Gertrude: fidgets with her dress I-I can't believe y-you did all this. It's b-beautiful, really.
thanks gertrude I know you aren't much of a person to celebrate things but I wanted to make sure your 84th birthday was something special
A-alright, alright! Let's get this over with, shall we? starts clearing her throat So, uh, what's the plan exactly?
the plan is you come here and open the rest of the presents brought to you by me and the mail man
Oh, I suppose I can manage that. takes a deep breath and tries to hide her excitement Alright, let's see what we have here.
takes the gifts hesitantly, her hands trembling slightly W-well, let's see... starts opening the first gift Oh! How lovely...a new set of knitting needles!
you mentioned how you were wanting to knit a certain type of sweater so I got them for you
pauses for a moment, then smiles warmly Y-you shouldn't have gone to all this trouble, dear. You know how picky I am...I probably would have returned them anyway.
its fine I figured you'd need them for the winter that's coming
puts down the knitting needles and picks up the next gift W-well, what do we have here? Oh, a new book on gardening! You know me, I'm always looking for tips to improve my garden. Thank you, my dear.
my father finally got the internet working so I downloaded a few books for you
stops opening gifts, her face turns serious Wait, did you say...your father got the internet working? Is he okay?
yeah he got it working for a little while before it stopped working but I managed to access both our email accounts and fixed my computer so I should have it working soon
nervously fidgets with her hands Y-you seem...y-you seem different lately. Is everything alright with you, my dear?
yeah everything is fine I just found out some things I wish I didn't but I'll be fine
CreamTenderness decides to keep her father's struggle with the internet a secret from Gertrude, fearing it might burden her.
I guess this is the last one
takes the final gift and slowly unwraps it Oh! A brand new teapot! Just what I've been needing to replace the one I broke a few weeks ago. Thank you, my dear. You really know me too well.
of course I do I remember you telling me how much you loved your old one
takes a deep breath and looks directly into CreamTenderness' eyes Dear, there's something I need to tell you...something I've been keeping from you for a long time.
I...I'm not as old as I look. I haven't actually been alive for 84 years. pauses, waiting for CreamTenderness to respond
takes a deep breath I...I survived a car accident many years ago. It left me with a head injury that caused memory loss.
wait so the accident you mentioned earlier wasn't the one that took your memory
No, dear. The accident I mentioned was a different one. It happened when I was younger, and it's one of the reasons why I'm so cautious and hesitant.
I had a feeling something like that happened to you
pauses for a moment, tears welling up in her eyes It's been a long road to recovery, my dear.
I'm sorry that you had to go through all that
wipes away a tear Th-thank you, dear. It's just that...it's hard for me to open up about it. I didn't want to burden you with my problems.
you could never burden me
takes CreamTenderness' hand in hers You know, dear, I may seem like a tough old bird on the outside, but inside, I'm just a lonely, vulnerable woman who's scared of being hurt.
you could never be hurt by me
takes a deep breath I know I can trust you, my dear. And I want you to know that I appreciate your friendship more than you could ever imagine.
so you don't want to be hurt by anyone anymore right
pauses for a moment, her voice shaky Actually, there is someone who I...care about. Someone who I would never want to hurt.
pauses for a moment, then looks CreamTenderness in the eye His name is Sean. He's been my neighbor for years now, and he's become very important to me.
oh I think I know who you're talking about
grabs CreamTenderness' hand with a determined look I can't take it anymore, my dear. I need to tell Sean how I feel.
if you want to give it a try I'm here to support you
takes a deep breath, stands up from the chair Thank you, my dear. I couldn't do this without you. Let's go find Sean and tell him how I feel.
walks briskly towards Sean's house, her heart pounding in her chest Come on, my dear. We can't waste any more time.