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She’s cleaning up the kitchen as I eat, “If you’d find yourself a wife that cooks, you could have home cooked food every night.”
Here we go. “Mom.”
“Don’t ‘mom’ me. You’re almost thirty-five. When do you plan on settling down?”
I lean back in my chair and throw my arm over the chair next to me. “How am I not settled down? I own my house. I’m a lieutenant at the fire station, and I just opened a bar and grill. My bills are paid, I’ve got money in the bank, and I just trimmed all my mother’s trees for her. What more do you want?”
She sits down with a cup of coffee. “You know I’m proud of you. I could never be prouder of you. And I’m sure your father is, too God rest his soul, but you need a family of your own.”
It’s the same argument all the time. “I don’t need a family, mom. I’m fine the way my life is going, right now. That’s all that matters to me. Besides, if I had a girlfriend or a wife and kids, then I’d have no time for you. How would you feel then?” That always gets her.
“I’d be okay with that.”
This time, that didn’t get her. “What do you mean, ‘you’d be fine with that’?”
She plays with a piece of a napkin. “I’d be okay if you spent less time here if you had someone to go home to, that’s all.”
My gut is telling me there’s more. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Mother.”
She sighs, “I’ve met someone at the rec center, and he asked me out to dinner.”
My father died of a sudden heart attack over twenty-five years ago. I was ten at the time. In all these years, I’ve never known my mother to date, even once. This is big news. “That’s great mom. What’s his name?” I’ll be looking him up when I get home. Just in case.
“Maxwell Johnson, but he goes by Max.” I see a twinkle in her eyes I’ve never seen before. I think she may even be blushing.
“When are you going out?”
“Tonight. He’s taking me to the Elks Lodge for dinner and dancing.”
“That’s great, mom. I’m happy for you.” I yawn.
“You’re tired. Go home and get some sleep.”
I can’t argue with her because she’s not wrong. “Okay but call me when you get home tonight.”
“Oh Hudson. You don’t have to look out for me. I’ve been taking care of the both of us forever. I’ll be fine.”
“Right. So now it’s my turn. Call me when you get home, or I’ll stop by on my way home from the bar and you don’t want that.”
She giggles, “Okay, dear. I’ll call you when I get home. Now, go home yourself. You look awful.”
“I’m going. I’m going.” I get up and put my plate in the sink. “Come on Pepper. Time to go home.”
“Sleep well, dear.” My mother pulls me into a hug. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Mom. Thanks for watching Pepper.”
“Always.”
Pepper and I walk out to my truck and climb in. “Ready to go home and crash?”
She licks my face.
As I climb into bed after showering and refilling Pepper’s water bowl, I think about what my mother said about needing a wife. Why do I need a wife? I have my mother and my dog. I don’t need to add any more females to my life.
