“Austin, can I ask you something really important?” I asked, looking straight into his hazel eyes.

He gave a slow nod.

“Why did you ask me for only one more month when you put your birthday money on the table this morning?” I asked him softly.

He looked at me in honest confusion, as though the answer should have been perfectly obvious to anybody with eyes.

“Because of what your surgeon told you at your two-week checkup after the surgery, Mom,” he explained matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean, honey?