Mom Said She Saved Me a Room,All I Got Was a Folding Bed

Two days before the family holiday gathering, my mother posted a photo of the round table in the family group chat and said this year the whole family had to be together, all of us.

Then she messaged me privately: "We've saved you a seat at home."

I sat through a six-hour bus ride and came home carrying the holiday pie she'd specifically asked for.

The door opened, and there in my seat sat the boyfriend Rain Abbott had brought home for the first time.

Smiling, my mother pushed a soup bowl into my hands.