"Here, Tanya!" my mother shouted enthusiastically. She hands me a card, bright and blue. The words, Happy Birthday lay across the cover. "That's so nice of your uncle to send this you."
     I nod, smiling. I open the card in my hands.
Happy birthday, Tanya!
You're finally a teenager!
You have your life ahead of you. Don't waste it!
I'm so sorry I can't be there for your birthday :)
But to make up for it, here's some money for a nice gift you could get for yourself.
I've been missing you since you last visited. Hopefully I see you soon.
Have a great thirteenth birthday!
-Uncle Marcus
     I smile as I remove the one hundred dollar bill from the card. Putting it in my pocket, I ask my mother "Does uncle Marcus still live in Philadelphia?"
     My mother looks away from the cake she's currently coating in frosting. "No honey, he moved back to Europe over a year ago." She licks the frosting from her fingertips. "Why don't you call him, to say thank you?"
     "That's what I was already planning to do."
     She scoffs. "Yeah, okay."
     Ignoring her comment, I head towards her bedroom. As I enter her room, my eyes look for my mother's phone. There it is on the bed. I grab it and start to scroll through her contacts. My eyes land on Marcus. I slide his name to the right to start calling. I press the phone to my ear and wait.
     On the third ring, I sigh and wait for the call to end. Oh, well. I turn to walk out of my mother's room. As I'm about to step out, her phone vibrates in my hand. Looking at the caller ID, I see that it's my uncle.
     "Hello?"  I say after answering the phone.
     "Lisa?" The man's loud, gruff voice shocks me.
     "Um, no. It's Tanya." I bring some light in my voice as I smile.
     "Hey, sweetie! Happy birthday!"
     I chuckle. "Thank's, uncle Marcus. I called to thank you for the card and the gift."
     "Oh, it's no problem, sweetie. It's the least I could do after not visiting in so long."
     "It's okay. How are you doing?" I ask, wanting to be polite.
     "I'm doing great here. How are you and your mom?"
     "We're good. Would you like to speak to her?"
     "Yes, actually. That'd be great. I haven't spoken to her in so long."
     I mutter, "Okay." 
     I quickly walk out of my mother's bedroom. As I walk through the hallway, I hear rustling through the phone. I hear a faint voice, a woman's voice. Saying nothing about it, I enter the kitchen.
     "Marcus would like to speak to you." I say, handing the phone to her.
     She smiles at me and takes the phone from me. I walk away as they begin their conversation with cliché greetings. I walk through the hallway again to go to my room. As I open the door, I see Martha sleeping on my bed. I dropped down on my bed, but she hardly wakes up. She purrs as I pet her head.
     My phone rings and I perk up. Reaching over, I disconnect my phone from the charger. In bold white letters, Mom shines on my phone.
     Rolling my eyes, I answer. "Yes?"
     "Tanya! How would you like to spend the summer with your uncle, this summer?"
     I gasp, surprised by the offer. I've always wanted to go to London and now I finally have the chance. "UM, YES."
     I hear a deep chuckle as I get up from the bed.
     "That's great to hear, Tanya!" my uncle says. This must be a conference call.
     "Oh my gosh!" I say, leaving my room. I run to kitchen and gape at my mother. She grins at me, nodding.
     I hug her as she says "Happy birthday, baby."