“It’s Father and Mother’s fifteenth wedding anniversary this Sunday,” my twin brother, Rajan, turned to me suddenly while we were doing our homework at the dining table. We have to do something special for them!
Forgetting my work on hand immediately, I put down my pen and launched into a lengthy discussion on what to do for our parents. Finally, we came to a consensus. “Let’s prepare a breakfast-in-bed for them—homemade kaya toast with aromatic coffee and half-boiled eggs!” Rajan exclaimed excitedly, “It’s their all-time favourite.”
I nodded enthusiastically. Father and Mother often brought us to their favourite coffee joint for breakfast during the weekends whenever possible. “For the gift, we’ll make an origami of hearts and cranes?” I suggested eagerly. Rajan’s eyes widened and a wide beam spread across his face, indicating his agreement.
That Sunday, Rajan and I woke up before Father and Mother did and bustled about in the kitchen with deliberate care and quietness. We toasted bread and boiled water concurrently. When the water was boiled, Rajan submerged the eggs into the hot water and covered the container. Then, he proceeded to prepare coffee. At the same time, I spread kaya and butter onto the slices of piping hot bread. Fastidiously, we set them onto the crockery and arranged them with the utensils on a big tray. As Rajan carried the tray, I scurried to my room to get the box of origami we had spent the night folding.
“Happy Wedding Anniversary!” Rajan and I chorused cheerfully as we entered our parents’ bedroom. Father and Mother smiled sleepily as they sat up. “Wow! This is quite a spread!” Father commented as his eyes rested on the tray in our hands.
“Smells good! Thank you, darlings,” Mother spread out her arms to embrace us. When they opened the box of paper hearts and cranes in their assorted colours, their eyes widened in delight. “This is lovely!” Mother cried out with appreciation.
“So this is the project both of you were busy with last night as you hid in the bedroom?” Father asked teasingly. Both Rajan and I simply smiled in acknowledgement. “You are such loving children!” he smiled and gave us a big bear hug that had us squealing in delight.
Seeing how blissful our parents were with our act of love, Rajan and I realized that expressions of love towards people whom we cherish were not that difficult after all. In our hearts that day, we knew that we would endeavor to do something special for our parents every single year!
- consensus a generally accepted opinion or decision among a group of people
- fastidiously giving too much attention to small details and wanting everything to be correct and perfect