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“Mia, are you okay, sweetie?” my mom asks, laughter still in her voice.
I can’t answer her. All I can do it stare at them. My gaze swings from one to the other. My mom, who is standing there with her hair a disheveled mess and her blouse buttoned up the wrong way, has a glow to her face. I also see some scruff marks on her cheeks, and her lips are red and plump. Just like someone who just got done making out.
My gaze goes to Mr. Hatley,Levi, and I see he’s wearing a pleased expression. Not a smug one, just a happy one. His hair is also a mess, andhisshirt is missing a couple of buttons. They are both barefoot.
“Mia, honey, why don’t you sit down and I’ll explain,” she says, gesturing to the couch. I nearly gag at the thought of sitting on the piece of furniture that my mom was just on with a man, half naked. I’m never sitting on that couch again.
I look back at her, and she must see my disgust because she blushes and says, “Uh, maybe that’s not a good idea.”
“How about we move to the kitchen?” Mr. Hatley asks. I move my eyes to him and immediately look away. There is no way I’ll be able to look at him the same way. When I was in highschool, I always found Mr. Hatley attractive. Not in a weird way, just in an appreciative way. A lot of the girls were infatuated with him. Back then, his hair was a rich brown color and always was a little longer than your average male school teacher. He’s tall and has a slim but muscular body. His deep brown eyes were always kind. All of us kids thought he was the coolest teacher in school. He brought hip to the school, and we always had a blast in his class.
Now, even though his hair still has plenty of brown, there is a lot of gray added to it on the sides. You can tell he’s aged some, but he still obviously works out, if you go by the back I saw and the little bit of chest I can see where the buttons are missing from his shirt. He’s older, but no less attractive. I can see why my mom would be in to him, but it’s still weird and gross.
“That’s a great idea, Levi. Come into the kitchen, Mia, and I’ll fix us a pot of coffee while we explain.”
I follow them both into the kitchen and take a seat at the table. Mom immediately moves to the coffee pot and starts taking the fixings out of the cabinet above it. Mr. Hatley sits across from me and gives me a smile. I look back at my mom.
“How long has this been going on, Mom?” I ask.
She ignores my question until she’s done with the coffee pot, and then turns around to face me, leaning back on the counter.
“About two and a half years,” she replies, shocking the hell out of me.
“What?” I yell. “And I’m just now hearing about this? Does Jaxon know?”
“No, Jaxon doesn’t know. No one knows,” she says quietly. I can see the worry in her eyes, but there’s also determination.
“Why, Mom? Why would you hide this from us?” I ask. I’m hurt that my mom has kept this from me, from both me and Jaxon. This is huge and obviously a big part of her life.
She walks over and sits in the chair beside me and grabs my hand. “Sweetie, how do you think Jaxon would take this? You know how protective he is. Do you honestly think he’s going to beokay with me seeing Levi? You know how he’s been with us women since your father left.”
I get it, I really do. But to keep something this important from her children hurts.
Mom continues, “At first it was just the two of us having fun.” My eyes bug out at that. She sees and scolds me “Oh, come on, Mia. I’m a mom, but I’m also a woman. Moms can have fun, too. Anyway, after a few months, things started to get serious. I knew Jaxon wouldn’t take it well, so we wanted to keep it secret for a while. Then Bailey came and, well, you know what went down there. I didn’t want to add more stress to Jaxon’s plate. I knew I couldn’t tell you because I knew you would go straight to him and Anna. It was just never the right time to tell you.”
I look over at Levi and see his soft, kind eyes pointed in Mama’s direction. The look in them says he holds very deep feelings for her.
I look back at my mom and ask her, “How serious is it?”
It’s Levi who answers and I look over at him.
“I love your mom, Mia, and she loves me. It’s been really hard keeping this from you and Jaxon, but I understand her reluctance and haven’t pushed it. We decided to tell you both at Jaxon and Bailey’s anniversary party tomorrow night.” He stops and watches me for a moment before he continues, “I’ve asked Lilly to marry me, and she said yes.”
I suck in a breath. Wow, I really didn’t expect that. For over two years, my mom has been keeping this big secret from me, and now these two people are telling me they are getting married. It’s been twelve years since my dad left. Now that I think about it, I have noticed a change in my mom. After my dad left, there was a sadness that always surrounded her. After a while, that sadness lifted, but there was always a lingering part that stayed. Sometimes I would see my mom staring out into space with a sorrowful look on her face. Looking at her now and thinking back over the last two years, I don’t remember seeing that look anymore.
I squeeze the hand she still has in mine. “Are you sure this is what you want? Are you happy?”
She smiles one of her brilliant smiles, her beautiful two-tone eyes light up, and I have my answer. She says, “Yes, baby, I’m very happy.” She looks over at Levi and reaches her other hand to him. He gets up out of the chair and grabs it, bringing it to his lips for a kiss before placing it over his heart. “I’ve never been happier. I love him,” she finishes simply.
I get up out of my chair and pull her with me. She releases Levi’s hand, and we envelop each other in our arms. “I’m so happy for you, Mom. You deserve to be happy,” I say in her ear.
She pulls back, and I see tears in her eyes. “Thank you,” she says quietly with another smile, and kisses my cheek. I smile back at her.
I look over to Mr. Hatley and see his gaze still on Mama. He really has it bad. You can plainly see the love shining out of his eyes. When he brings his eyes to mine, they lose the love-struck look but still carry happiness.
I step up to him and give him a hug as well. At his ear, I say quietly, but not so quiet my mom doesn’t hear, “You hurt her, you won’t just have Jaxon to worry about. I’ll cut off your balls with a dull blade, and then make you eat them.” I hear my mom choke on a laugh.
When I pull back, I see amusement in his eyes. “Roger that, Mia. You have nothing to worry about. I’d rather cut off my own balls and eat them than hurt Lilly.”
