"Mom, I'm home."

"Welcome home, honey!" Mother smiled, finish cooking up some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. My favorite food before finally leaving home to the scary college world. "Are you excited about Freshman Orientation tomorrow?"

Instead of answering her, I twirled my curly blonde hair and muttered softly:

"Mom, can you teach me how to do makeup?"

She stared me with a pair of wide eyes then nodded.

"You can apply it more naturally if you do it like this."

"...Like this mom?"

"Yes, that's it." After helping me draw my eyeliner in front of the mirror, she smiled to herself. "I guess you are at an age where looking pretty matters now. I'll teach you the basics before you leave and also, you can have some of my make-up too."

"Is it really okay?"

"Of course it's okay silly," Mom placed her cheek against mine. For some reason, it was the first time I saw her this happy. "Oh, I know! Do you want to go to the beauty salon with your mom tomorrow morning? We'll dress you up for the first day of school!

"Huh... beauty salon?!" I stuttered, having never gone inside one before. "Is it really okay for someone like me to be in there...?"

"Of course, silly. I'll introduce you to my hairdresser and she'll help you set your hair up properly too. Maybe a cute ponytail or straighten it..."

As mother continued to pamper me like a doll, I started to feel an array of emotion. I have not felt this way in a long time. It seemed that her motherly sense picked up on my emotion as she held my hand.

"I wonder how long it's been since we last went out together, Mary."

"It's been years, mom."

All this time, I looked down on people who obsessed over their looks. Yet, once I started to care about my appearance just a little myself, I was happy too.

"Ah, we forgot to eat the pasta!" The two of us giggled, ending our last day on a happy note.

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