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“I have not.” I held my breath as I waited for Mom to go on, reminding myself it was probably nothing.
“I think she’s really serious about getting us all together for the holidays, so maybe you can talk to Jenna and decide if you can come for Christmas or Thanksgiving. I’m totally flexible, you know. No big plans.”
“Okay, I’ll ask Jenna and let you know.” If I got the chance.
“Great! Well, I won’t keep you...” Mom’s voice trailed off.
I cleared my throat, trying to think what Jenna might say to keep the conversation going. “So, uh, is Frank gone?”
“Oh, yeah. He cleared out right after we got back.”
“Wow. Uh, sorry?” I tried. It was hard to see Frank’s departure as a loss.
“Thanks.” Mom sighed. “You know, I didn’t forget what you kids said about getting therapy as a family. I think maybe it would be really good for me to talk to somebody on my own, too.”
“Sounds good.” Professional help was a good option for all of us. “Probably wouldn’t hurt me, either.”
“Oh, I have another call. Hold on one second, Adam!” Mom announced. “Don’t hang up!”
I shook my head. It was likely a new boyfriend, and Mom would probably forget I was on hold. But I could wait a little while before hanging up. It wasn’t like I had anything better to do.
“I’m back!” Mom’s voice came through my phone speaker. “And I transferred Nicole in, too! A little family chat. How fun!”
I could check the contact box for my mom and my sister at the same time. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Nicole replied. “Mom says you’re driving to see Jenna? Say hello for us, okay?”
“Definitely,” I agreed.
“Mom, don’t freak out, but I kind of met someone.” Despite her disclaimer, Nicole sounded resolute, like she could already anticipate what was coming.
“What!” Mom’s loud squeal nearly took out my phone’s speaker.
“I said not to freak out! Anyways, I’ve been spending time with this guy. He’s another doctoral candidate—”
“In women’s studies?” Mom interrupted. “Must be someone who’s as smart as you are.”
“Thanks, but no, epidemiology.”
“Yikes, risky. Those guys are no good,” I teased. “Who makes a career out of studying diseases?”
“Ha, ha. So we’ve been hanging out, and I think he might be interested in a romantic relationship, but I’m not sure. I don’t know if I should wait for things to happen organically or say something, and if so, what. I just don’t want to ruin whatever it is by some clinical conversation. Any advice, Adam?”
Before I could state the truth, that I was genuinely surprised Nicole thought I could give advice about avoiding stilted dialogue, Mom jumped in.
“You need to let the man make the first move!” she insisted. “If he doesn’t, it might be a sign that he’s not that into you. I know I have a book about that around here somewhere... Haven’t read it, but I could send it to you.”
I could almost hear Nicole’s eye roll over the phone. “Thanks, but conforming to outdated gender norms isn’t the issue here.”
“Nicole, a textbook can’t teach you everything about how the world works. Men want to do the chasing.”
I cringed and thought about pretending I had a bad signal. This had all the makings of another intense, mother-daughter fight.
But Jenna would probably encourage me to intercede. “Nineteen sixty called, and they want their gender stereotypical relationships back.” A weak attempt at a joke, but hopefully better than nothing.
Mom huffed. “Okay, well, what doyouadvise Nicole to do? I guess you are the only one of us in a stable relationship right now.”
Both women were silent, awaiting my response.
