Her mom's birthday used to be a whole event growing up. She and @viikingwitch would spend a week planning the day. When it had been just the two of them on the run, Hope feels like she hadn't even known when her mom's birthday was, or it was treated like just another day, and she hated that. And if she couldn't celebrate her own birthday with her family, she at least wanted to do what she could for Hayley.
But that was... literally decades ago. Life and trauma and pain has gotten in between them, and it's the first birthday since she's gotten back in touch with @foundationbuilt. Since everything had transpired between them.
She imagines that her place as chief party planner has been taken over sometime over the last several decades, and Hope isn't sure that's what either of them want anyways. To be reminded of a past they can never get back to. But it also doesn't seem right to let the day pass without acknowledging it.
It's why she's standing outside of her mother's house, a plain wrapped package in her hands. Inside is a scrapbook, worn and weathered with use, but the pages are filled with photographs, and Hope sketched out and painted seamlessly against the outline of the photo to fill the rest of the page, extending the backgrounds to show a wider perspective. They're snapshots of the things that Hope has seen and experienced over the years, brief moments that she wants to share with Hayley, even if her mother hadn't been there to witness it. The development over the years is apparent, showcasing different techniques and styles that she'd experimented with, a brief period where she'd done things only in charcoal. It's the closest thing she has to a running record of her life, beside the journal she carries with her everywhere.
Hope slips the package through the mail slot and turns to leave. She doesn't think she wants to be there when her mom finds the present. She's afraid of the rejection, that these pieces of our soul might get discarded like she herself once was. An unfair thought to Hayley, but one that the wounded child in Hope has never been able to silence. But there's a small message scrawled on the inside cover of the scrapbook.
Happy birthday, mom. Been working on these for a long time now and you were always my first champion when it came to my art. Realized that I'd been making these for you all along. Love you. - Hope










