Mother’s Day

Mother's Day
Chapter	58 of 129 (list of chapters)
Published	July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03)
Page count	12
Major characters	Paulo, David, Daisy, Rodrigo
Minor characters	Lucy, Mike, Rose Muir
Locations	Roseville Elementary School, Paulo’s house
Collected in	Volume Two, Omnibus 1
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Back in fifth grade, Paulo’s class sits down to make Mother’s Day cards, and he’s the only kid making one for his dad. This sepia-toned flashback chapter tells the story of the day Paulo and David first met.

Synopsis

The whole chapter is a sepia-toned flashback to Paulo’s fifth grade at Roseville Elementary School, where the teacher has just announced the Mother’s Day bake sale and set the class to making cards. Daisy throws herself into a fancy pop-up card, but when she leans over to admire Paulo’s work, she finds “Happy Father’s Day” written on his instead. Paulo won’t be corrected. He wants to make something for his dad, and his mom is off in Maraschino. Daisy can’t fathom the idea of parents living apart, and once she hears that his mother has already remarried, she loudly announces “Paulo doesn’t have a mom!” to the teacher. Paulo buries his face in his arm while classmates chime in about their own happy households.

Paulo spends recess alone up the tall tree behind the school. Up there, he replays the memory of his mother screaming that his father is a worthless slob and snarling “Keep him, then!” He’s still crying when David wanders up below and asks about it with zero tact. Paulo dares him to come up, and David makes it about halfway before falling flat on his back. Undeterred, he pesters Paulo for answers until Paulo explodes, just in time for the teacher to catch them both.

The boys land on the bench outside the principal’s office, where Paulo finally cracks and yells that his mom and dad are separated. David’s answer is an awed “COOL”. He has no dad himself, which just means his mom collects cards on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day both, and he doesn’t miss his father a bit with a mom that awesome. When David asks whether Paulo’s dad is cool, Paulo admits that yeah, he’s pretty cool. David offers to have his mom bake an extra tray so Paulo and his dad can join the sale, and only then do the boys trade names. The principal comes out to loom over them, but David cheerfully explains that it’s fine, because they’re best friends now.

At home, Rodrigo is waiting with a lecture about the fight, and Paulo answers it with the card instead of an excuse. Rodrigo rests his hand on his son’s head. “Thanks, kid.”

Character dynamics

The Father’s Day card reaches its recipient a month early.

• Paulo and David: David starts the friendship entirely on his own terms. Somewhere between catching Paulo crying and falling out of his tree, he decides this kid is worth befriending, and nothing Paulo says can shake him off. For years to come, David barrels straight past Paulo’s defenses without ever noticing them, while Paulo grumbles, gives in, and ends up grateful. Fittingly, the two of them bond over the whole affair before either has bothered to ask the other’s name.
• Paulo and Rodrigo: Paulo goes home to Rodrigo. They’re a father and son left to fend for themselves after Paulo’s mother walked out on them both. Paulo spends the whole day defending his right to make his dad a card, and David’s question about whether his dad is cool gets him to soften with a quiet “Yeah, he’s cool.” Rodrigo rests a hand on his head and says “Thanks, kid,” which is about as demonstrative as either of them gets.
• Paulo and Daisy: The two are friendly classmates, and the day’s friction doesn’t really change that. Daisy’s blundering comes from a sheltered home life rather than any malice. She simply can’t imagine parents living apart, and once she learns the truth she handles it with all the discretion a fifth grader can muster.

Trivia & observations

• The chapter began life as a Volume 2 print exclusive. Per the commentary under the opening page, it was added to the web archive during the Omnibus revamp because “it felt really necessary to the story,” slotted here as “a nice little end to Volume 2.” The authors announced the addition on Tumblr with a shrug: “We were doing some spring cleaning…”
• Veronica’s commentary admits that Oliver found these kids “too naive,” but the chapter couldn’t happen any later: “Paulo unfortunately moved to Roseville in 5th grade, so this is the earliest year this chapter can happen before the kids stop being ‘too dumb’”.
• Veronica leaves little room for Paulo’s mother to have a redemption arc. She says “the outcome shouldn’t be that the kid has to be endlessly patient and understanding to a parent who failed them in a pretty dire way.”
• This is Paulo’s mother’s only appearance in the entire series, and even here she’s just a voice in Paulo’s memory. Her name, Rose Muir, only surfaces years later on a Facebook screen.
• Maraschino, where Paulo’s mother now lives, is the family’s hometown and the city Paulo transferred from earlier that school year. In other words, she stayed put, and it was Paulo and Rodrigo who left. The city itself, Maraschino, turns up on-panel when Mike travels there in Hot Pursuit.

Related chapters

• Flirting with Disaster: Earlier in the same fifth-grade year, Paulo arrives at Roseville Elementary as the new transfer student from Maraschino, already showing off for an admiring Daisy.
• Time Out: Years down the line, Paulo tells Abbey the story of his mother’s abandonment, and he even floats the idea of going to see her, since “Maraschino isn’t too far away.”
• New Year’s Resolution: Paulo tracks his mother down on Facebook and finds her remarried and happily raising a young daughter. David once again cheers him through it, with roughly the same tact he shows on the bench here.