A Jock in the Machine Ch. 05

'But your mom can't get in.' Tim protested. He didn't mind Cassie holding him as close as she was, but keeping Lara waiting outside in the cold was a bit embarrassing.

'Duncare.'

Tim sighed. Alright then, if that's how she was going to play it. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in. Just when it felt like she couldn't budge any closer to him, he heaved her up, lifting her feet a few inches of the ground. She giggled in surprise as he carried her inside, allowing her mom to follow them.

The friendly neighborly reunion that followed happened almost too quickly. Lara and Jessica immediately began chatting, catching up for the first time in years. With all that had happened, Lara had had no time to call Tim's mom up during the week, so the two deserved some much-needed time to talk. And then, when Cassie had finally decided she would let go of Tim and join the two moms in the kitchen, Jessica had immediately turned her attention to Cassie, bombarding her with all manner of questions, from how much she'd grown up, to old memories, to embarrassing stories about Tim. That one very uncomfortable talk that Tim'd had with Lara when they first moved back, Cassie was now forced into with Jessica. She could barely respond to one question before Tim's mom, in all her excitement, spouted out two more. Tim for the most part just rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Once Jessica had exhausted every single thing she could think of, at least for the time being, she invited everyone to sit at the kitchen table. Cassie tried her best to immediately scoot up next to Tim, only to have her mom stop her and make her sit opposite him. Lara sat down next to her. Once Jessica had brought in the much awaited dinner, a full roast turkey that she knew her son loved and she had spent the last few hours preparing just right, she took her seat next to Tim.

The dinner itself went rather smoothly, without much talking apart from Jessica and Lara gossiping about usual mom stuff, which mostly involved their kids, as if the two weren't even in the same room as them. It wasn't long before Tim and Cassie had full on blocked them out, instead focusing on each other from across the table. They didn't speak, just staring into the other's eyes. It felt nice for both of them, being able to just relax for once. The niceness ended when they reached for the last turkey leg at the same time. With neither Tim nor Cassie willing to let the other one have the drumstick, it turned into all out war, forcing their moms to stop their kids lest they start an actual food fight. In the end, Tim won, victoriously sitting back in his chair with the leg in hand and a sly smile on his face.

He had planned to mess with Cassie and really overplay how good the turkey was, biting into it slowly as he closed his eyes for dramatic effect. But when he opened them back up and looked over at Cassie, he didn't see an annoyed look on her face. Instead, he was met with a fiery gaze and a slight smirk. She leaned forward over the table, propping her chin on one of her arms, never breaking eye contact. If she had wanted to, she could've gotten the drumstick out of his hands immediately and he'd be too dumbstruck to protest. But she didn't want that.

A shudder crept up Tim's entire body. He broke away from Cassie's alluring gaze and looked downwards. And there it was. A small, white cotton sock-clad foot rubbing against his crotch. Slowly teasing up and down the length of it. Tim let out a low moan, frantically eyeing the room to check if anyone had heard him. Luckily, his mom and Lara seemed to be too lost in their talk, probably discussing something stupid Tim had done when he was 4. Cassie however, had heard him loud and clear. She'd lifted her eyebrow at him just so he got the message. He'd forgotten how hot she looked doing that.

Tim scooted over in his chair, trying to use the table to hide his completely obvious erection. Cassie's foot felt magical on him. All of Cassie felt magical on him, really. Just as he had found a comfortable position to sit in, the foot suddenly moved away. Tim's eyes darted back up to Cassie, only to find her looking away as if nothing had happened. She had just teased him like nothing and then stopped abruptly. He had to get back at her, and he knew just how to do it.

Unbeknownst to Tim, Cassie had not moved her leg back to mess with him. He had been too preoccupied with shifting in his seat to cover himself that he'd missed when Lara noticed her daughter's undertable teasing. A firm grab on Cassie's leg and a brief but stern look from her mother spoke much louder than words would, and Cassie had stopped her rubbing immediately. She had looked away to compose herself for just a second, not wanting to let Tim know what was going on. That second however, wound up being far less than enough, as a strange feeling gripped her entire body. No. It couldn't be! She looked back at her mom to make sure she wasn't looking, and then immediately looked down between her own legs.

And sure enough, in a shocking turn of events, the tables had been turned on Cassie and it was Tim's foot rubbing her crotch in return. She immediately looked up at him, desperately wanting to find some way to signal him to stop. Meeting his sly smirk and feeling his toes slowly moving up and down her crotch however made her completely drop that plan. Tim might not have had much experience doing something like that, but he was a fast learner, and was expertly mimicking Cassie's earlier movements. And given how great Cassie was at it, it was no surprise that she was getting lost in the feeling. A piece of her was still fighting it, desperately trying to resist the incessant teasing and not just give in to the pressure and pop a jeans-ripping boner right in the middle of dinner. That piece was quickly losing the battle. If Tim didn't stop soon...

A loud gasp came from Tim's lips. Cassie looked directly at him as she felt the rubbing stop. She looked back down between her legs, and in utter shock found her mother's hand firmly gripping Tim's ankle.

'Is something the matter, dear?' Jessica turned to face her son, who was desperately trying to get free of Lara's grasp.

'N-no, mom, it's j-just that...' His eyes darted from Cassie to his mom and then to Lara, who finally gave him a slight nod and let go of his leg. 'I'm so full! It was a great turkey.' Shit. That was the least convincing lie he could have thought of.

'Oh, shush, it wasn't that good.' His mom surely couldn't have bought it. But there was a slight pink blush forming on her cheeks.

'It really was, Miss Jones! I loved it!' Cassie joined in, trying her best to help Tim cover up.

'Oh you two. And Cassandra, I know it's been a few years, but it's Jessica to you. Okay?' Jessica turned from the two kids. She was definitely blushing.

'Not going to happen, Jess.' Lara chuckled. Her expression returned to a much calmer one as she resumed her talk. This time, out of fear and embarrassment, Cassie and Tim actually listened to their moms talking. 'I've been trying to get your son to call me Lara for a week now. Best he's done is ma'am.'

'That's my son, that is. Always so polite.' Jessica pinched Tim's cheek. He recoiled back and patted her hand away.

'That wasn't a nice thing to do to your mom, Tim.' Once again, Cassie's mom stared directly into Tim's eyes. And once again, an overwhelming sense of uneasiness came over him. 'You've got a great mom, at least let her tease you a bit.'

'Oh please, if I'm a great mom, then you're supermom.' Both Cassie and Tim's parents laughed in unison. Not wanting to get into trouble, the kids joined in as well. 'Oh I needed that laugh.' Jessica spoke up as the giggling died down. 'Anyway, what were we talking about?'

'I was just asking what you were doing over the weekend.' Lara replied, returning to the topic at hand.

Tim froze in his chair, his entire body tensing up. Next to him, he could see the joy slowly draining from his mom's face.

'Oh, nothing big, just...' Jessica tried to brush it off. It wasn't working. She'd enjoyed herself so much that she'd completely forgotten all about the next day. 'I'm just going to...' She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence. She just really didn't want to think about this now. She...

Tim placed his hand on his mom's shoulder. Her hand quickly grabbed his as she squeezed so tight that it hurt. But he made sure to not let her know. She needed it.

'Sorry about that, as I was saying, tomorrow I'm going to the...' Again she could barely say it. Jessica looked at her son, who gave her an approving and supporting nod. 'To the cemetery.'

'Oh my God, Jess!' Lara jumped in her seat, covering her mouth with her hands. 'I'm so sorry for bringing it up, I completely forgot!'

Cassie looked around the room. In less than a minute the whole atmosphere had shifted. The air stood heavy with tension. The other three people in the room obviously knew what was going on, but she didn't.

'Why, what's at the cemetery?' She asked calmly, but was immediately stopped by her mom's hand swiftly latching onto hers and squeezing. Unlike Jessica squeezing Tim's hand for support, this was a warning to stop talking.

'It's fine, Lara, you can't blame your daughter for being curious.' Tim's mom said as she took a deep breath to compose herself. 'I'm going there to see...' She gulped. She didn't want to squeeze onto her son's hand any more or she might hurt him.

'She's going there to see dad, Cass.' Tim took up the mantle to let his mom steady herself a bit. He moved his chair closer to her, then guided her head to rest on his shoulder. 'He's, uhh, buried there.'

Tim's response hit Cassie like a truck. She felt like a complete asshole for asking about it so nonchalantly.

'Oh my gosh, Miss Jon- I mean Jessica, I'm so sorry, I didn't know!' Cassie blurted out, desperately trying to apologize. 'What happened, why- Ow!'

Lara had twisted Cassie's arm.

'Honey, stop talking. Now!'

'Lara, I said it's fine!' Jessica peaked up. She still didn't move her head from Tim's shoulder, but at least she was no longer holding his hand. 'My son hasn't told you about his dad, then?'

Both Cassie and Tim shook their heads, Cassie still in shock, Tim in sadness.

'I guess it makes sense. Tim never got to meet his dad.' A tear formed in Jessica's eye and quickly rolled down her face. Still, she was determined to push on and tell Cassie everything. She couldn't back out now. 'He, umm, he died the day Tim was born.'

Cassie gasped. She'd known Tim for years but had never once even thought about asking about his father. Next to her, Lara outstretched her arm across the table to grab hold of Jessica's for a bit of extra support. Cassie did much the same, quickly grabbing hold of Tim's right arm. He looked at her briefly and nodded in thanks.

'He was rushing to the hospital as I was having my ultrasound done.' Jessica continued. The tears were now freely flowing down her face. She had no will left to stop them. 'He would've been so happy. But he didn't check for cars as he was crossing and... and...'

'That's enough, mom.' Tim pulled his mom in closer, her chin resting on his shoulder. She sobbed uncontrollably. 'That's enough...'

Jessica cried her heart out for a few minutes. No one else in the room spoke a word, or even really moved at all. She'd cried so much that she went out of breath. And the worst part was that it couldn't even compare to the crying she'd be doing the next day.

'I'm... I'm sorry about that.' Jessica finally said as she got up from Tim's shoulder and sat up straight in her seat. She brushed off the drying up tears from her cheeks.

'Please, Miss Jones, don't be sorry, it's my fault!' Cassie quickly tried calming Tim's mom down. 'I shouldn't have asked!'

'It's really not your fault, mom.' Tim joined in. He wasn't going to let his mom nor Cassie take the fall. 'I should've told Cass about dad a long time ago. It's just, we never talk about this stuff. I don't even know anything about Cassie's dad either.'

Suddenly, Jessica tensed up in her chair. Oh no, no, no. She hadn't wanted the conversation to go like this at all.

'Tim, honey, I don't think you should push Cassandra to tell you about her dad.' She tried desperately to defuse the situation.

'There's nothing to tell, really. I don't know anything about him either.' Cassie confessed. 'Mom always refuses to speak about him.'

Lara's hand retreated back from holding Jessica. It was quickly followed by Jessica returning the favor and quickly grabbing hold of her. The sudden movement of his mom's arm made Tim look across the table towards Lara, and on her face he saw a look all too familiar to him: the same look his mom got when talking about his father. And suddenly, it dawned on him that in a cruel twist of events, much like Cassie had sprung the uncomfortable topic on his mom earlier, he had now done so to Lara.

'Uhh, yes, yes, sorry, mom.' He frantically turned to his mom before facing Lara. 'Sorry, ma'am, I shouldn't have brought it-'

'It's fine, Tim. I guess I really haven't talked about him all that much.' Lara sighed. She looked much calmer than a second ago.

'You have never talked about him, mom. Not once.' Cassie corrected her mother, her voice unsteady. 'Is he... is he like Tim's...'

'No, no, dear. Your dad isn't dead. At least he wasn't last time I checked...' Lara began telling the room about Cassie's dad but suddenly stopped. It felt like a big rock had lodged itself into her throat. Still, if Jessica had just told everyone about Tim's dad, she had to be just as strong. She felt Jessica's hand grip her arm tighter. 'He's living in England with his family. They have two kids and...'

'Wait. My dad's alive? And he's got kids? Why haven't you ever told me about him!' Cassie's voice got louder. She stared at her mom in disbelief. All the times she'd asked about her father while growing up, always assuming the worst when her mom didn't answer, and now she was finding out he's alive? That's cruel, by any standards.

'Cassandra, honey, please don't talk to your mother like that.' Tim's mom looked over at Cassie, her gaze warm and motherly, but her tone stern.

'It's fine, Jess. I suppose I should have told her about it sooner.' Lara tried calming her friend down. She was still remaining calm herself, or at least that's how she appeared on the surface. Underneath, she was on the verge of tears.

'No shit, you should have!.' Cassie shot back.

In almost perfect unison, both Jessica and Tim peaked up.

'Cassandra!'

'Cass!'

'No, it's fine, you two. She's right to be angry.' Lara once again tried shushing the Joneses. 'Cassandra, dear, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about your dad before. Do you want me to tell you about him now?'

'Yes, obviously!' Cassie replied, becoming more and more annoyed with her mother.

'Okay, here goes.' Lara took a deep breath. This was it. All she had to do was not cry. She felt Jessica's grip tighten around her arm, letting Lara know she was there for her. 'I met your dad in college, in my first year. We dated for three years and it was just so amazing. Everything was going so great. The dates, the holidays, the sex. Oh my god, the sex.' Lara looked around the room, composing herself. 'Sorry, you don't want to know about that. Then in the third year it all fell apart. I... I...'

'You what, mom?' Cassie urged her mother on.

'I got pregnant. With you, honey.' A small tear formed in Lara's eye. Cassie noticed it immediately, and for the second time in less than an hour felt like a complete asshole for pushing people to the point of crying, out of stupid curiosity. 'We had a fight, and we broke up. He took all his things and just, left.' The tear ran down Lara's face as more welled up in her eyes. 'Then I found out that everything I thought we had was a lie. He had other girlfriends. A lot of them. All the things he had said, lies. He hadn't loved me at all. Just my body. He...' The tears were now a river. Two rivers even, one from each eye. Lara couldn't continue, despite her best efforts.

'Mom, I'm... I'm really sorry.' Cassie sat in her chair in disbelief. She was sad, but also angry. Not only at herself for making her mom talk about all of this, but also at her dad for causing it to her. 'But please don't cry over him. He lied to you. It wasn't your fault.' Cassie desperately wanted to cheer her mom up. Nothing worked. 'He was a mistake...'

'No! He wasn't!' Lara shouted out as she tensed up in her seat. She looked even more hurt than before.

'Mom, come on, he was definitely a mista-'

'No, no, no! He was not a mistake!' Lara shouted out once again, even louder than before as she began sobbing out of control. Jessica stood up to walk over to her friend.

'Mom, please, why are you defending-'

Cassie felt a hand grab her by the arm. She looked down at it - Tim's.

'Because if he was a mistake, Cass,' He begun, looking directly into Cassie's eyes. 'It makes it sound like you were a mistake, too.'

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Tim sighed. He was sitting on the steps on his front porch. The night was much warmer than usual, with almost no wind at all.

He had come out here ten minutes earlier. After Lara had opened up about Cassie's dad, both Tim and his mom had decided it would be best to give the two some time alone to talk things through. Cassie and Lara had moved to the living room, and Jessica had gone to wash the dishes. Not wanting to go to his room, Tim had simply up and went out of the house. At least outside the atmosphere wasn't as tense. Even if he did have a lot on his mind once again.

The door creaked.

'Hey.' Cassie's voice came from behind Tim. She didn't sound sad, at least. Tim hoped everything had gone well. 'Can I sit here?'

She didn't wait for his response as she sat down on the steps, right next to Tim. She didn't look sad either.

'So...' Tim began. He didn't want to pressure her into talking about things she didn't want to talk about. The night had already been full of those moments.

'So?' Cassie smirked. He was worried about her. That was so sweet of him.

'You know...' He looked at her, seeing the playful look in her eye. She still didn't respond. 'Did you and your mom...'

'Yeah.' Cassie hugged him briefly. She wanted to let him know it was fine. 'We talked things through.'

'Really?' Tim's eyes lit up. That was great news. He was definitely glad.

'Yup. And the best part is, I'm not even grounded anymore!' Cassie clapped her hands in front of her.

Tim didn't reply. Cassie had thought hearing that would make him jump with joy. Instead, he looked taken aback by it.

'Hey, are you-'

'Cass, I'm sorry.' Tim muttered out, interrupting her. He wasn't looking at her when he said it. In fact, he looked like he was trying to look anywhere else but at her eyes.

'You're so-'

'About today.' About what? Cassie loved everything he'd done all day long. What was he apologizing for?

'All the touching, and teasing, and everything.' He still wasn't looking at her. And she'd loved those things the most! What was he...

'I tried to be more confident like you wanted me to but it wound up being like that...' Tim finally looked up at Cassie. 'But I can't keep going on like this.'

What? No. No, no, no, no. No! That sounded exactly like... Was he going to break up with her? Cassie cupped her hands in front of her face. The tears immediately started welling up.

'What your mom said about your dad...'

Please don't say it was all Cassie could think about. She didn't want to listen anymore, but couldn't force herself not to.

'I don't want you to think I'm like that...'

Please don't say it. Cassie clenched her eyes shut. She didn't want to look at him saying it.

'Only wanting you for your body...'