A light orange hue was inching across the top floors of a building opposite our house while the chirping of birds hiding somewhere in an oak tree in the backyard was drowning out traffic noise.
I knew she would be back any minute from her run, so turning away from the window and taking my hands out of my pockets went into the kitchen to make coffee.
Putting the cups on a round bare wooden table in the lounge, I sat down and began thinking about the past month.
While life hadn't been easy for us, especially for Mom who had to raise me all alone after Dad left her, nothing had prepared us for what was about to happen.
It all began a month ago when she started having stomach pains.
As they became unbearable, Mom went to our local doctor who, after conducting some tests, said: "Yana, there's some bad news. A tumor in the stomach has become cancerous and we need to look into it immediately."
When the doctor broke the news, I was with her and could see her pink face turn yellow as if somebody had drained off all the blood, and her bright red lips became white.
I thought she was going to faint or even worse, so held her hand and tried to bring her out of shock.
Mom squeezed my hand tightly, took a deep breath, and asked him how bad the situation was.
He described the whole situation and said she needed to be operated immediately.
Mom asked him a few more questions, looked at me, and told him she needed some time to think things over and would call him the next day.
The next few days were the toughest. She consulted other doctors, underwent several tests, and finally was revealed that it was a false alarm, the first doctor had misdiagnosed her and all she had were two kidney stones, nothing else.
Waiting for the final results was the most difficult period and during that agonizing time, Mom promised that she was going to do all the things she had always wanted if the results were positive.
When she got the all-clear, I withdrew some money my grandfather had given me for college and decided something special for her.
I took a sip of the coffee and was feeling good that I was about to make her happy when the front door opened and saw her walking toward me wearing black tracksuit bottom and a yellow T-shirt.
"How come you're up so early?" Mom said, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her arm.
"How's your pain?" I asked.
"Fine."
"Would you like coffee?"
"Yes, please," she replied, sitting down opposite me.
"Have to tell you something."
Looking at me with her deep blue eyes, Mom said: "What?"
"Tell me one place you've always wanted to go to."
"Have told you so many times."
"Tell me again."
"Berlin."
"Why?"
"Because that's where your grandfather and grandmother were born."
I picked up a newspaper from the table and slowly pushed a brown envelope lying underneath it toward her.
She stared at it for a couple of seconds and arching her eyebrows asked what it was.
"Open it."
Mom hesitated, then her red lips parted, her face turned completely pink, and her big blue eyes remained fixed on two airline tickets to Berlin, Germany.
Before she could recover her breath and say something, I said we were going to Berlin and wouldn't hear no for an answer as have already booked a room and everything.
That didn't stop her from asking how I had managed to buy tickets, etc. So told her to focus on the trip, not on money.
The next few days were spent planning and arranging everything and then we were off to Berlin, just two days after I celebrated my eighteenth birthday.
We spent the first couple of days enjoying the amazing city, made lovelier by sunny weather, and beautiful sights and sounds.
We were getting ready to go out when Mom asked me to sit down as she wanted to talk about something.
"You know, I've worked hard all my life, lived a pretty boring life, and haven't seen or enjoyed the world."
Interrupting her, I said she hasn't led a boring life, but she told me to listen, not talk, so I stopped in mid-sentence.
"I'm thirty-nine and want to enjoy life, do everything, and have as much fun as possible, especially now. So, would you help me?"
"Of course, I would."
"Thanks. To start off, I want to do river rafting, go on a hot-air balloon, and ride a jet ski. What do you say?"
"Yeah, sure. Let's do that."
In the next three days, we did all three things and even went bungee jumping, but she chickened out at the last minute, a huge relief to me because I was more scared of diving from a bridge than her.
We were at an outdoor café in the evening of the sixth day when Mom said she wanted to see a cabaret performance.
Now I had never even been to a nightclub with her, let alone a cabaret, so the idea caught me totally off-guard.
"I've heard a lot about cabaret, so want to see it."
I stared at her with my dark brown eyes, but didn't see any change in expression, so said: "OK, go and see it."
"You won't come with me?"
"Don't think so."
"Why not? Are you ashamed to see it with your mom? It's just a dance. Please. I want to see it."
It really felt weird going with her and didn't want to do it, but seeing that she wanted to see it, I agreed in the end.
We took the last row seats and noticed that there were several women in the audience, which was reassuring to me because that meant it wouldn't be a sleazy skin show.
However, all reassurance went for a toss as soon as the dancers appeared.
Sure they weren't naked, but their thongs and bras were leaving little to the imagination.
Their naked thighs, almost bare ass, and semi-covered breasts meant it was going to be a difficult night for me.
As I didn't want Mom to catch me looking at semi-nude bodies, I turned my face sideways and stared blankly at the bar and at people sitting around us.
Meanwhile, she was enjoying the show thoroughly, even clapping, hooting, and stomping her feet. It was apparent that she was totally into it.
When she saw me staring at the bar she nudged me with her elbow and asked me whether I was enjoying the dance or not. I nodded my head and lied that I was.
