The Bonding Chronicles Ch. 09

Vivienne groaned slightly, not comfortable with the idea of her little girl being sexually active, but she had also recognized that this day would come. Of course she never expected it would be as part of a conversation about her eighteen year old daughter moving in with her equally young lover.

"Is Andrew's mother around? I have a few questions that I hope she can answer."

Sara exited Andrew's bedroom and found the two adults nuzzled up together on the couch. Andrew was in the kitchen stirring the stew and trying to appear innocent as he looked around the room at nothing in particular.

"Michelle, my mom would like to have a word." Sara held her phone out to the older woman who stood and took the device. She went into the master bedroom, closing the door behind her before going into the master bathroom and closing that door as well. Michelle then turned on the fan and answered.

"Hello, this is Michelle, Andrew's mother."

"Ummm. Hi Michelle. My name is Vivienne, I'm Sara's mom."

There was a brief pause which was broken by Michelle's friendly voice. "Hey, kinda crazy right?"

Vivienne laughed on the other end of the phone, relieved that she was not alone. "Yeah, what the hell."

Michelle joined the other woman in laughing and took a seat on the toilet. She looked around the small room and admired how clean her son had kept it, he was nothing if not particular about how he wanted everything maintained.

"It caught us by surprise too. We assumed that Sara had already filled you in and that you were on board."

Vivienne sighed and then the phone was quiet for a long moment until her voice again came through. "Honestly, I feel like a hostage in all of this. There is nothing I can do to stop this insanity."

Michelles chuckling voice filled the line, "They are young, but I wish you could see them... The way they are with each other... We thought it was lust when Sara came over that first night, but over the week we have been surprised. Don't tell Andrew but the acceptance they have for each other is something that my husband and I have worked years to develop."

The phone was silent again and just as Michelle was checking to make sure that they were still connected Vivienne's voice echoed out, "So you don't think this is just hormones run amuck?"

Michelle laughed and shook her head. "No, it's a lot more than that. Don't get me wrong, they have a bad case of young love for sure, but there is something much more substantial underpinning it. Their relationship has a strong foundation. I wish it was just hormones, at least that I could more easily understand."

Vivienne seemed to consider that for a moment before she responded. "Well, there isn't anything we can do to stop them, so I guess I just need to try and accept this." There was a brief pause and then she asked, "Do you think we could all get together and have dinner next weekend? I'm going to try and make it over there more often, and if they are determined to do this then it would probably be best if we all got to know each other."

"That would be great, but Dave and I work for the government and will be on assignment for a month starting tomorrow. We would love to have you over when we get back."

The phone filled with the sound of Vivienne's laughter. "Well I guess that explains why this all came up now."

Michelle joined her in laughing and agreed. "Yeah, I think so."

"Thanks for talking this through with me, Michelle. It's a relief to know that someone else finds this whole thing as strange as I do."

"Definitely, Vivienne. It's been a pleasure talking with you, and please call if you need to talk. Us parents need to stick together." Michelle gave Vivienne her phone number before concluding the call. "Would you like to talk to Sara now?"

"No, that's all right. I really need to process all of this. Please tell her I love her and... Well just let her know I will call her tomorrow."

Michelle smiled at the woman on the other end of the phone, her expression lost to anyone but herself. "Will do, Vivienne. Have a great evening."

The two women said their goodbyes and Michelle ended the call. She turned off the fan and returned to the living room. Michelle handed Sara her phone and curled into her husband's waiting embrace. Andrew of course knew everything that had been said, and was curious what his mother was going to say.

"Well that was interesting. Sara, your mom loves you and said she will give you a call tomorrow. Sounds like she wants to try and spend more time with you, so you should be prepared for her to drop by from time to time."

Sara smiled at Andrew and said, "He's a bit of a slob, I know, but we will keep this place presentable."

Michelle shook her head and fought back a chuckle while Dave grinned at the young woman's remark. She wanted to be upset with her, but Sara was just too likeable.

"Just to be clear, both of you. We think that you are wonderful, Sara, and we love having you around, but we agree with your mom; this is all moving way too fast. Why can't you two just take it more slowly and let things develop at a more natural pace?"

Andrew put the lid back on the pot of stew, placing the large wooden spoon on a plate beside the stove.

"We aren't rushing anything, this just feels like the right pace to us, mom." Andrew could sense the anxiety pouring off of Sara's sprite, and he knew she was afraid that they were going to forbid her from moving in. He turned to her and prompted, "Tell them why you want to live here, sweetie. They will understand, I promise."

Andrew opened the side of the stove, intent on nursing the fire while Sara explained her side of things.

Sara looked between the two adults she had come to trust, and still she struggled to confess her true reasons for wanting to move in. Her eyes watered and she swallowed her fear, resolving herself to dive in before she could second guess herself.

"I'm alone. For the last couple of months — ever since my mother effectively moved to Portland — the worse part of my day is when I get home. I sit in my car looking at that museum of a house, and every day it takes me longer to work up the strength to get out. Psycho has become the one thing that has convinced me to step out of my car and enter that mausoleum."

"Psycho is Sara's cat, by the way." Andrew provided with a helpful node from the kitchen.

"When I met Andrew I felt an unqualified acceptance that I was starting to think I didn't deserve. Then you two welcomed me into your home and now..." She wiped away her tears before she found the strength to continue. "Now this feels like the home I have been denied for so long. The last time I thought I had found this it had been taken away from me."

Sara choked back her sobs, her tears streaming down her face. Andrew looked to his mother who was looking at him with wide questioning eyes. Her gaze asking him, "Why aren't you going to her."

Andrew smiled at his mother through the tears that stung his eyes, and nodded his head towards Sara silently telling Michelle, "She needs a mother right now."

Dave pushed his wife up as she struggled off the couch. Her eyes were misted over by the time she pulled Sara off of the chair and into her welcoming arms. The young woman's whimpering intensified as she buried her face into Michelle's soft shoulder.

Her voice was broken as she finished what she needed to say, "I don't know if I could survive losing this again."

Sara's body shook with her pronounced sobs. Andrew focused inward for a second, concentrating on Sara's phone, before he walked over to Sara and ran his fingers through her hair. He could sense how soothing she found the sensation.

Andrew had never seen Sara cry so hard, and loved her so much for the vulnerability she was showing. He recognized how against her nature it was for the strong young woman to be vulnerable to anyone, and the fact that she was exposing herself like this to his parents meant a lot to him. He kissed the top of her head and swaddled her sprite in his warm affections, knowing that she would feel his love through their bond.

"Don't worry, kitten. We're right here with you."

"That's right, dear..." Michelle was forced to stop and give her tensing throat a chance to settle before she could finish her statement. "Your home now."