don’t have time with sports and the ranch; you know that.”

“Good. I would be sad if I didn’t get to see you all the time. I don’t know what I’m going to do when you go off to college.” She started to sniffle.

Aunt Bethany wrapped an arm around Emma. She leaned forward and gave Joel a wink. “Oh, Emma, you can come to my house and boss my kids around.”

“Ha, ha.”

When he got to the end of the dirt road, he turned around and headed back to the house. When he got to the driveway, he peered into his rearview mirror. His dad, Peter and Cole sat on the tailgate. Unable to resist, he punched the throttle. All three of the men face planted in the dirt. Joel parked and the women filed out of the cab to check on their partners. Joel was laughing so hard he barely had time to make a break for it before the three men dusted themselves off and started toward the cab.

Joel sprang from the truck and broke into a run only to have Uncle Cole wrap a powerful arm around his narrow waist and lift him up.

“I got him, boys. Let’s teach this youngster how to play nice.”

Cole carried Joel into the yard and sat on him. Everyone filled in around them. Joel knew this wasn’t going to be good, yet he still couldn’t stop laughing. The look on all their faces was something he would remember forever.

“Let the tickling commence,” Cole cried.

And just like that, Joel’s entire body was under attack. He tried to kick, but Peter held his feet down and his dad yanked his hands over his head.

“Not fair,” he yelled in between giggling.

“Fair? Let’s not talk about fair, kid,” his uncle Peter cried.

Joel laughed so hard that every part of him hurt. When the tickle session was over, Joel lay there in the grass staring at the stars.

I love my family.