Page 3 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

“Hello, Walter.” I heard Marge, Nick’s mom, say, and I wondered whether he’d come in with her, but I doubted it. He was probably stuck decorating the cakes.

“Hello, Marge. What can I do for you today?”

“One loaf, please.”

Ever since I could remember, our parents had always acted weird when they were around each other. Unless you got a couple of glasses of wine in Mrs. Tuscan, and a handful of beers into my father, despite knowing each other their entire lives, they always remained formal.

I heard him ring her up, but they didn’t exchange another word. When I peeked through the small window in the back door, I saw Mrs. Tuscan standing on her tiptoes, lip-locked with my father.

“Oh, my God,” I breathed out, and crouched down so that they wouldn’t see me.

Nick.Where was Nick? I had to tell him. But he was working now.

What did it all mean? How long had this been going on, and why hadn’t my father told me anything? Okay, so maybe an adult conversation wasn’t that appropriate with a twelve-year-old, but I was almost a teen, and so was Nick. That was like a stone’s throw from adulthood, wasn’t it?

Nick and I shared the same birthday. Our moms had delivered us within minutes of one another, making me older and wiser than Nick by three hundred and thirty seconds, to be exact. Three hundred and thirty seconds sounded much longer than five and a half minutes — something I liked to remind him about when he acted like the all-mighty stone-skipper.

I went back to work, putting what I’d seen out of my mind, at least for now, and decided not to mention anything to my father, who seemed to be running the store in an uplifted mood.

When I climbed from my room to Nick’s that evening, he had already opened the door to his balcony for me. Maybe there was hope for him to be a gentleman, after all? I climbed up the ladder to the roof and lay back on the blanket spread over the shingles. The angle here wasn’t that steep, exactly the same as on my roof, and it afforded the perfect rest spot to watch the night sky.

I sighed.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Are you still upset about the loss? I won fair and square, and I was teasing you, you know.”

“No, I’m not upset about that.”

“What is it, then?”

“Did you know that my dad and your mom have a thing for each other?”

“What?”

I flipped over on my stomach and looked into his eyes, which were reflecting the stars above. They were just like his mother’s: a beautiful green that drew everyone’s attention from far away.

“I saw them kissing today.”

“What? Our parents?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s gross.”

“Why is it gross?”

“I don’t know; because he’s your dad, I guess. I never thought about my mom being with someone else.”

“I never thought about my dad being with anyone else either, but maybe this is a good thing. I mean, they need someone to love, don’t they?”

“They’ve got us.”

“Don’t be stupid, Nick. I meant real love between a man and a woman. Oh, my God, do you think they’ll get married?”

“Why would you even ask that? It was just a kiss. They should date first. And if my mom’s gonna marry, I have to approve.”

“Are you saying that you wouldn’t approve of my father?”

“No, but I’m the man of the house now.”

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