by S. M. Shade
“Anyway,” Michelle continues. “One of my little troublemakers downloaded an app on their phone that let them control the television. I didn’t even know that was possible.” She sighs. “He waited until the baby had just been delivered, then paused it and hit rewind. The whole class was treated to a view of the baby going back inside the mother. Then he just kept rewinding and forwarding to make the doctor pull the baby out and put it back in over and over.”
I’m overcome by laughter just picturing it, and Noble and Michelle join in. “Then the boys got into a discussion about erections and how they often happen without arousal. It led to a ten minute discussion between them about ‘no reason boners’ and how to hide them.”
“I once got hard thinking about tacos. I feel their pain,” Noble says.
The rest of the dinner is fun. Everyone is talkative and happy. It’s easy to see how close Noble and his mother are, and I love to see him so happy around his family. We spend the whole evening with his mother. She bakes his favorite cookies, and we play Rummy in front of the fireplace until late.
We sleep in the next morning, and wake to the smell of sausage frying.
“Oh, that smells good,” I exclaim, stretching, and kicking the covers off of both of us.
“Mom always makes biscuits and gravy on Christmas. And today is our Christmas, since we’ll be at Dad’s for the actual one.”
Rolling over, I lay on my belly, propping my chin on his stomach. “Is this how you celebrated holidays as a kid?”
“Yeah, they split up when I was a baby. We’d alternate who I spent Christmas with every year, and just celebrate it early with the odd parent out.”
There have been times when I wished I knew my father, but sometimes I’m glad I wasn’t passed back and forth like so many kids. His hand runs softly down my cheek. “Are you missing your mother?”
“No, not really. We had good holidays when I was younger, but since I grew up and she got sick, we don’t do much anyway. This will be good for her.”
“Breakfast!” Michelle calls, and Noble grins at me. “Then we open presents.”
His enthusiasm is contagious, and we rush to dress and eat, so we can get to the gift exchange.
A fire burns in the fireplace, making the room glow. It’s cozy and inviting. The smile on Noble’s face is one I haven’t seen before, and I realize it’s reflecting the quiet joy being with his family brings him.
“Okay, Goose, here is yours. I hope you like it. You aren’t the easiest to shop for since you’re all grown up now.” She sighs. “Too grown up.”
Empty nest syndrome must be hitting her hard, and I try to lighten the mood a bit. “Don’t worry, he doesn’t act his age most of the time.”
Michelle smiles at me. “Yeah, I saw the protest video. I assume it was Kenny in the dinosaur suit?”
“We drew straws. He won,” Noble chuckles, tearing the paper from the box of work clothing his mother bought for him.
“I thought now that you have a professional job, you probably need some clothes without a draw string or cargo pockets.”
“He really does,” I remark.
“Hey, no teaming up against me.” He leans over to kiss his mom’s cheek. “But thank you. I really do need them. I only own one tie.”
“And it has the Roadrunner on it,” I add, making his mother laugh again.
Noble produces a small box from his pocket. “See, now when you see what I got you, you’re going to feel bad for picking on me.”
He wiggles like a toddler who has to pee while I open the package. My mouth falls open when I pick up the silver bracelet from the soft padding it’s resting on. Two small stars are connected on both sides by smooth, braided silver. I recognize it instantly, but there’s no way. It was in such bad shape when we pulled it from the river.
With a soft smile, Noble takes it and fastens it around my wrist. “The jeweler was able to restore it. He could only salvage two of the stars, but I thought that was perfect. You’re the bright, shining star I’ve tried to catch for so long, and the other star is me, sticking to you whether you like it or not.”
The bastard made me cry. In front of his mother. Who also has tears in her eyes. My voice cracks as I throw my arms around him and tell him, “I love it. The bracelet, and you sticking to me.”
His mother is looking back and forth between us. “Your babies are going to be so adorable. January’s dark hair and your blue eyes.” She sighs as both Noble and I stare at each other with a terrified look.
“Don’t worry. I don’t want kids until I’m close to thirty.” His body relaxes, and I can’t help but giggle. The truth is I never plan to have kids, but there’s no way I’m killing the hope in her eyes.
I hand him his gift. “Your mom is right. You aren’t the easiest to shop for.”
Michelle laughs aloud when he pulls out the hoodie that reads, I’ve got your warm front, baby. Printed on the front is a map of the US, showing the jet stream pushing a warm front across the country. Grinning, he puts it on and shoves his hands in the pockets to find the gift certificate.
It took some researching, but I found a storm chasing team willing to let him ride along with them for a few days in the spring, during prime tornado season. It’ll scare the shit out of me, but I know his dream is to see a tornado up close.
His look of shock followed by elation is all I could’ve hoped for. “This is amazing! Thank you!” He pulls me into his lap and kisses me hard on the lips.
“What is it?” Michelle asks, gathering the wrapping paper and tossing it into the fire.
Noble throws me a quick look then lies through his teeth. “A weekend at a weather camp. Where I can learn from established climatologists.”
“How thoughtful!”
“Open yours, Ma. Jani picked it out, so if it sucks, you can blame her.”
We both roll our eyes at him, and she opens her gift, an e-reader I’ve preloaded with a few of her favorite books.
“I know you aren’t crazy about technology and stuff, but that will hold thousands of books,” Noble explains, reaching over to turn it on. “It has a long lasting battery and can be seen in any light, even outside in the sun.”
“Oh, it already has one of my favorites!” she exclaims, noticing the cover.
“More than one,” Noble says. “And the gift card will let you get more. Some e-books sell as cheap as a dollar, so you’ll never run out of stuff to read when you’re bored at work.”
“This is great. Thank you so much. You’ll have to show me how to use it.”
Noble’s phone rings, and I see his father’s name pop up. “I’ll show you how it works. I have one at home and I’ve nearly worn it out,” I volunteer.
Noble gives me a grateful glance and gets to his feet, answering the call as he leaves the room.
Michelle sits beside me on the couch as I show her everything the e-reader can do. We spend a few minutes searching the bookstore and buying a few new ones she had on her wish list. “If you take it to your local library, they can also show you how to borrow e-books for free as well. I haven’t tried that yet, but I know there’s a way.”
“My friend works at the library, so I’m sure she can show me.” She pauses and looks at me for a moment. “Noble is in love with you.”
Whoa. Where did that come from?
“I-I don’t know about that.”
A smile blooms across her face. “I do. He loves you and it’s a joy to see.” Her head tilts and she appears to consider her next question a moment before asking it. “Do you love him?”
Wow, way to put me on the spot. “I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I’ve never been in love before. I don’t know how it’s supposed to feel.”
She nods, and pats me on the knee. “You’re young. I remember being your age when everything was bright and new, so many possibilities. I thought I’d outgrown all that until I met Bruce. But apparently you don’t outgrow that fluttery feeling in your stomach when they look at you, or the wa
y the silliest things they say can make you laugh.”
“Noble always makes me laugh. He’s so much fun to be with. We’ve pretty much spent all our free time together over the last month. I mean, sometimes, I want to choke him, but most of the time, I just want to be near him.”
Michelle laughs. “I can understand that.”
Looking to make sure he isn’t lurking nearby, I add, “When I wake up, the first thing I want to do is talk to him. If he isn’t there, it’s like my day doesn’t start until I hear from him. It scares me a little,” I confess. “I don’t want to be too clingy. Is that love?”
“That’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself. Falling in love throws you into a whole new world. Things look different, brighter. The little struggles and massive problems aren’t so hard to deal with when you can lie in the arms of someone who loves you.”
She stops talking when Noble returns, and I hug her. “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”
Noble eyes us with suspicion. “What were you talking about?”
“She was just warning me about your occasional bed wetting problem. Don’t worry, I can deal with it.”
Betrayal sweeps over his face, and he gapes at his mother. “That hasn’t happened since I was seventeen! Okay, one time last year, but I was drunk!”
The room is dead quiet for a second before it fills with laughter. “I was kidding,” I choke out between giggles. “I was just talking about books she might like.”
It sinks in that he’s told on himself and he shrugs. “I was kidding too.”
Turning to his mother, I ask, “Do you think we should believe him?”
“I don’t know. I guess it all Depends.” We dissolve into laughter again, and he grins, shaking his head.
“Putting you two together was a really bad idea.”
We leave his mother’s house in the late afternoon and head for his dad’s in Indiana. The sparkling bracelet on my wrist keeps catching my eye and Michelle’s words ring in my ears. My world is different, brighter with Noble in it. Maybe I am falling for him.
When Noble’s father answers the door, it’s clear where Noble gets his good looks. I have a feeling I’m seeing what Noble will look like when he’s in his forties.
“Well, who is this pretty young thing and how did you get her to come with you?”
“Bribery, mostly,” I joke. “I’m January. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Todd,” he replies, leading us into the house. “It’s good to meet you too. Noble told me he was bringing a girl, but I figured she’d be plastic. He doesn’t have the sex appeal of his old man.” His teasing smile is returned by Noble.
“Says the man who wears a tee shirt with Honorary Cock Gobbler written on it.”
“It was a gift,” he defends.
They stare at each other for a minute, then Todd grabs him in a big bear hug. “It’s good to see you, kid.”
“You too, Dad. Where’s Ben?”
“Work. He’ll be here for dinner.”
Noble explained on the drive that Ben is Todd’s new husband. They got married last year right after the law passed allowing gay marriage. The way he beams when he speaks of him, it’s clear the honeymoon period hasn’t passed.
“Working through the holidays? That sucks,” Noble remarks.
“Lots of slips and falls, kids breaking bones on their new toys, stuff like that this time of year. He’s pretty busy.”
“Your husband is a doctor?” I ask.
Todd takes my coat as he answers me, hanging it in a nearby closet. “He’s an orthopedist. That’s how we met. I work in transcription, and I had to call to check on some of his notes before transcribing them. Doctors are known for poor handwriting, but he pushes the limit. Never saw such chicken scratch in my life.”
We settle on the couch in the living room and spend the next hour talking and getting to know each other.
Todd stares at his phone for a moment before jumping to his feet and racing out of the room. Noble returns my quizzical look, and is just about to follow him when he returns.
“Sorry, there was a Butterfree in the kitchen. I’ve been trying to catch one of those little bastards all week.”
“A butterfly?” How the hell does he have a butterfly in the house when it’s about thirty degrees outside?
“I’ve got one,” Noble replies smugly.
“Well, I have a Charizard.”
A moment of silence ensues before I announce. “Well, I have no clue what you two are talking about.”
They both laugh, and Noble shows me his phone where he has loaded a game. “Pokemon Go. I’m beating his ass and he can’t accept it.”
Todd smirks. “It’s a nice evening. Maybe you’d like to take a little walk and show your girl around town.”
“Where’s the closest gym?”
“The old high school. The park down the street is a Pokestop.”
Noble turns to me. “Is it too cold out for you?”
“No, I’m fine. But just to get this straight, we’re going to walk around so you can catch cartoon animals?”
Todd chuckles and smiles at me. “When you say it like that, it just sounds ridiculous.”
“We’re also going to fight them so I can takeover the gym for the blue team,” Noble defends.
“Whatever blows your skirt up, babe,” I reply.
I guess we’re hunting for Pokemon.
We get ready to go, and I’m already bundled up when Noble wraps a thick scarf around my neck and drops a kiss on my lips. “If you get too cold, tell me, okay?”
“I will.”
Noble drives us a few blocks away and parks beside a small playground. I’m shocked at the amount of people I see roaming around the play equipment and sitting on the picnic tables in the chilly darkness.
By the time we’re out of the car, Noble and Todd are staring at their phones with matching grins, and I realize all these people are doing the same thing as them. “There was an update today,” Noble explains. “New Pokemon and stuff.”
I thought it was a bit weird at first, but watching Noble and his father race around, laughing and smiling, may be the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. There are so many people here, most obviously strangers to each other, but you wouldn’t know it by watching them. They are all so excited about the game. They talk to each other, helping one another get ahead. It’s not often you see a sixty-year-old man approach a group of teens with more holes pierced in them than a pasta strainer, and then watch them work together to achieve some goal in the game. It’s touching in an odd sort of way.
When they’ve done all they can here, we all walk down the street to what Noble refers to as a gym. It’s actually an abandoned high school, and I’m betting this is the most visitors it has seen since it was closed down. People are seated in small groups on the lawn, fighting their Pokemon to win for their team.
“I’m going to stand by the fire,” I tell Noble, giving him a quick kiss. “Go kick some ass.”
Grinning, he and his father take off and join a group of four kids sitting on the stone steps.
A large fire roars in an oversized portable fire pit that I assume someone has dragged out here. Three older women—well, older than me—stand around it, rubbing their hands together and talking. I can’t make out much, except their faces since they’re bundled up as much as I am.
I’m graced with a smile from one of them when I approach—who I mentally dub as Red Hat, since she’s wearing, you guessed it, a red hat—and the others give me a nod as they continue their conversation.
“It’s just so ridiculous,” the woman in a horribly ugly scarf says. “But, they’re kids, you know. It’s a fad that’ll pass.”
Red Hat’s head bobs and she moves closer to the fire. “At least the other games could be played in their bedrooms, and I didn’t have to drive them all over town.”
The third woman, who wears a killer pair of calf high boots, speaks up. “My Harry expected me to let him walk all the
way here with just his friends, no adult supervision whatsoever! It’s almost half a mile and they’re only twelve. Just because the other mothers don’t care if their kids get kidnapped doesn’t mean I’m risking mine.” She glances around to locate a boy I instantly feel sorry for. Helicopter parents are the worst.
Red hat turns to me. “Did you hear about the man who walked right off of a cliff while playing this game?”
Swallowing back a laugh, I shake my head. “I never heard of the game until today.”
“Another man stopped his truck in the middle of the highway and caused a multi car pile-up. Can you imagine? A grown man doing that over a stupid game.” Ugly Scarf tuts. She looks around and drops her voice as if the players might hear her. “Of course, there are some adults here without children. I guess the virgins have to crawl out of their mother’s basements for something.”
All three women cackle, and I swear I think of that witch from Looney Tunes, you know the one who leaves bobby pins in the air? I can never remember her name.
They go on like that for a while, and I just listen. They’re so judgmental I want to smack them. After a few minutes, Killer Boots turns to me. “That’s my little Harry over by the steps. Which one is yours?”
Noble and his father are making their way toward me, and I gesture to them. “Here comes mine now, with his father. Hey, babe!” I wave, and the expression on Noble’s face says he knows I’m up to something.
I throw my arms around him. “Hi, did you have fun? I know it’s colder out here than in your mom’s basement. And the moonlight is awfully bright.”
His look is one giant question mark, but he plays along. “Yeah, but we should get back soon, or you never know what could happen.”
“What is the name of the witch on Looney Tunes?” I ask, and Todd answers.
“Hazel?”
“Yes! That’s it. It was driving me crazy.”
Todd is looking at me like I might already be crazy. “Why were you trying to think of the witch’s name?”
“Oh.” I meet the gaze of each woman before replying, “Just met some people who reminded me of her.”
