On the Loveseat Ch. 23

"Yes. I've only really told Erin this, but she and I are going to go to the community college together. That will give us more time to get to really know each other, even though I think I already know all I need to know. Also, we can spend more time with our families before we decide any future plans and possibly move away."

"I ... I am glad to hear that. I don't know that I'm ready for you to move away just yet." Mom almost looked sad right then. "Not just for ... all this." She waved down at herself in the fabulous dress. "You will always be my baby, Jeremy. Your mom isn't ready for you to go off into the big, mean world yet. Or ever. I know it will happen. It has to happen. I know you'll do great out there no matter what you do. And I think that Erin will be there at your side, and that makes me happy too."

"I'm not ready to leave you yet either mom. I don't know where the future will take me, but I do know that it will never be that far from you. You're my mom ... and my girl!"

"That's sweet, honey. I'm so relieved that you finally decided."

"I think I knew a long time ago, I just needed to realize it myself." I released my belt. "I suppose we should go in and get back to the real world.

"I suppose." Mom said in a wistful tone. "It's midnight, and the coach is about turn back to a pumpkin."

Huh?

It wasn't even ten a.m. yet. Pumpkin?

Oh! Cinderella.

"You'll always be my princess Jenny, glass slipper or not."

"And you are my Prince Charming, Jeremy." Mom leaned over again and I met her again, but this kiss wasn't short at all!

Once breathless, we separated. A shared look passed between our eyes that spoke of all our feelings.

We both opened our doors simultaneously and a guilty twinge hit me. I should have gotten out and opened mom's door like a gentleman! Then again, we were in our driveway in view of any neighbors that should happen to look. Our attire, and that gesture, could allude to more than we would want any busybodies thinking over. Hopefully no one could have seen us with our lips locked together!

But I could still get the front door of the house for her.

I darted ahead of her as she carried her heels in her hand, walking cautiously in her bare feet on the cement walkway.

"I could have carried you mom." I stated.

"Yeah, how would that look to the neighbors? I'm fine."

So, she had had similar thoughts to me!

I unlocked the front door and swung it open for mom, allowing her to enter ahead of me.

"Ladies first."

"Thank you dear."

Just like returning home from a date, but with the fact that your date was still right there with you!

"Dad's at work. What about Johnny and Jojo?" I asked mom as she set her shoes on dad's chair.

"He took them next door to Mrs. Jones before he left. Could you be a dear and go get them?"

"Sure mom."

Even the most menial tasks performed for mom now were a treat. Back in the day, I would have argued and protested like any teen.

The three of us returned a few minutes later and found mom had changed into a bathrobe that hid far too much of her body for my liking.

They each gave mom a hug, though Johnny seemed a little slow to do so. He was getting to that age where mom was no longer the center of the world. Jojo on the other hand went on and on asking mom about her date with me. Mom tried to correct her a few times, but with a sly smile at me answered my sister's constant stream of questions.

I left her to it and went upstairs to change out of my suit and into something far more comfortable like my shorts and tee shirt. Of course, I had to check in with Erin, who had stated that she might take a nap. As soon as she texted that to me it was as if a wave of exhaustion then hit me. A nap was a perfect idea!

I didn't get a very long one, as it was only an hour or so later when Jojo came to my room and began to barrage me with a round of questions. I answered as I could, without giving out anything an eight-year-old shouldn't know, and especially about what mom and I had really done on our 'date'. She then asked if she could come with us if we had another one! I skirted that one by saying that she would have to ask mom and dad first. She gave me a pout and walked away in a huff, as if a cute little girl could actually be in a huff!

I had a momentary thought about going back to sleep, but decided against it. If I did, I would probably be up all night. Not that that wasn't a bad idea, and only a good idea if I had the appropriate companion, or two, to join me!

I went downstairs in search of some lunch.

Hey! I was still a growing boy! Okay, not really growing per se, but I was mildly hungry.

Mom had dressed in more normal attire of a loose off-yellow blouse, and equally loose light brown slacks. As much as she had revealed last night, she was now equally hiding.

"Afternoon mom." I kissed her cheek as I opened the fridge.

"You can't still be hungry after this morning!" She gasped loudly.

"I wouldn't say hungry, but I do feel like something to eat. Do you have anything I could snack on?" I gave her an insidious leer.

"You mean like some sushi? A fish taco? Bearded clam, fur burger, love muffin?" Mom listed off with a grin to match my own.

"Yeah, like that. I don't know if I could eat all that though!"

"You really are terrible! I don't know why I love you so much." Mom decried in exasperation.

"Can I have a fur burger mommy?" Jojo asked innocently as she came into the kitchen unnoticed.

I burst out laughing so hard and loudly that I might have ruptured a lung!

Mom also bent over holding her stomach for a moment but she recovered far quicker than me.

"No honey, I said ... fun burger." Mom struggled to speak past her chortles.

"I want a fun burger!" Jojo declared determinedly, off put with our laughter that she assumed was directed at her. She even stomped one little foot.

"Okay dear, we'll have them for dinner. Now go outside and play until then." Mom told my sister calmly even as mom's breath was ragged.

(Even to this day, the memory of Jojo asking for a fur burger makes me break out in uncontrollable laughter!)

"See what you did now!" Mom turned on me fiercely.

I was still holding my aching sides and trying to breath.

"Now I have to invent a fun burger thanks to your fooling around!" She stormed over to the refrigerator and rummaged through its contents. "You are going to have to go to the store and pick up some things for me."

Her tone was mellower, but still harsh.

"I'll eat your fur burger, or your fun burgers mom. Any day!" I declared and left the room with only a Tigerade, any thought of food now gone with my stomach burning from laughter.

"I'm making a list so don't go too far mister!" Mom warned me.

I did go to the store for a small pile of items for mom. I went only slightly begrudgingly. It really had been my own fault!

'Can I have a fur burger mommy!'

I almost had an accident from another laughing fit.

The miracle worker that mom was, she did truly invent a fun burger! I had three that evening at dinner and they became a family staple ever after! They were one of Johnny's favorite foods and an annual request at his birthday. (I can't give out the recipe, it's a family secret!)

During dinner, dad did question mom and I about our evening, not understanding why we had been out all night. Well, mostly mom as being the chaperone and the responsible adult. Yes, she was very responsible for what had occurred!

"But for the whole night Jenny? What were you doing that you couldn't make it back home? I was a little worried about you both until I saw your text this morning."

I worried mom would bring up dad's ... indiscretion and our own worry that night, but she didn't.

"We had dinner. Then Erin and I wanted to go dancing. Erin knows this delightful little place; it was really very fun. All ages so all perfectly okay for them. But afterwards, I wanted something a ... bit more."

"More?" Dad asked between bites of his fun burger. "Sounds like maybe I should have come with you if it was that much fun."

"You had your chance dad!" I added, but this earned me a hard stare from mom who was clearly working her wifely magic on her husband.

"It was getting late and the kids wanted to come home, but I don't get that kind of chance very often, so I wanted to make it last. We got a hotel room. With some champagne so we could celebrate right."

"Champagne? Geez Jenny! Did the kids have any? You could have been arrested for that!"

"It was alright Justin. Just some harmless fun. No big deal." Mom said calmly. Calmer than I could have managed.

"Still Jenny." Dad continued to protest but as he could see he wouldn't get anywhere and that the matter was in the past anyway, he let his argument die.

"You could have come along. Maybe you would have had fun too!" Mom jabbed at dad.

Even I didn't think my father deserved that.

"I've decided that I'm going to go to the community college. With Erin. So I can save some money before transferring to a four-year school for my major. And just so you know, Erin's going wasn't a factor in my decision, just a nice bonus." I declared suddenly and firmly. At least his ire would now be directed at me instead of Jenny!

"Finally! A decision." Dad now looked at me, ignoring mom. His expression was indeterminate.

He then floored me, and I assumed mom too.

"I knew that you would make the right one. Eventually." He said with little emotion in his voice that only added to the intensity of his statement.

Huh?

What?

This was what dad had wanted all along?

My long running argument with him notwithstanding?

Huh?

"This is what you wanted?" I could barely speak the words. "Then why did you make me think you felt differently? You argued with me."

My world felt like the floor had just dropped away.

"I wanted you to be sure about what you wanted. If I just agreed with whatever you thought, you wouldn't have gone over all your options. Would you?" He didn't wait for my answer. "With resistance from me, you made sure of what you had to do and realized that you would have to stand firm to defy me with that decision. It was no simple decision that you were going to be basing the rest of your life on. I wanted you to really know what you wanted to do. And in the end, you made the smart decision. I might not agree with your choice of career, but if you have to fight for it then you know that that is what you truly want. Anything else and you would have just caved in in a minute."

What?

I heard his words. I understood them. I even comprehended their meaning. But they were still somehow foreign to me, gibberish.

"This is what you wanted?" I said again.

"Are you sure you just had some champagne last night honey? Nothing that would have made Jeremy go brain dead?" Dad turned to look at mom who had a blank stare on her face that I'm sure matched my own.

"Some Jack Daniels too." Mom confessed without resistance.

"Must have really been some party then." Dad's face was peaceful, almost jovial.

Or was this even my father? Maybe some alien pod creature had taken over his body.

"Why didn't you tell me all this?" Mom asked dispiritedly. Clearly as stunned at this seeming reversal as me.

"You coddle the boy too much. He's a man and needs to make his own decisions. If you knew, you couldn't but help let him know too." Dad stated plainly.

I could see his logic. Even as convoluted as it was.

Dad had played me. And by default, mom also.

I was stunned.

Flabbergasted.

If dad was capable of this, what else might he be playing?

Could he actually know about mom and I? And hadn't said anything about it? Was there some greater ploy up his proverbial sleeve?

I shivered then uncontrollably.

Only the second time in my life that I was truly and well afraid. The first being when mom had split with me.

As I sat there reeling, dad chatted pleasantly with Jojo about the menu choice. I didn't hear any of it. I glanced nervously at mom. She returned my gaze with flickering eyes.

I barely finished my dinner and quietly retreated to my room to think. Or I tried to think. That dad had been so devious as he had left my head spinning. And the simple fact that he had been right with everything he had said. His contention had increased my resolve, but I did go over every option before making my decision. It was part of what took me so long to finally come to the conclusion that I had. Not discounting the influences of mom's and Erin's presences on that decision.

How could dad have known all this?

We might have played dad as a fool, but were mom and I the ones now being played?

Later that evening while I lay in my bed with my headphones on listening to music to sooth my brain, mom came to my doorway. I heard my siblings bickering downstairs so I knew it wasn't their bedtime yet. And yet there stood my Jenny in all her beauty.

"Mom?" I questioned.

"Jeremy." She answered.

"What the hell happened at dinner? First, you're reprimanding him for us drinking and next thing he drops that bombshell." I gasped barely breathing to her.

"He had been playing me all along!" I practically whined to my mom.

"I know honey. And that he didn't think that he could confide in me. Or that he was right." Mom looked as shook as I felt.

"Do you think he knows?" I stated plainly without elaboration. She knew well what I was saying.

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't think so, but I don't know." Her emerald eyes darted around the room. "I have said that he is more perceptive than he's led us to believe recently, so I really can't say anymore."

She clutched herself as if suddenly cold.

No. Dad couldn't possibly be allowing mom and I to carry on like we had been doing. Why would he?

He simply had to not know. But now I couldn't be so sure.

Mom came in and gave me a kiss on the forehead and nothing more. She wandered off without a good night as if she had forgotten where she had been.

I got up and closed my door and collapsed back to my bed without even changing my clothes.

I was asleep soon after.

I didn't remember any dreams I might have had that night of which I was glad as they were probably dark and full of dread.

Only as I drifted off did I realize that I hadn't texted good night to Erin either.

Dum, duhm, dumm!

Could there be trouble ahead for Jeremy?

Thanks for reading!

I always appreciate any comments or suggestions and please vote! It does help when slogging through the tough parts to have the encouragement to continue!

Onedragon