Kim was feeling tired and exhausted as she pulled her car around and into the street running down by the park. She could see the cluster of vehicles that represented her family immediately. They always had to go and make it into a huge event, though this one had a good reason.
The park was one with picnic tables, a wetlands with a trail running through it, and nothing else. Not even a single solitary swing. Though, if she jumped onto one of those like she always wanted to, then her family was likely to call her out on it. Part of the reason she lived so far away from them.
However, this had been one birthday event that she couldn't get away with missing.
Kim parked the car, and took a moment. She closed her eyes and steeled herself like she did before every match. Letting go of her anxieties, burning away the lingering worries until it was just her and the flame in her mind. A sense of oneness in the void.
She opened her eyes and grabbed the present from the seat beside her and stepped out of the car. Almost immediately she heard a squeal and someone yelling her name. She barely got the door closed before she was wrapped in a tight hug.
Kim tried, unsuccessfully, to extricate herself from the bear grip. The red curls in her mouth told her that it was one of the twins, and the excitement told her the rest. "Uh. Hi, Sophia."
The woman clung to her even tighter, "It's been so long! You cut your hair."
Last time Kim had been home, she still had the haircut least likely to annoy her mother. Brown, straight, and tumbling down her back to her waist. It had been cute, but impractical. Now, she had a short cut that swept over one of her eyes, dyed white.
"Eh. Yeah, I guess."
Sophia snuggled into her, "I like it. Suits you."
Kim counted off a few seconds to be polite, and then tried to pointedly walk towards the rest of her family. Her younger sister reluctantly moved from cuddling to hugging onto her arm. "Mum's been complaining about you, so remember to bite your tongue. She's a bitch, but you're not about to go changing her."
"Has anything changed around here?" Kim said sarcastically, spotting the table with the presents and adding her own before she looked around. Her brother waved from where he was cooking at the BBQ, her parents ignored her, and one or two of the cousins gave nervous waves. The other twin was nowhere in sight.
Sophia frowned, "Hmm... Dad got old? Seriously though, nothing ever changes."
"You were going to start uni this year, weren't you?" Kim started making her way towards their parents. Half-dragging Sophia along with her.
The girl cringed, "Mum insisted I do another year at the bookshop. Dad's getting too old to run things. His back is acting up again."
That told Kim everything she needed to know. Sophia still wanted to go to university, and finish her arts degree. However, just like the first time, their mother was putting her foot down and insisting on grooming Sophia to take over the failing family book store. Trying to ruin multiple generations with debt for nostalgia's sake.
Kim was the only one of them who could say no to the family matriarch. For which, she was heavily shunned.
"Happy birthday, Dad." She said, putting on a smile. He did look older than the last time she'd seen him. Not frail, or weak, but beginning to look his age. All seventy years of it.
He looked up and grunted, "You made it then, Kimberly."
"Wonderful to see you, too." She barely resisted from making it sound as sarcastic as she meant it. "How have you been?"
"What do you care?" Her mother snapped.
The old man suddenly looked exhausted, "Don't you start."
"No! I won't be quiet. She never calls. Never visits. How exactly does she show that she's a member of this family?" Her mother said haughtily, "You would think she'd at least do something decent with her life after all the effort we put in to giving her a proper upbringing. But then she has to go and become a boxer!"
The mischaracterisation grated, but Kim was well aware her mother was calling her a boxer to try and get under her skin. Trying to intimidate her into moving back home and onto the path of life that had been meticulously planned out for her.
"I saw you on the telly." Her father ignored his wife, "That was a big deal, wasn't it? Something to be proud of."
Kim felt almost like he'd kicked her in the stomach. He'd never come close to saying a compliment to her since she was a kid. He was being careful of how to word it in front of her mum, but he was impressed with her.
Her voice cracked, "Thanks, dad."
"Go grab some food." He ended the conversation before his wife could launch into another attack. Kim took the opportunity grateful with a murmured thanks and something about talking more later. Maybe he was mellowing in his old age.
"TV?" Sophia asked excitedly, "I didn't hear about that! Deets!"
Kim shrugged, "Charity match for cancer kids. I got my ass kicked six ways to Sunday. My ribs are still bruised. Hey, Huey."
Her brother waved at his dominion, "What'll it be, ladies? And did you just say someone beat you up, Kimberly?"
"Relax. It was a match. Burger, ta." She replied to him and glanced towards Sophia.
The redhead shook her head, "I'm good. Already ate, and mum's on me about my weight, again."
Kim couldn't help herself, lifting Sophia up easily who squealed in surprise. She looked up at the woman, "Are you kidding me? I could do this all day. You're a featherweight. Make it two burgers, Huey. Pretend they're both mine."
"Put me down! Put me down!" Sophia laughed, kicking.
She lowered her easily. If Kim had to guess, Sophia weighed about sixty kilos. At twenty one, she really did weigh absolutely nothing at all. Kim, on the other hand was a solid eighty and had been since she'd started fighting professionally.
She was sort of cheating on her trainer's diet, as Huey loaded up her roll with way more meat than greenery, but she could afford to indulge herself. And if she had to deal with her mother, she was going to treat herself.
Sophia looked embarrassed and out of breath as Kim took the food, "Catch you later, Huey."
The two headed into the wetlands, where no one could see Sophia grab the other burger and immediately begin wolfing it down. Finally released so the redhead could use both hands, Kim took her time with hers. "So, managed to catch any boys?"
"One. Didn't last." Sophia said through a mouthful, "He met dad at work, after about a week."
Kim gave a sympathetic laugh, "The intimidation speech, or the marriage one?"
"The if-my-daughter-is-pregnant one." Sophia munched noisily, "I mean, you'd think he'd be grateful to have grandkids. It isn't like he'll get 'em from anybody else. Oops. Sorry, Kim."
She shook her head, "Nah, I still don't want kids."
"Still... Single?" Sophia asked apologetically.
Kim looked around to make sure no one was in sight and then pulled out her phone. "We had a huge fight about me coming, so I don't know. It was bad, but they've moved in."
Sophia stared, her mouth open and showing off a bunch of grossness. "No. Way."
Kim swiped to another photo of the two of them making out in front of a sunset behind a city skyline. She smiled and tucked it away, "You know to keep that under your hat, right?"
Sophia nodded slowly, "Since... When?"
"About third grade." Kim replied, "I'm assuming you're talking about that... And not how long we've been dating. That's about eight months. We met after one of my matches. They're a nurse, helped patch me up."
"That is so friggin' adorable!" Sophia grinned ear-to-ear, "But... Lordy, third grade? You've been keeping it a secret that long? What made you decide to tell me?"
Kim shrugged, "I haven't had to hide it since I moved out. Wouldn't really be fair of me to tell everyone at dad's seventieth. But it's just me. Not a big deal to anybody else."
"You know this is basically mum's worst nightmare though, right?" Sophia hesitated, "She'll disown you. For real. I won't be able to talk to you anymore or anything."
