“It's a happy day. Don't let him worry.”

My throat closed up.

“Dad, does your back hurt?”

My father let out two quick laughs. “It doesn't hurt. Don't worry, not one bit.”

But the next second, someone on the other end of the line shouted impatiently.:

“Hey, old man, can you stop blocking the aisle?”

My mother rushed to apologize.

“Sorry, so sorry, his back's bad, he's a little slow.”

The hand holding my phone tightened, little by little.

I could almost picture them.

My father, one hand braced on a seat, unable to straighten his back.

My mother, guarding the luggage with one arm while apologizing to everyone around her.

Neither of them had ever been on a plane in their lives.

Yet before this trip, they'd been as excited as two kids.

Two weeks ago, I'd gone home to get our household papers.

My father was standing in front of the mirror, trying on a suit.

He'd saved a month's pay to buy it, said he couldn't embarrass me at the wedding.

The cuffs ran too long, and the shoulders didn't fit right.

But he still smiled and asked me.:

“Tommy, will I make you lose face, showing up on the island like this?”

My mother was packing the dried fish, pickled radish, and peanut brittle into the suitcase, bag by bag.

“It's our first time meeting that many of the in-laws' relatives. We can't show up empty-handed.”

“Your bride treats you well. We have to mind our manners too.”

Back then I'd laughed at how seriously they took it.

I said. “Carol's got everything arranged. Just stick with me.”

When my mother heard that, her eyes lit right up.

The next day she told everyone she ran into.:

“My son's getting married on an island.”

“His bride says she's flying us out there.”

But now.

They weren't on a plane.

They didn't even have a boarding pass to their name.

On the other end of the line, my mother was still carefully coaxing me.

On the phone, my mother was still coaxing me.

“Tommy, don't be angry.”

“Your bride's busy with work. Arranging for that many people isn't easy.”

“The two of us taking the train, we even save a little money.”

I closed my eyes for a moment.

“Mom, get off the train.”

“This wedding, I'm calling it off.”

My mother was terrified.

“Don't say something so foolish.”

“The train's really fine for us. Don't be stubborn.”

But I couldn't listen anymore.

After I hung up, I turned and headed for the exit.

Carol grabbed my arm.

“Where are you going?”

“To go get my parents.”

Her face darkened.

“We're boarding any minute. If you leave, what happens to the wedding?”

I looked at her.

“My parents won't even be there. What wedding is there to have?”

Harry's mother gave a soft little cough.

Carol let go of me at once, turning to drape her coat over the woman's shoulders.

“Ma'am, is the air conditioning too cold?”

The motion was practiced, attentive.

I stood where I was, and suddenly even confronting her felt pointless.

So it turned out she knew elderly people were frail and couldn't be put through hardship.

She knew too that elders needed to be looked after.

It was only that all this thoughtfulness.

Never once reached my parents.

Carol turned back, her tone impatient.

“Tom, stop making a scene.”

“I've already arranged everything for your parents.”

I gently pulled my hand free.

A coach seat for over thirty hours.

A route that meant switching to a bus, then a boat.

And my parents covering for her with their careful dignity the whole way.

This was her arrangement.

I was about to leave the airport when my phone rang again.

My mother, still.

This time, her voice was even more frightened than before.

“Tommy……it looks like we can't take the train after all.”

My heart dropped hard.

“What do you mean, you can't take the train?”

The line was loud on the other end, threaded with the impatient voice of a train attendant.

My mother kept her voice low, like she was afraid of being overheard.

"They're saying the tickets are wrong."

"They said these are yesterday's tickets, that we can't ride today."

"They've already made us get off."

My head went blank with a roar.

Carol had said she'd taken care of everything.

So this was what "taken care of" meant. She'd bought my parents two expired coach tickets.

I gripped my phone tighter.

"Mom, where are you right now?"

My mother said quickly,

"Tommy, don't blame your daughter-in-law."

"She had so many people to arrange for. A slip-up in all that chaos is only normal."

Beside her I heard my father swallowing back a cough.

"We'll just wait here at the station for a bit."

"It's no trouble."

"Don't let it hold up your boarding."

They'd been kicked off the train.

They were standing in some unfamiliar station.

And still they were making excuses for Carol.

My chest went tight. I turned to face her.

"You bought my parents yesterday's tickets?"

Carol's expression shifted, just barely.

"What?"

I held the phone out in front of her.

"They got thrown off the train."

"Is this what you meant by 'taken care of'?"

Carol finally frowned.

It was like the trouble was only now registering with her.

"The assistant must have made a mistake when booking."

"Don't panic just yet."

She lifted her own phone and made a call.

"I'll have my assistant go pick up your parents."

"Let's not fly today after all."

"We'll rebook and all go together tomorrow."

She spoke fast, her tone softening a little.

Like she was handling some minor, temporary incident.

But watching her, my heart went cold by degrees.

If I hadn't kept pressing.

If my mother hadn't called.

Would my parents have been left in that train station, clutching their luggage, waiting until dark?

Harry came over just then, his face uneasy.

"It's my fault."

"If my relatives hadn't added people at the last minute, your parents wouldn't have gotten bumped off their flight."

He went on, his voice dropping lower.

"It's just, this is my parents' first trip far from home. I was worried there'd be no one to look after them."

Carol's eyes snapped to him at once.

"How is any of this your fault?"

"Don't take everything on yourself."

Watching her shield Harry like that, a sense of absurdity washed over me.

My parents had been sold the wrong tickets and dragged off the train.

Her first reaction was that it was a nuisance.

Harry's face went a little pale.

And she ached for him at once, as if he were the one who'd been terribly wronged.

A little over half an hour later, the assistant brought my parents to the airport.

The moment my mother spotted me, she hurried to hide the plastic bag in her hand behind her back.

Inside was the peanut brittle she'd made to bring to the island.

She must have been jostled on the platform, because the bag had split open, the brittle cracked into pieces, sticking to the clear plastic.

My father had a hand braced at his back, his face frighteningly pale.

Yet the first thing he said when he saw Carol was,

"Carol, sorry to have caused you so much trouble."

"It was us old folks not reading the tickets right."

My nose stung.

"Dad."

But Carol only lowered her head to glance at her watch.

"Good thing it didn't hold us up too long."

My mother held out the broken plastic bag, her smile careful.

"Carol, this is peanut brittle I made myself."

"And a little dried fish, for the in-laws."

"It's my first time meeting all those relatives on your side. I couldn't show up empty-handed."

Carol lowered her eyes and took one look.

Her brow creased, almost on reflex.

"Ma'am, the island resort provides all the meals."

“These strong-smelling things, just don't bring them to the island.”

“The wedding's going for an understated, upscale look. These don't really fit.”

My mother's hand froze in midair.

The smile on her face faded, bit by bit, then she forced it back up just as fast.

“Oh. Right.”

“It's me, I don't know any better.”

She hurriedly pulled the bag back and hid it behind her.

“Then I won't bring them. I don't want to be any trouble for you.”

My throat felt stuffed with a wad of cotton, aching too much to speak.

On the other side, Harry's mother coughed softly, twice.

Carol went over at once and steadied her.

“Have a seat first, ma'am.”

“Did you not eat anything this morning?”

She turned and sent her assistant to buy some hot porridge, then pushed the woman's luggage aside with her own hands.

Gentle, patient, attentive.

A completely different person from the one who'd just been so cold to my parents.

Harry's aunt let out a quiet little laugh just then.

“Old folks who've never flown before, of course they get nervous.”

“And bringing all these tacky things, it really isn't right for an island wedding.”

My mother heard it.

She gripped the bag in her hands, and lowered her head even further.

“It's us, we don't know how things are done. We've made a mess for everyone.”

Carol acted as if she hadn't caught the shame in my mother's words, only glancing at the car parked outside.

“Harry's got a lot of relatives.”

“Why don't your parents ride in the van behind us.”

I looked outside.

The car behind us had its back seats piled high with suitcases.

One look and you could tell it was the staff vehicle.

My voice went cold.

“My father's back is bad. You're putting him in the cargo van?”

Carol's brows knitted together.

“Tom, do you have to make it sound so ugly?”

“There's just a little more luggage in that car.”

“We'll be on the island tomorrow. Do you really have to nitpick about this right now?”

I looked at her.

And in that moment, I suddenly understood.

Carol hadn't forgotten to respect my parents.

She had simply never thought they were worth respecting.

My mother quickly grabbed my hand.

“Tommy, don't say any more.”

“Your dad and I can sit anywhere. The wedding's what matters.”

The wedding's what matters.

Even now, they were still afraid of holding up my wedding.

But looking at my father's pale face, looking at my mother clutching that bag of crushed peanut brittle, the last bit of hope in my heart finally went out, little by little.

I didn't argue anymore.

I just helped my parents to the hotel beside the airport.

My father apologized the whole way.

“Tommy, I'm really fine.”

“Did we just make things hard for your bride back there?”

My mother was clutching that bag of broken peanut brittle too, and said quietly:

“Maybe we just shouldn't bring these things.”

“Don't let the in-laws laugh at you.”

Watching how flustered they looked, the bridge of my nose stung hard.

They hadn't done a single thing wrong.

Yet they looked like two people who'd committed some offense.

Once we were in the room, I told them to rest first.

Then I took out my phone and canceled the flights to the island.

I bought three new tickets to Northgate City.

After buying the tickets, I sent the wedding planner a message.

“The wedding's off.”

They called back quickly, their tone startled.

“Mr. Gilbert, the wedding's tomorrow. Are you sure?”

I looked at my parents, already asleep on the bed from exhaustion, and said softly “I'm sure.”

At ten that night, Carol came back.

When she pushed the door open, her face wasn't looking good.

Probably because the unpleasantness at the airport today had thrown off Harry's whole family.

She stood in the doorway, looking at me.

“Tom, tomorrow we all fly together.”