Page 80 of Winning the Nightcap

Aiden puts the car into park lets out a heavy sigh. My chest aches with how much I’m wishing for this to go well. For his mom, for me, but mostly for him.

“It’s not too late to turn around,” he says. His voice is laced with indecisiveness.

“I can’t wait to meet her.” I thread my fingers through his hand that’s resting on my leg and give it a reassuring squeeze. “If you’re ready for this, I’m ready too.”

I’m startled by a hand slapping on Aiden’s window.

“Jesus Christ,” Aiden mutters, rolling down the window. Evie pops her head in the frame, a goofy grin on her face.

“Hey, lovers. You know this is a parking lot and not the drive-in, right? Aiden, your mother is right inside. Imagine the scandal if she had to explain to Phyllis that you and your girlfriend were canoodling in public the next time she and the girls got together to play bridge.Think of her reputation.”

“You’re fucking ridiculous,” he retorts, but even he can’t resist thechuckle breaking through his steely pretense, probably grateful for the break in tension from the weight of the moment.

“I know.” She giggles, then slaps her hands on the hood of the car. “Come on, Bec. Mom’s going to love you.”

* * *

“It wasn’t like that.” Aiden pouts.

“It was exactly like that,” Evie whispers to me, loud enough for her mom and Aiden to hear. We’re sitting in a brightly lit corner of the common space in the memory care unit. The couch Aiden and I are sharing has a floral print in earthy color tones, the petals swirling over the curves of the furniture. On the couch along the next wall, sit Evie and Ms. Price, who asked me to call her Judy when she introduced herself. Her smile is warm and her demeanor calm.

Judy turns to look at me and says, “Aiden took his role very seriously. He was so proud he practiced every night at the dinner table for a month. I always said he should pursue acting. He really found his voice in that performance.”

“Mom, I had two lines,” Aiden grumbles.

“And they wereverybelievable. You had the crowd on their feet,” Judy replies.

“No, Mom,youwere on your feet,” Aiden says.

“And Evie,” she counters proudly.

“Yeah, and me,” Evie says. “It’s not our fault the rest of the audience didn’t follow our lead. That’s basic play etiquette. Someone stands, you stand too. They were the best two lines of the whole play. Especially since you were dressed as a jellyfish.” She turns to me, gripping my hand in hers, leaning toward me conspiratorially. “Aiden flailed his arms so dramatically that he slapped the kid next to him in the face with one of the tentacles on his costume. The kid hit himback with his crab claw right after he delivered his line. Straight to the jaw. Priceless.”

My ribs ache from laughter. “I can picture it now, but man, I wish I could see the real thing,” I say.

Evie gets that look on her face that I’m beginning to recognize means she’s up to something, most likely something at Aiden’s expense. Aiden noticeably straightens, his face paling.

“Evie…you promised,” he says quietly.

“I did no such thing,” she hisses at him, then turns to me with downright wickedness in her stare. She practically runs every word together, spilling them out in a rush. “We have it. We have it on tape. You need to watch it.”

“Mom, please tell me you don’t still have it,” Aiden pleads.

“How else would I be able to brag about you to my friends here?” Judy asks, the picture of innocence.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe turn on a game? One I get paid to play professionally in?” Aiden replies.

“I do that too. I’m proud of all of your accomplishments.”

“Saying two lines in an elementary school play ofThe Little Mermaidisn’t exactly an accomplishment,” Aiden says.

“Honey, as a mom I get to say this. The big moments and the small moments, they all shine just as bright in my eyes.”

Aiden’s gaze softens and he says, “Okay, Mom, I’ll have to trust you on that.”

Without anything needing to be said by Aiden or Evie, I can tell we caught Judy on a good day. It even feels like a great day. I know those are even more rare from what Aiden’s told me. She’s shown a bit of confusion here and there, but for the most part, she’s been alert and oriented with enough clarity to recall and share a few memories of Evie and Aiden from when they were younger and follow along when her children share stories of their own as well.

After introductions and answering some of Judy’s questions about myself and how Aiden and I met, I’ve spent a good part of the last hour laughing at sweet childhood memories told from the lens only a mother can see through. The love in her voice…no amount of memory loss could wipe that clean. It radiates from this woman who sacrificed so much to raise the two adults in front of me.

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