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Robbie kissed her, and when he pulled away, she beamed up at him with a wide smile and twinkling blue eyes that matched his own. She patted one of his cheeks and gestured to the booth. As they both took a seat, she reached across the table and took Robbie’s hands in hers.
“How are you? I feel like I haven’t seen you for months.”
Robbie chuckled. He’d seen his mother for Thanksgiving and Christmas—hardly months. But she had complained both times because he’d only been able to stay up at the house in Oshkosh for the day.
“I saw you a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
“Yes, but that was hardly long enough,” she said. “It’s never long enough with you.”
Robbie rolled his eyes. “You say that to all your children.”
“But I only mean it with you,” she said with a wink, and Robbie grinned.
“Well, that’s true. They all know you love me best, so…” Robbie glanced at the lines at the register. “Did you already order?”
“No, I was waiting for you.”
“Oh, okay, let me go get it. Do you want anything to eat?”
“No thanks, baby. Just a coffee would be lovely.”
Robbie put their order in, waved at his old manager, and then moved to the side to wait for the drinks. As he stood there, his phone buzzed and he looked down to see the group thread.
Priest: Since you’re in my neighborhood, and owe me a coffee, would you like to come and visit me after you speak to your mother?
Robbie couldn’t explain why, but that polite request had the dopiest grin imaginable on his face.
Robbie: I would like that. Would you?
Robbie wondered if Priest would make him wait for some kind of response but two seconds later…
Priest: I would. Very much. There’s something we need to talk about.
Robbie’s heart raced.
Robbie: Then I’ll visit. But I won’t COME unless you tell me to.
Priest: Aren’t you with your mother right now? I don’t think that’s very appropriate language, Robert.
Robbie laughed, and then the barista called his name. Robbie quickly typed back: Then maybe you should punish me when I visit. Got to go. TTYL.
And he couldn’t help the thrill he got out of knowing Priest was likely sitting in his office with a scowl on his face now, thinking about spanking Robbie’s ass. Robbie picked up the coffees, and when he got back to the table and sat down, his mother grinned.
“You look happy.”
“You know, I am,” Robbie said, and took a sip of his coffee, savoring the sweet flavor. He’d become slightly addicted to the Dreamweavers that The Daily Grind was serving this month as its specialty drink. “But I’m worried about Nonna. I still feel awful about what happened.”
His mother reached out to take one of his hands. “I know you do, baby. But it’s not your fault.”
“I know that, but—”
“No,” she said, and shook her head. “I won’t have you blaming yourself for this, and neither will your nonna. She already told me how upset you were when you got to the hospital, and I won’t have you making yourself worried with guilt or stress or any other kind of nonsense. Do you hear me?”
Robbie nodded, but still wasn’t totally convinced he couldn’t have prevented what had happened.
“Now, I know Nonna told you yesterday about the ET she had been diagnosed with a little while back.”
“Yes, but she didn’t say much about it. She was too tired and I didn’t want to push.”
“I know,” she said, and patted his hand as she took a sip of coffee. “Basically, ET means your nonna’s arms and legs shake. The messages from her brain to her limbs kind of…malfunction.”
Robbie frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me that? Why didn’t she? I never would’ve left her by herself if I knew.”
“That’s exactly why,” his mother said. “The tremors weren’t bad to start with, just a few here and there, and she was able to cope with it and there was no point worrying you. But recently they started getting more serious, and she told me she was looking into different retirement communities. This has been on her mind for a while now, baby boy. But the fall, it’s sped things up a little.”
Robbie had a sudden sick feeling in his stomach. “She didn’t think she had to look after me, did she? Or Vanessa? She didn’t put this off because of us, did she? Because I would’ve worked something out.”
“No, don’t be silly.” His ma got out of her seat, came around to his side, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Are you kidding me, Robbie Bianchi? That old lady loves living with you. She feels terrible about what happened and that you feel so bad about it.”
Robbie leaned into his ma’s side and rested his head on her shoulder. “I was on a date when it happened.”
