She laughs.
Yeah, we’re going to get along just fine.
“He’ll eat anything he can get away with.”
“Maybe we should change his name to Brody.”
Her laughter fills the air. She leans away so she can look up at me. “Thank you, Jackson. I can tell your parents raised you to be a kind and generous person. You’re making this very easy for me.”
I glance away, struggling to swallow the ball of emotion that suddenly lodged in my throat. “Yeah, I guess they did a pretty good job. Thanks for that. You picked good ones.”
She hugs me again. “I’m so sorry you lost her.”
“Naw, I didn’t lose her. She’s up there doing her mom thing behind the scenes. It’s kind of like you guys switched places.”
The way she steps away from me hurts my heart. Fuck, I’m sure that sounded crazy and more than a little morbid. Ugh, Iwish Willow was here. She’s the only one who can keep me from putting my foot in my mouth.
I try to explain myself better. “I never really felt like I lost you, either. I’ve always felt you were near, and Mom always made sure I knew you were thinking about me.”
Her hand goes to her throat. “You’ve been on my mind every single day. You’re my first thought each morning and my last every night.”
“See. Now she’s up there doing all that, and you’re down here hugging me. You’ve swapped places.”
She looks at the ground. “How did I get so lucky to have such an amazing son?”
“I don’t know, but if I was you, I’d go get yourself a lottery ticket.”
Her eyes meet mine, and she smiles wide. “Come on. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I want to know everything about you.”
I make a cringy face, and she laughs.
“Okay, so not everything.”
“Naw, you’ll probably learn more about me than you’d like. I’m a bit of an oversharer, just ask my wife.”
“I can’t wait to meet her …” She pauses with her mouth open.
I understand the hesitation in her pause. I need to assure her that she is welcome in my life. “She can’t wait to meet you either.”
She blinks back tears and turns to head inside, waving for me to follow. “If you see me pinching myself it’s because I’m having a hard time believing this is happening.”
Walking inside her home is like stepping into a warm hug. “Oh my god. This place is cool. Willow is going to love it.”
I move around her space freely, feeling right at home. I drop to the couch and lift my foot to place it on the coffee table when I hear my grandmother’s voice:“Get your feet off the table, boy. It’s bad manners.”I let it fall to the floor instead.
My mom rushes around the kitchen, fixing me a plate. “Do you like milk?”
“Fu … I mean, yes. Yes, ma’am.”
She chuckles, shaking her head. “Flyswatter trauma is a real thing, isn’t it?”
“Grandma got you too?”
“I used to have a mouth like a sailor. How do you think she got so good at wielding that thing?”
We laugh and it feels good. Right. Almost like we’ve been doing it our entire lives.
Daisy gave me some solid advice on how to meet your mother for the first time. She told me to just be myself, and that seems to be paying off.
