120 - These Days

Petey stepped from the treadmill feeling energized.  While she would far rather feel the pavement under her tennis shoes, Jon had a nice setup.  The floor-to-ceiling windows carried into his home gym and it made the scenery a little more interesting than her kitchen cabinets.  She could almost convince herself that she was outside.

Except it would be cooler outside.  I need water.

Using the neckline of the black t-shirt she had borrowed from Jon, she wiped the sweat from her face and made her way toward the kitchen.  It wasn’t that she didn’t have clothes here.  She simply enjoyed the intimacy of wearing his clothes.  Until he asked – or told – her to keep her hands to herself, she was going to enjoy the liberty of raiding his closet from time to time.

The fragrant smell of fresh-brewed coffee assailed her, prompting her footsteps into a faster pace.  Petey knew she needed to re-hydrate, but she really wanted coffee loaded with cream and sugar.  Maybe Jon would have some waiting for her.

Stepping into the room with a grin in place, she didn’t find Jon at the coffee pot, but her mother.   The grin only dimmed a bit, but her feet stuttered for a moment at the unexpectedness.  “Oh.  Good morning, Mom.  Did you sleep okay?  I found the bed in there to be pretty comfortable.”

“Oh?” Teresa turned from the pot with a smile.  “You’ve actually slept in the guest room?”

Petey felt her face redden as her mother sipped on the coffee.  Hoping to keep Teresa from noticing, she ducked into the stainless steel refrigerator for some water, muttering.  “Yes, of course I have.”

Teresa chuckled, hiking up the leg on her casual black pantsuit and claiming one of the stools at the counter.  “You’re a grown woman, Patience.  I was actually quite relieved to find out you were involved in an intimate relationship.  And with a man as handsome as your Jon?  Be proud of it, darling.”

Rather than easing her discomfort, the words only made Petey’s cheeks flame hotter.  Downing the remainder of the bottled water, she tossed the empty plastic container into the recycle bin under the sink.  

Definitely time for some coffee.

“Patience?”

She glanced at Teresa with disbelief.  “What?  Do you want me to get a t-shirt saying I’m sleeping with him?  I could probably find one on eBay or Zazzle.”

“No, smartass.”  The elder woman watched as Petey gathered a cup, cream and sugar on the counter.  “I was going to tell you that, even though my visit hasn’t been under picture-perfect circumstances, I’m very glad that I made the trip.  Seeing the two of you diminishes any misgivings I may have had about this shotgun wedding of yours.”

Petey regarded her with quizzical green eyes while assuming the stool next to hers, caramel colored coffee in hand.  “When I told you about the wedding, you said you were happy.  Was that not true?”

“Oh, I was!  But the suddenness of it was a bit unnerving.  I was silently questioning the motive behind it.”  She extended an elegantly manicured hand to blanket Petey’s pink-tipped fingers.  “Patience, I know I’m not technically your mother, but you’ve always been my daughter.  Not one second – well, maybe the second when I found out about your conception.  But other than that, there hasn’t been a day that I didn’t think of you as mine.  I worry about you, and I want nothing but peace and happiness in your life.”

“You never made me feel like I was anyone but yours,” Petey told her in no uncertain terms.  “A lot of women would have sent me away, and not been willing to deal with what I represented.  I’m so glad you didn’t send me away.”

“One look at your sweet little face, and I had no other choice, darling girl.  You stole my heart just like you stole Jon’s.”  The hand lifted to brush Petey’s cheek with affection, and then tucked the errant hair behind her ears as though she were still a little girl.  “Even with a crazy ex on the loose, you are happier than I’ve ever seen you.  It delights me to know your young man is responsible for that.  As for him, I’ll admit we haven’t spent copious amounts of time together in a personal setting, but I can tell a difference in him.  Love certainly does shine out of those gorgeous baby blues when he looks at you.”

“Mo-ther,” she murmured, face warming as she frowned uncomfortably.  This was awkward.  The emotions themselves were new enough to Petey.  Discussing them was like wearing steel wool underwear – grating and painful. 

“Be embarrassed if you want to, but I wanted to make sure you knew what that look was.  Even smart women are notoriously stupid when it comes to deciphering a man’s feelings.  It helps to have a neutral third party opinion.”  She lifted a shoulder and her coffee mug at the same time, sipping thoughtfully.  “And I’m far less than neutral.  I’m a suspicious mother.  Trust me.  He loves you.”

Despite the awkwardness Petey laughed.  This felt like a normal mother/daughter relationship for once.  They’d never discussed men, boys or anything of that nature.  For the most part, they’d discussed politics.  Petey knew her mother loved her, but it had always been difficult for them to communicate.  It was one more positive outcome to this fairy tale.

“That’s good, since I love him so much.  Without that reciprocal feeling, I become one on a long-list of restraining order recipients.”  She lifted a confiding brow.  “From what I can tell, there’s a fine line between girlfriend and stalker.  It’s all in the perception.”

“See?”  Teresa pointed at her with amusement.  “Even with the Goth clothing, you’re so much lighter now.  Not so serious and quiet all the time.  You’ve always been a pretty girl, but love has made you positively stunning.  You’re one of the few women in the world who could pull off the wedding dress you’ve chosen, and you will pull it off with aplomb.”

Dimples going full-tilt, Petey confessed, “I was afraid you would be horrified, and I have no idea what Jon’s mother will think, but it’s really perfect isn’t it?  I felt beautiful as soon as I put my foot through the skirt.”

She’d shared the Carol encounter with her mother last night. 

“I love it,” Teresa assured her, hands splayed over her chest in a gesture of complete openness.  “I didn’t expect to, but I do.  Mrs. Bongiovi can lump it if she doesn’t like it, just like I would have had to.  You’re the bride, and it’s your day.  Screw the rest of ‘em.”

I like her in protective mother mode.  It’s nice.

“I will, of course, be congenial to your in-laws, but I don’t give a flying fig about them. You’re not living with them on a daily basis.  He’s the one whom I’m interested in, and he passes muster in my book.”

“Who passes muster?  Me, I hope?”  Jon moseyed into the kitchen, nodding at Teresa and dropping a clinging kiss on Petey’s upturned mouth before gravitating toward his liquid morning energy.

“No, not you.  David,” Petey told him seriously, without a trace of humor.  “Mom was saying he seems a lot more personable and she likes him a lot better than you.  She’s trying to push me over to the Curly Side.”

“Patience!”  She smacked at a now-smiling Petey’s leg and frowned in disapproval.  “I said no such thing.  Don’t drag me into your shenanigans.”

“Mm-hmm.”  Jon gave Petey a knowing smirk over his shoulder.  “I see how you are.  Let a guy damn near die for you and now you’re gonna go and hook up with his buddies.  Nothing but fickle.  Guess I should be thankful it isn’t Rich.”

The lightness in his voice told her he wasn’t upset, but the guilt washed over her just the same.  She’d purposefully chosen David’s name over Richie’s, knowing it wouldn’t be taken seriously, but then he’d had to go and bring up the Tasering. 

Damn him.  He plays dirty.

“Fiiiine,” she sighed melodramatically with every ounce of air in her body.  “The Near Death Card is always going to trump the Bitch Card.  You win.  It was you that passed muster with my mom.  Game, set, match Bongiovi.”  Petey couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling in her shaking head.  “Next thing I know you’ll have me declaring that you’re the master of all that you survey.”

Teresa gasped out a strangled laugh, but Jon merely lifted his chin with arrogance, saying smugly, “I am.  And don’t you forget it, Baby.”

Arrogant, cocky, smug….

She’d heard tale of the fabled stink-eye.  It was like the Loch Ness monster of Bon Jovi-dom – people had claimed to see it, but no one had proof.  Working only from the mythical recreations that Jon, himself, supplied during interviews, Petey came up with her own Goth version and lasered it across the counter at him, intent upon administering her own near-death experience.

It was enough to turn the nerd laugh loose.  Jon leaned heavily on the counter, chortling merrily until he could compose himself, wiping at his watery eyes.  “God, you’re cute.  I assume that was supposed to have me quaking in my boots, but…”  He kicked a bare foot up onto the counter for her inspection.  “…I’m not wearing any.  Sorry, Sugar.”

He was still chuckling when he skirted around her to exit the kitchen, probably for his study to read the paper online.  In his travels, he bent to kiss her cheek, whispering, “You’re gonna pay for that Dave crack, my beautiful demon.  Been a while since I saw your pretty ass as pink as the rest of you.”

And with that mouthwateringly dark threat, he nodded to Teresa and casually moseyed out much the same way he’d moseyed in.  Petey’s cheeks were, once again, flaming with embarrassment – and a little bit of excitement.

It’s been forever since I’ve blushed like this.  He cannot be around my mother anymore.

Looking hesitantly toward Teresa, she found nothing but pure glee illuminating her mother’s features.

“You two are certainly well matched,” she observed with a sardonic smile.  “I have high hopes for this marriage, Patience, and I don’t think I’ll be disappointed.”