Page 20 of Throuple Next Door

“It’s fine, Mom. It doesn’t have to be fussy.”

The door closed, and Weaver sat back, enjoying the quiet.

“I give Randy five minutes before he’s back and Louise is tearing her way through the kitchen.”

Austin groaned but stayed seated. “I’m not going to fight her. If she wants to cook something to take, I’m going to let her.” He put his hands up as Randy joined them.

“Mom is making rumaki. I guess we had some water chestnuts in the pantry and some bacon, so she’s going to it.”

Weaver patted Randy’s hand. “Your mother loves you. She may not understand everything about your life, but she does care about you, and to some extent, about us.”

Austin took Randy’s other hand. “It could be much worse.”

The three of them sat together until Louise joined them again, setting a timer on the table.

Randy carried the plate his mother had made, and Weaver carried the veggie tray as they crossed the street to where a number of neighbors were already gathered and talking.

Dominic hurried over to open the gate so they could enter the yard.

“There’s so many people,” Randy’s mother said softly from behind him as Veronica, the hostess, welcomed them before being called away.

“This is Randy’s mother, Louise,” Austin, ever the social butterfly, said to a few people, and soon, word got around the entire gathering and people came up to introduce themselves and talk to her. He and Weaver set down the food while Austin took charge of his mother.

“A glass of wine?” Eileen asked, and Randy nodded hard. “That bad?” she asked, looking at his mother.

“She doesn’t understand the three of us and keeps wondering when Randy is going to pick one of us.” Weaver snickered and leaned close enough to keep his voice from carrying. “I know it hurts Austin when she does that, even though he puts a brave face on it.”

“Sometimes, it’s hard enough being married to one person, let alone two,” she said. “Family needs to be supportive… or at least not trying to pull things apart.”

“It’s only for a few days,” Randy said, gulping the wine and refilling his glass. He liked an orderly, quiet life. That was a big part of the reason he’d wanted this job so badly. Randy had had years in the city, where everything went a million miles an hour, and everyone felt like they were trying to play catch-up. His hope had been that all of them could enjoy a better quality of life with more space to live their lives and maybe the chance to do something other than work.

His mother’s laugh drifted over, and part of the knot in Randy’s stomach eased, at least a little.

“It’s going to be okay. Your mother really isn’t that bad. She’s a little demanding, but if you think about it, she doesn’t have to understand who we are or how we live.” Weaver slipped his hand into Randy’s. “The three of us do, and that’s all that’s required.”

“I know.” Randy managed a smile because Weaver was right.

Austin hurried over, took Randy’s other hand, and practically dragged them to where Louise was surrounded by four other people. She seemed to have them enthralled, and that was great—until Randy realized she was telling stories about him as a little one.

“Mom,” he warned.

“Oh, please. You will always be my baby. And he was so cute… and really small when he was born. I must have fed him right.”

Randy turned away, finding Andrew and Dominic speaking with Veronica.

“She seems to be having a good time,” Andrew said, looking as more laughter rose into the evening air.

“Mom is always the life of the party.”

“Usually at Randy’s expense. I expect she’ll be sharing potty-training stories soon.” Weaver smiled. “She’s done it before.”

Andrew snickered. “My father always thought he had this great sense of humor. I have a sister and brother, and his jokes usually involved some trick at our expense. I endured his stories and jokes for years. And if we said anything, then we didn’t have a sense of humor. Of course, he was our father, and we had no real way to retaliate, because any trick we tried to play on him, he didn’t think was funny.” Andrew’s voice held a harsh edge. Clearly there was some old hurt there.

Dominic lightly patted his shoulder. “Tell us how you really feel,” he said softly.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “I’m just saying that parents are parents, I guess. They’re proud of their kids, though they show it in different ways.” More laughter drifted their way. “At least she’s having a good time.”

Randy knew he should probably be grateful for that and for the smile Austin shot him when their eyes met, sending a jolt of heat through him. Austin wandered over, slipping an arm around his waist, the two of them and Veronica speaking to Andrew and Dominic for a while as his mother held court.

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