Page 45 of Sexy Dirty Fun

“I’ll get your bag. You go inside to your mother,” Dad said as he walked around to the truck of his Lexus.

“Ok,” I nodded and swung my laptop bag over my shoulder. My mouth was dry and my hands were clammy as I approached the house. I got to the door and hesitated when I put my hand on the knob. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Jack, is that you?” My mom called out from nearby. She must have been in the living room.

“It’s me, Mom,” I said, setting my bags on the table in the dining room. “Dad’s getting my bag.” I slipped off my shoes out of habit before walking into the living room. Mom always had a fit when we wore our shoes in the house.

Nothing in the world could have prepared me for the way my mother looked. She was a tiny shell of her former self, tucked under a blanket on the couch. She had lost a lot of weight and she was wearing a scarf on her bald head. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was so pale. She was sitting up with some magazines in her lap and an iPad, the blanket Grandma had made her and Dad when they got married draped across her legs.

“Lindsey,” she smiled and reached out her arms for me. “I’m so glad to see you.”

I shook my head, unable to speak, and went to her. I hugged her tight and broke down crying when I realized she was basically a bag of bones lying on the couch. I was heartbroken now that the last shred of hope I had that maybe they were exaggerating about how sick Mom. If anything, she was even sicker. Why did they wait so long to tell us?

Mom eventually pulled away. “You look good,” she whispered, reaching out to wipe the tears from my eyes. “Going away this summer was good for you.”

I grabbed a tissue from the coffee table in front of the couch and blew my nose. “It was,” I replied. I didn’t know what to say to her right now. Small talk seemed so frivolous when she was sick and dying.

“I read all of your articles. They were good.” She said and reached out for my hand. “I’m proud of you.”

My mouth opened in surprise. I don’t think I’d heard her say that to me since high school. I had to chew on the inside of my mouth so I didn’t break down crying. “You are?” I asked, my voice hoarse with emotion.

“Very,” she smiled. “Sitting here I’ve had a lot of time to read, so I made sure I found everything you wrote over these past few years. You’re a good writer, Lindsey. You must get that from me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. “Of course.”

“Well,” she arched an eyebrow at me. “I did some writing in college. I’ll have your father get them out of the attic.”

“I would love to see them, Mom.” Coming home has been so bittersweet. I’m here to say my last goodbyes but I’m learning so much about my mom and even growing closer to her. Funny how life worked.

“I also so that you’re dating the singer from one of the bands on tour. What’s his name again?” She asked. First Dad and now her? This was crazy.

“Cane,” I said, looking down at my phone. I had a couple of missed calls and some texts. Hopefully they were from him.

“How’s that? Isn’t it hard to date a rock star? I read somewhere he liked to sleep around. Surely you don’t let him do that.” She shook her head.

“Mom, please,” I rolled my eyes. “It’s fine. We just started seeing each other a little while ago, so we’re still figuring things out.”

“Do you love him?” She asked. “Is he the one?”

“Mom!” I shook my head. She sick and losing her mind.

“Lindsey, I knew I was going to marry your father the minute I saw him. If you still don’t know if he’s the one, then he’s not. Your dad is the love of my life. I’ve been blessed to have all of this time with him.”

We both started sniffling when the front door shut. “I’m going to put your bag up in your old room, Linds,” Dad said.

“Ok!” I called back, grabbing a couple of tissues again. I handed one to Mom before blowing my nose. These coming days were going to be an emotional mess. I hope Dad stocked up on tissues.

“I’m going to take a nap, now. Why don’t you go get settled in?” Mom said, settling back on the couch.

I leaned over to kiss her cheek and stood up. “Sleep good, Mom,” I whispered as she closed her eyes.

I rubbed my hands over my face before getting my purse and laptop bag. I headed slowly up the stairs, suddenly exhausted from the emotions of the day. I was going to shower and take a nap.

I didn’t see Dad upstairs so I went into my room and shut the door. I leaned against the door and fought back the tears. My room looked exactly like it did when I was growing up. Mom hadn’t changed a thing. There was pink everywhere and all of my old photos from high school were on the bulletin board, including all of the ones with me and my high school sweetheart, Hunter.

I had hated the pink in high school, but it wasn’t worth the fight with Mom to get it changed. Now I found it all comforting.

I put my bags down and lay down on the bed. I looked at my phone, reading all the texts from Cane. They put a smile on my face, especially the last one yelling at me for not letting him know I landed ok. He was such a rough and tumble guy on the outside, but for me, he was like a teddy bear.

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