As You Wish

Still, Jeremy and I attempted to steal every minute we could from the dictatorial clock.

Misha was a miracle worker and managed to spread every penny we took in further than I thought was possible. She found room in the budget to hire a recruiter and I was going through resumes when Jeremy called.

"I have four hours available tonight. Can you get free?"

I replied immediately. "Yes."

"I didn't even tell you what four hours," he said with a chuckle.

"Totally don't care. Ten to two? Three to seven? Whatever works, I'll take."

"Okay, it's four to eight. Mom's been pushing to have Ethan for a while. With everything going on, they haven't spent much time with him. Her best friend from when they were kids is in town and I think she wants to show him off. Ethan got to choose the dinner and she's making a cake, so he's all for it. Honestly, I don't want to be there. It sounds horrible, but I don't want to listen to another stranger tell me how healthy he looks or how I'm a wonderful dad or any other polite bullshit."

"I get that. Listen, let's do something at my place. I'll take a half day, leave early and make dinner."

"Are you sure?"

I'd never cooked for him and he'd only been to my home once.

"Absolutely. Any preferences?"

"Yeah, no bologna."

I laughed. "Deal."

"Okay, I'll see you around four. Thanks for doing this."

Warmth spread from my chest upwards, and I knew my neck was flushed. I'll admit that a lot of what we had started with me being horny and Jeremy being hot. This was different. He just made me happy. I wanted to have him in my home. I wanted to make the most of those four hours. It was an opportunity to share a bit of me, of who I was, of my life away from my work.

"Of course. See you then."

I stopped at Loblaws and wandered the aisles, picking up random ingredients. Wine and cheese would go with anything. An assortment of chocolates would be perfect for dessert. I wasn't sure if Ethan would know about our dinner, so I picked up some kid-centric snacks and desserts for him so he wouldn't feel left out.

I wound up deciding on a simple pot roast. It was basic while still delicious and offered plenty of leftovers. Carrots, pearl onions, red cabbage, egg noodles and red wine for the gravy went into the basket. I had to go through the frozen aisle to get to the cashier, so I grabbed some ice cream. What the hell, why not?

The meat went into the Le Creuset with a small amount of oil and garlic. I kept the temperature just below where the oil would start smoking and used the tongs to sear all sides of the meat, then turned down the temperature, used the red wine to deglaze and began peeling the onions.

Once everything was going, I arrayed the cheese, chilled the wine and sat down to read for a while.

There was a knock on the door at precisely four.

"Come in!"

I turned to see Jeremy walk in, a box in hand.

"Come in? What if I was some sort of burglar?"

"I'd stall him. He'd have no idea that I had a mountain man coming by who'd kick him to the curb."

He smiled and ran his fingers through his beard. "Mountain man?"

"I like it. Don't change it."

Jeremy lifted the box. "I brought dessert. It's, um, just a grocery store cake."

"Great! Can you put it on the table?"

Finishing what I was doing, I poured us some wine and we talked while enjoying the cheese and some grapes.

"So, you didn't want to be a wish granter when you were a kid. What did you think you'd be doing with your life back when you were ten-year-old Noreen?"

I waved my hand in dismissal. "Nothing. What about you?"

Smiling with eyes narrowed, he answered quickly. "Carpenter, but don't give me that 'nothing'. Seriously, what did you think you'd be doing?"

Sighing, I nabbed a bit of cheese. "Okay, but it's stupid. I wanted to be in charge of Esso."

"The gas station company?"

"Yeah. I wanted to do something similar, but larger than Dad's job. Whenever we were on the highway, I'd see those enormous trucks and the stations were everywhere. For some reason, it stuck in my head. I didn't know what 'being in charge' meant, but that's what I was convinced I was going to do."

"And bigger than your dad to show him up?"

I was quiet for a moment. "No, not really. I wanted him to be proud. To maybe notice me."

Jeremy reached out and lightly took my hand. He didn't say anything, not verbally. I shook my head.

"It was stupid. I'm making it seem worse than it was. He wasn't some Dickens villain with a heart of ice. He was just dedicated and spent a lot of time at the office."

Nodding, Jeremy gave my hand a little squeeze before drinking some of the wine.

After checking the tenderness of the meat, I put the water on to boil for the noodles. Just as they were ready, there was another knock on the door and then Mom walked in.

"Honey, I thought we could put the decorations away and..." She turned to Jeremy. "Oh, hello."

I rolled my eyes. I'd put the decorations back more than a week ago. Having Jeremy's pickup in the driveway must have been Mom's equivalent of the bat signal hovering over Gotham. She somehow used her Mom superpower to see it, hopped in the Mom-mobile, and showed up.

"Mom, this is Jeremy. Jeremy, my mom, Carol. She's psychic."

Mom shook her head. "Ignore my daughter. So, do I smell dinner on the stove? What do you do, Jeremy?"

He turned to me and had the deer in the headlights look.

"I, uh, I work... worked. As a labourer. What about you, Carol?"

"I'm involved in our civic association and I help with the outreach for my husband's company."

"Right. Um, that sounds nice."

I jumped in. "She was just leaving. Thanks for stopping by, Mom."

She looked from me to Jeremy. "Of course. Well, it was lovely meeting you. We have to do this again."

Do what? Invite herself in on our dinner? She was out of her mind. "Yes, absolutely. Let me walk you out."

When we stepped out onto the porch, she turned to me. "He's more handsome than he is in the picture with his son. Do you need anything?"

I just stared at her for a beat. What the heck could I want? "No, Mom. I've got this."

"Maybe he'd like to stop by one day and we could all go out to dinner."

"Right. You read my mind. I was desperately hoping I could bring him to meet Dad. Let's set a date. Are the two of you free on the thirty-second?"

She gave me the mom look. "You're not half as funny as you think you are."

"Thanks for stopping by. I'll call you."

She finally left. The noodles were overcooked, but everything else was fine.

"So, that wasn't totally weird. I mean, all mothers just burst in, determined to embarrass their children and get super nosy, right?"

He shrugged. "Could be worse."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. Could also be a lot better."

"Can I ask what she knows about me? About us?"

Totally fair. I took a sip of wine. "Not much, honestly. Lots of speculation, I'm sure. She knows who you are in general terms. I'm wondering if she spoke with Mrs. Collip. They were close when I was riding every week and we stabled our horse there. If she did, that was totally wrong and I'll address it."

Jeremy tilted his head and waved the idea away. "It's not a big deal. I guess it's a Mom thing. It was just a little... Much? Surprising? So, she doesn't know a lot, which makes sense. I'm not sure there's much to know. It feels like we're running incredibly fast, but on a treadmill. Does that make sense?"

It did. Whatever we had between us was surrounded by so much other craziness that it felt like we were snatching moments together in the middle of a hurricane. It was hard to know if this was real and meant what I wanted it to mean or if it was a byproduct of everything else.

"Yeah, it does."

He smiled. "So, you think she'll be back for dessert?"

I laughed. "No, not a chance. She'll definitely be staying away until the next time I explicitly invite her over. She knew I wasn't happy."

When we finished eating, I packed up a bunch of the leftovers for Jeremy and Ethan.

"I'm not taking all of that."

"Please do. It's just going to go to waste if you don't. I grabbed some for myself and Misha is buying me a huge lunch every day to woo me into staying."

I convinced him. We sat and continued talking over coffee and cake. It was heaven to relax and behave like normal people. I didn't want to rush our date. If we had an hour before he had to leave, I wanted to take every minute. But... he kept looking at me over the cup of coffee, the sleeves rolled up on his flannel shirt and the muscles on his forearms shifting with every move.

As I brought the plates over to the sink, Jeremy followed me with some of the serving dishes. Brushing past me, his cock pushed against my ass. He grabbed the glasses and came back, this time reaching over my shoulder to put them in the sink. He swept back some of my hair and kissed my neck just below my ear.

Lost in the contrast between his soft lips and beard, I reached back and ran my hand through the hair on the back of his head, pulling him tighter. His lips went higher, kissing behind my ear, then making their way to my jaw. I pushed back against him and Jeremy stepped forward, putting one leg between mine and inching my legs apart.

I pushed against him again and felt his hardness. His hands fell to my waist and he hooked his thumbs into the top of my slacks. Still kissing my jaw, moving closer and closer to my lips, he pushed down on the cloth, eventually slipping it past the swell of my ass. When they fell to the ground, he stepped on my panties and slacks and I lifted a foot free.

His hands fell from my body. A second later, I saw him toss a condom wrapper on the counter. Pulling back from me, I assumed he put it on. Jeremy quickly dropped his pants and pushed lightly on my back until I bent over. I felt his hand between us as he grabbed his cock and positioned it where he wanted. Running the head along my slit, I heard a moan and realized it was coming from me. I was soaked and he used that to get himself ready.

Jeremy almost growled as he shifted forward and inside of me. Grabbing the edge of the counter, I lowered my head and stuck my ass out, lost in what he was doing to me. One of his hands rested on mine and the other snaked around to my breast. I could feel his weight as his lean body weighed on me. Just as he reached under my blouse, I came with an inarticulate moan.

Jeremy soon followed and held me up with the hand that had been searching for my breast. I could still feel his weight as he panted in my ear. When I heard his throaty chuckle, I pulled myself together and looked up. Somehow we'd knocked the sprayer from the faucet loose and there was water everywhere.

After kissing me again, he tucked himself away, pulled up his pants and grabbed some towels. I looked at the clock.

"Go take a shower. I've got this."

"Nah, it'll just take a second."

We had time for a quick shower if all we did was shower. It was difficult, but we managed. Jeremy took the leftovers and the treats I got for Ethan. Taking another glass of wine, I sat down on my couch and melted into the cushions.

Things weren't just good, they were perfect-adjacent.

Until they weren't.

14 - Jeremy

The only thing missing from the scene I walked into was a half-smoked cigarette dangling from Mom's fingers as she stared aimlessly across the kitchen, the ash hanging precariously as swirls of smoke inched through the air.

Well, and I guess an ashtray.

But the rest of it could have been something out of a movie. The light above the sink was the only one on, the yellow beam almost too tired to cut through the shadows thrown across the spotless counters. Three dessert plates sat in the drying rack next to the sink; everything else had been put back in its place. Mom sat at the kitchen table alone, her only companion a glass of wine that was empty except for the trace of cheap red circling the bottom.

I hadn't bothered knocking, but she didn't seem surprised to see me. She didn't seem anything; her eyes didn't even move as I entered the kitchen, just stared at something further away than the wall that was blocking her vision.

The kitchen was small, with a table barely big enough to fit the four of us around it for Sunday dinner, and yet she was miles gone. Oceans away. Far enough that a step on the worn linoleum felt monumentally insignificant, a never-ending climb that I almost couldn't bring myself to start.

But I did.

I had to.

I had to keep going.

She didn't look at me when I sat in the chair beside her. That was the spot I always sat in, ever since I was a kid. Right in the middle of her and Dad, my sister Shayla and then eventually Ethan across from me. Every single night, we sat like that, and then every Sunday dinner, and then Shayla moved away to make more of herself than any of us could.

Shayla.

Fuck. I'd forgotten to call Shayla. I had to...

She was going to be a nurse. I don't know why. Who would choose that? Who would choose to...

It didn't matter.

"He's asleep," Mom said suddenly. "I put him on our bed upstairs. The meds kicked in about an hour ago. Not before we watched Scooby Doo thirteen times or so, though. He was hungry, too. I was going to save you some cake but..."

"I'm glad he ate it," I said.

She finally looked at me. Her eyes were red, though I didn't know if it was just dryness from her unblinking stare or something more.

"What about Noreen?" she asked.

Anger prickled through me. "For fuck's sake, Mom! Right now? You're really going to--"

She didn't speak, but the severe shaking of her head cut me off all the same.

"Not like that," she said. "The wishes. She..."

I hadn't even thought of that.

Noreen was magic. Not in the sense that she could actually grant wishes, but in the sense that she'd woken me up. She'd opened my eyes.

It had driven my mom crazy. I refused to confirm if anything was going on; she knew, but she didn't know. That was by design. It had to be that way; Noreen might not have worried about money as much as I did, but I didn't want to see her fired. Part of it was because getting fired sucked, sure, but selfishly, I needed her there.

I needed Ethan's wish to come true.

Things had been so good. Near perfect, really. Noreen stopped by regularly. We stole kisses when Ethan wasn't looking and stole a lot more than that when he was napping. Both of us were busy, her with work and me with Ethan and follow-ups and tests. But we managed. We found time.

We made time.

Ethan took note, though he never outright asked what was going on. She never stayed the night, which was something we both agreed on. She just came over, sometimes bringing dinner and sometimes letting me cook whatever meager offerings I had. She watched TV with us, played games with him, fucked me after he was in bed...

I'd even met her mom. Not on purpose, but it had happened all the same. Noreen had been so pissed that it was almost a little funny, actually. But it was perfect. It made the monumental step I'd taken that night seem more... I don't know. Justified, maybe. Real.

Meaningful.

Mom had Ethan over for dinner that night while her friend was in town, just like I'd told Noreen, but I hadn't given her the full truth. I hadn't told her it was the longest Mom had babysat him since he'd gotten sick. Or about the way Mom's face lit up with disbelief and excitement when I said he was all hers for a few hours. Or the tears in her eyes when I assured her I trusted her, I really did, or the way I almost backed out when she correctly but inappropriately assumed it was because I wanted to spend some time with Noreen.

I hadn't told Noreen about the panic attack I had in my truck after dropping him off, so bad that I'd had to pull over a block away from my parents' place. But he was okay. He was going to be okay. He was doing almost good, if I was being honest. Not great, not perfect, but reasonable. No more passing out. A lot less pain. The meds seemed to have stabilized him. He was still sleepy, still lacking even a fraction of the energy a normal seven-year-old would have, but things hadn't gotten worse.

Spain hadn't happened. Noreen had been working her ass off trying to get things moving, but there was mound after mound of red tape for her to deal with. Her efforts alone meant everything. She was trying to work miracles.

This kind of miracle, though...

Weeks had gone by. I carted Ethan back and forth from the hospital, to doctor after doctor and test after test. The poor kid was poked and prodded and examined. He'd gotten so many fucking lollipops from the lab technicians after having his blood drawn that I was afraid he was going to get cavities. More follow-ups, more waiting, appointment after appointment that ended with the same thing:

"We're not sure what's happening yet, Mr. Whitlock, but this next test should give us some answers."

There was almost comfort in the routine of it all. I hated not knowing, but the facade of happiness had lulled me into a place where I didn't mind quite as much. Ethan got to go on a few more of Noreen's special experiences, though they had to be modified since he was still somewhat frail.

Day after day. Test after test. Stolen kiss after stolen kiss from the woman making my son's life just a bit more bearable. From the woman who was making me better.

Happier.

Stronger.

Then came the appointment that ended with Ethan's oncologist, the one where they had him stay in another room and brought me into the office.

The one earlier that day, a few hours before I'd brought Ethan to my parents because I wasn't strong enough.

The one that ended differently.

"Mr. Whitlock, I'm sorry, but there's nothing else we can do."

15 - Noreen

After another frustrating day of trying to strong-arm the insurance company and find gold amongst the dross of candidates to replace me, I went over to Jeremy and Ethan's apartment. Stopping at MacQuarie's Beanery, I got a tea for the two of us and a hot cocoa for Ethan.

Ethan's diet was all over the place. Sometimes he could have candy or a hot chocolate, other times he couldn't. I always checked with his father, grandmother or a nurse before he saw what I had. If he couldn't have the hot chocolate, I made sure I had a comic book with pirates or some sort of toy from Spain.

Shifting the hot cocoa, I freed my hand and knocked on the door. A few minutes later, I knocked again. Eventually, Jeremy opened the door. He looked awful. His eyes were bloodshot and he seemed way too pale.

"Jeremy?"

He was about to say something and just stopped. Looking to the ceiling and swallowing hard, he tried again. "Can you... Can the Wish Mission get us to a better hospital? Can we cancel Spain and just... I don't know... Get better doctors? Just cancel everything, that's all we need. I... I..."

Jeremy's breathing was laboured and he stared at me so intently that I almost took a step back. Instead, I moved closer.

"Tell me what's going on."

"They..." He took a breath. "They said it's terminal. That there's nothing... Nothing they can do except make him comfortable. They... Ethan's..."

I wrapped my arms around him and he began weeping, holding me so tight I thought I might crumble. I refused to break. Not in his arms, not in my heart. Clenching my eyes closed, I took four deep breaths and then mentally counted from ten down to one. Jeremy eventually stepped back, wiped the tears on his sleeve, and took my hand. We went inside.

"Dad? Who's here?"

Jeremy turned to me. "Do you mind?"

I wasn't sure what he meant. "Of course not."

He led me to Ethan's bedroom.

"Hey, bud. Noreen wanted to come in and see you. I told her your room's just for official pirates, but she insisted."