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“Hi, Dad,” Jon said. “Mind if I have a cup of coffee?” he asked.
“Not at all. Your mom is in the kitchen. She says that you’ll be staying with us for a bit,” his father said.
“Yeah—it’s a long story,” Jon said. And it was one that he hadn’t yet quite worked out in his head. Having a cup of coffee might help him stall for time and sort it all out in his mind before either of his parents started asking him questions that he didn’t have the answer to.
“I’ll tell you all about it once I’ve had some coffee,” Jon promised.
“Sounds good, Son,” his father said, turning his attention to his morning paper as he did every day. Jon walked back to the kitchen and found his mother sitting at the table, having her toast and tea, just like she did every morning. His parents were so predictable, it made him smile. He wondered if he’d ever find someone that he could settle into a routine with like his mom and dad had. Hell, he had found two someones and foolishly walked away from them, but he’d beat himself up about all of that later. Right now, he had to move his stuff into his old room and start looking for a new apartment to lease.
“You’re here,” his mother said, looking up from her teacup.
“I am,” he agreed. “And Dad has offered to share some of his coffee with me.” Jon grabbed a coffee mug down from the cabinet and helped himself.
“Would you like for me to make you some breakfast?” his mother asked.
“No, my brain is still on French time, so it thinks it’s more like dinner time. I’ll grab something to eat after I move my stuff in and have a shower. Thanks again for letting me stay with you for a few weeks, Mom,” he said.
“Oh yeah—Archer called to tell me that you and Grace surprised him in France. How was your trip?” she asked. Knowing Arch, he would have played it off as him coming over as a friend, rather than someone who was sharing a bed with him and Grace.
“Why did Archer call you, Mom?” he asked.
“I don’t know really. He said that he was trying to find you and Grace because he was worried. He said he had been trying to get you both all day. Then, he called back the next morning to tell me that he had found you both in France. He explained it all to me and I have to say, I think it’s nice that your best friend included you on his and his wife’s trip to France, Jon. Archer has always been such a good friend to you.” His mother had no idea just how friendly they had been, but why would she? He’d never given her any inkling that he was bisexual, even growing up. He knew that him dating a man would have killed his parents, so he just didn’t. Jon stuck with dating women and that worked for him, but he always felt as if something, or in this case, someone was missing.
“You’re right, Mom,” he breathed. “Archer has always been a good friend to me and I’m afraid that I’ve let both him and Gracie down.”
“How so?” his mother asked.
“Let’s just say that I haven’t been as good a friend to either of them,” he said. “I was living with them, that’s why I gave up my apartment, but it just didn’t work out.”
“Well, you know what they say, Jon,” his mother said.
“No, Mom,” he said. “What do they say?” he asked.
“That three’s a crowd. I think that Archer and Grace haven’t been married long enough to have a friend move into their place with them. They’re still in the honeymoon phase and probably needed some alone time to start a family.” He cringed at the mention of them starting a family. He had helped Gracie with that issue already. Hell, he was going to be a father in about seven and a half months, but that wasn’t something that he was willing to share with his mother quite yet.
“Well, I’m sure that they’ll be hearing the pitter-patter of little feet before we know it since you’re moving back home here,” she said.
“Sooner than you might think, Mom. And to clarify, I’m not moving back home. I’m just staying here until I can find a new apartment.”
“Right,” his mother agreed. “No rush,” she said. “Your father and I love having you home.” He was their only child and he bet that his mother was thrilled to have him living in his old room again. His father probably didn’t care one way or the other that he was staying with them.
“I’m a little jet-lagged, Mom,” Jon said. “I still need to run by Archer and Gracie’s place to pick up the rest of my stuff.” He wanted to try to clear out before they got back to the states. He was lucky to get an earlier flight back home and if he played his cards right, he’d be able to grab the rest of his stuff and be gone before they even landed.
“You need your father to help?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said. “I don’t have much over there. Most of my stuff went into storage when I moved in with them.” It was one of the things he hated most about moving into Archer and Grace’s already established home. Everything already had a place, and his stuff wouldn’t fit. It’s also how he felt about their already established relationship—they already had their roles and him trying to squeeze himself into their lives just didn’t fit.
“I’ll be back soon, Mom,” he said, gulping down the rest of his coffee and kissing her cheek. The sooner he could get over to their house, the sooner he could put this whole disaster with them in his rearview.
