Page 29 of Instinct & New Identity

When we arrived back at his place,Vinceopened the door and flinched.Hisface went hard, and instantly, my senses were heightened.Iturned toVal, and she knew something was up.Wehad lived inWITSEClong enough to learn when potential danger could be near.Vinceslowly opened the door more while throwing his arm out, indicatingValandIshould stay back.Justas quickly as his arm was out to block, it went right back down just as fast.Hishead dropped, and he sighed.Heturned to us, mumbling, “Shejust can’t help herself,” as his face went softer and no longer alert.

“My mom is here, soI’mgoing to apologize in advance,” he said in a low voice to us then turned and walked into his apartment.

Val andIfollowed behind, andIwondered if maybe we should just go toVal’sroom and give them some privacy.Unfortunately,Valhad other ideas, which included shoving me from behind straight into the kitchen withVinceand his mom.

“Oh good, you’re home!”Anolder woman turned toVincewhen we walked in, a big smile on her face, and moved to hug him.

She was a little thing, maybe just an inch or two above five feet.Howshe gave birth to a man as big asVince,Iwould never know.Shehad medium-brown hair withVince’sgreen eyes.Thoseeyes were about the only thing that tied them together.Justthen, those eyes turned toValand me, and she smiled brightly.

“Oh!” she said, droppingVincelike a hot potato and moving over toValand me. “I’mthis brute’s mother.”

“It’s nice to meet you,Mrs.Fletcher,”ValandIreplied in unison.

“Mrs.Fletcheris my mother-in-law, and we don’t speak of that devil,” she said as she squished her face in disgust. “Please, call meSusan.Youmust beCatandVal.It’sso nice to meet you.”

How did she know our names?Ididn’t have time to think because she moved in to hug both of us.

“Sorry,I’ma hugger,” she said as she moved from me toVal, causingValto chuckle. “Iam so happy to finally meet you.”

“You know who we are?”Iasked, realizingVincemust have given his mom at least a little background on us since she knew who we were and our names.

“Yes, of course, though no thanks to my son.”Herface turned, and she glared atVince. “Mysweet, wonderful nephewArcherhas told me everything since my son never talks tome.”Sheemphasized the last part, as if she hadn’t heard from him or seen him in years.

“Mom,Iliterally texted you this morning to tell youIwas home,”Vincesaid, sounding exasperated. “Andwhy are you botheringArcherwhen you could just ask me yourself?”

“I’m not botheringArcher,” she countered as she walked back into the kitchen and began putting away groceries thatIhadn’t noticed until right then. “Iwas being a good mother and stopped by to bring you lunch one day last week at the office, but you weren’t there.Archertold me where you were and that you found the girl you used to write your cute little letters to.”

I heardVincesigh dramatically and saw his head tilt up as though he was looking to the sky to give him the sanity not to strangle her, butIknew there was no real anger, as his lip twitched at the same time.

“He said you were helping them move down here, and they would be living with you for a bit until they could find a safe place.Butyou,” she emphasized, pointing her finger at him like he was in trouble. “Didn’ttell me any of this.Youalso didn’t tell me you got a cat.YouknowIlove animals!”

He pointed toValand me. “It’snot my cat,Ma.It’stheirs.”

“Oh, well, he is just darling,” his mom swooned, turning toValand me, her face so full of kindness. “Ladies, since my son never tells me anything,Ihad to find out the basics fromArcher.Ihope you don’t mind, but he gave me a bit of your backstory, andIknow your parents died a few years ago.”

Even though this was not news to me, the thought of it still made me sad.Iwas also honestly happy she knew so thatValandIdidn’t have to retell it.

“This means you are coming to our house forThanksgivingnext week,” she continued. “Soyou can have a nice family meal.”Shelooked atValand me before turning back to her son. “Anddon’t you dare bring that nasty jelly cranberry sauce!I’mmaking my grandma’s homemade cranberry chutney, andIwill not have you embarrass me in front of these ladies with the canned version.”

“What if they prefer the canned kind?”Vinceretorted. “Areyou really going to tell them their feelings don’t matter?Theyshould be able to eat the more delicious, canned kind if they want.”

Val andIboth chuckled at their back and forth.Vince’sface implied he was riling his mother up on purpose, but not in a malicious way.Hismom’s reaction, however, implied she was beyond offended he would even consider canned cranberry.

“You’re luckyIlove you so much, because you should have been ostracized from the family years ago when you brought that canned nonsense to my house.”Shesighed as she finished putting away the rest of the groceries.

I missed my parents daily, butIwas so happyVincehad this.Someonewho, no matter what he did, at the end of the day, loved him dearly.

“On that note,Ineed to go meet your father for dinner.”Shegrabbed her reusable grocery bags and walked around the island. “Goodbye, my long-lost son,” she teased and hugged him.Hesighed and shook his head, a small smile tugging at the side of his mouth.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, beautiful ladies.”Sheturned to us and came back to hug us again. “Iwill see you next week forThanksgiving.It’snothing fancy, so please don’t feel the need to dress up, but please bring that precious little kitty of yours.Heis adorable.”

“Mom,Dadis allergic to cats,”Vincepointed out.

“He’ll be fine.”Hismom waved her hands around as though this was not a concern to her. “Ididn’t know what foods you liked, soIgot a variety,” she said toValand me.

“We’re not picky,Mrs.Fle…ImeanSusan,”Itold her, smiling because she was so thoughtful.

“Good.Ican tell you are healthy eaters because you aren’t skinny as a toothpick.”Shelooked us over approvingly. “Thiswill benefit you greatly down the road when you give some lucky man beautiful grandbabies.”

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