Saturday came faster than Noelle anticipated. It was currently 6:30PM and her parents were getting ready for their date night. Her dad wore a nice blue button-up shirt and her step-mom wore a gorgeous maternal black dress that grazed the floor. She was currently putting in pearl earrings and fixing her make-up as her dad sat on the couch waiting for her.

Noelle knocked on her door as her step-mom was fiddling with her pearl necklace. Lydia looked up and smiled at Noelle, "Noe, thank you so much for baby-sitting the boys for us. You have no idea how much we appreciate it."

"No problem. Do you think I can have a friend over so we can study?" Noelle asked as she rested on the frame of her parent's door.

"Sure, sweetie, I just gotta meet them first before we go." Lydia replied. As she finished putting on her necklace and kissed Noelle's cheek.

Carson pulled up in her drive way and rung her doorbell and was met by an old barking dog and a very tall black man dressed in a blue button-up. Noelle's dad raised his eye brow, "Can I help you?"

Carson shoved his hands into his pockets, "Is your daughter home, sir?"

"Who's asking?"Noelle's dad made Carson sweat a bit.

"Uh Carson Holt, sir."

Noelle's dad continued to stared at the stocky white boy with an unwavering stare. Until a petite and very pregnant Korean woman broke the stare with a charming smile, "Oh! You must be Noelle's study friend. Come in, Sweetie!" Lydia said excitedly. Noelle's dad looked surprised.

"Wait! He's here to see Noelle? I thought he was here to see Margo." Noelle's dad said with surprise written on his face. "Well, in that case, it was nice meeting you, Carter. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Baxter was still barking at Carson like a maniac. Noelle came downstairs to see her parents talking to a nervous Carson Holt. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. Lydia turned around, "There she is now, Noelle! Your friend, Carson, is such a gentleman."

Noelle's dad glanced down at his watch, "We gotta hit the road or they'll give away our table." He looked back up to Carson and Noelle, "No funny business and keep an eye on the boys. Do I make myself clear?"

"Oh come on, Sweetie. Don't be such a stickler. We'll be back around 10:00PM, okay?" Lydia said as she opened the front door. She stepped out first.

"Also, Noe, your mother sent another postcard, it's on the table in the kitchen." Noelle's father shut the door. And suddenly it was just the two of them. Carson let out a breath, finally able to relax.

"Jesus Christ, I thought your dad was gonna rip off my arms and beat me to death with them." He laughed softly.

"Don't underestimate him." Noelle patted his shoulder and headed for the kitchen. Carson looked around her quaint townhouse. There were family portraits, baby-pictures and graduation photos, Christmas photos, clay art made by the children. There was a photo of a Korean girl with long jet black hair and almond eyes and his Noelle dressed up for Halloween--the picture couldn't have been taken more than a couple years ago. The border of the frame said 'sisters' in pink letters. Carson realized that even though most of this family wasn't related through blood, they were more of a family than his.

Carson moved on to the next picture of Noelle as a child with pig-tails and missing front teeth, smiling a huge smile.

Noelle walked into the kitchen and saw a postcard with Dolly Parton on one side of the card with the border saying 'WELCOME TO DOLLYWOOD.' She turned the card over and read the brief letter her mom wrote.

Hey Baby--

Nashville is such a lovely place with great people and even better barbecue! I wish you were here. Dollywood is just as magical, her wax figure is just as beautiful as she is. But, singing Jolene isn't the same without my Firefly. I'll send you a souvenir in the mail soon, Noe.

Be good to your father, Noelle.

Love, Mom.

Noelle could feel her tears blur her vision. She missed her mom so much. She was her best-friend and now she just gets glimpses of her through post-cards. She sniffled into her wrist and stuffed the post card into her back pocket. Noelle has had numerous talks with her father about her mother. He always said that no matter where she was in the world, her love for Noelle will never falter, not even a little. She wanted to understand why her mom left without a 'good-bye,' but that shit hurts to even think about. She wanted to believe that her mother loved her. But, having sporadic post-cards being the only connection to your mother takes a toll.

Carson walked into the kitchen and saw Noelle staring blankly at the kitchen table, he frowned. "Are you okay?" As if snapped out of a trance, she nodded her head. Carson noticed that her eyes were a bit glossy and she sniffled before she answered him.

"Yeah, I'm good." She replied.

"You sure? Wanna talk about it?" Noelle shook her head 'no.' She knew if she did she would cry like an infant. Carson stroked the wetness off her cheek. "Need a hug?" He offered with his arms held out for her. She smiled and laughed a little.

"I'm fine, Car." She lightly rejected.

"Can I still give you a hug anyway?" Carson asked.

"Yeah." She laughed lightly and wrapped her arms around his warm torso. She breathed in his cologne and the detergent smell in his clothes and he breathed in the coconut smell of her hair. They hugged for what felt like hours and when they released they saw a small Korean boy with a tablet in his hands staring at them from the entrance of the kitchen. It was Jason and he frowned at Carson,

"Who are you?"

Carson lightly chuckled, "I'm Carson, little dude. What's your name?" He asked. Jason rolled his eyes and ignored Carson, setting his tablet on the counter.

"Noelle, what's for dinner?" He asked politely. She frowned.

"Jason, don't be rude." Noelle scolded. Jason looked back up at Carson and Carson stood there awkwardly with his hands in his pockets.

"I wasn't being rude, I just don't talk to strangers."

"Be nice." She scolded.

"I don't know, Noe. Kid has a point. Stranger-Danger is real." Carson said as Jason nodded his head.

"My name is not 'Kid' by the way." Jason deadpanned.

"My bad, what's your name then?"

"Jason." He said as he picked up his tablet and started playing Mario Kart. "Noelle? Can we have chicken nuggets and macaroni for dinner?" Jason asked politely.

"Sure, is that what your brother wants?" She asked as Jason started to wander out of the kitchen.

"I don't know." He answered bluntly.

"I'm sorry about him. He's not usually this sassy." She said as she dug out a cookie sheet for the chicken nuggets and set the oven to 350 degrees.

"It's cool. He got a lot of personality." Carson chuckled.

***

After dinner and after she made sure the boys did their nightly reading. She and Carson headed upstairs to watch a movie. Carson flopped on her bed with his shoes off. Noelle walked over to her bookcase to a shoe box at the bottom. The dusty shoe box held every post-card ever sent by her mother since she was thirteen. Her mom has been just about everywhere: San Francisco, L.A., Las Vegas, NYC, Miami, Austin, Montreal, Key West, Quebec, Madison, Washington D.C., Seattle. You name it, Noelle has a post-card from there. And at the bottom of the shoe box was the last picture she ever took with her mother.

The picture was taken around Christmas time. They were both wearing ugly red sweaters. Her mom was smiling so big, an outsider looking in would never suspect that she was unhappy. Noelle looked a lot like her mother in multiple ways. In the photo, Noelle and her mother shared the same cheekbones and nose and doe-eyes. She had her father's complexion but her mother's unruly hair. Her mom's skin had a lighter almost golden hue to it.

Noelle stroked her thumb over her mother's face. It's been a while since she's seen this picture. To be honest, she kind of forgot what her mother looked like. She turned over the picture, it said:

She put the picture back in the box and dug the post-card from her pocket. She looked at it again and realized there was something different about this particular post-card. There was something this post-card had the all the others didn't.

A return address.

Carson fiddled with his phone as Noelle practically jumped out of her skin. "Noe, you good?" Carson sat up and quirked his eyebrow. She turned to him with her eyes wide and tear-streaked.

"A return address! There's a return address!" She practically screamed. She jumped on her bed beside him and showed him the post-card. Carson didn't understand what the big deal was. He was missing something.

"Uh, yeah...it's a postcard..." He placed his large hand against her forehead. "Are you feeling well?" He asked.

"Do you know what this means?" She asked as if he knew what was going on.

"No?"

"That means I can find my mom."