“Child you better not be knocking on that door. You come right in, I don’t care how long it’s been between your visits—this house is always open to you.” Betty beamed animatedly, scurrying across her kitchen toward the screen door where Piper stood. “I’ve been as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs about you. The only reason I knew you were still alive was because I had some spies at the diner. They served you dinner a few nights and reported back to me that you seemed all right.” Piper pulled the door open and let Betty fold her arms around her in a warm embrace. Piper had survived a lifetime without being embraced by a mother, and until this moment she hadn’t realized what she had been missing. She had never been held so tightly and so gently all at once. In subtle ways, through small gestures, it felt like Betty was handing Piper little pieces of love. Like she was giving her something to keep and string together. Maybe one day it would be a road map to a place where Piper could feel whole.
There was a chance the hug went on too long- Piper wasn’t sure when she was supposed to let go. She knew she never wanted to. She took in a deep breath, and realized Betty smelled like she had imagined every mother should. It was a combination of a flowery perfume and some kind of sweet pastry.
“Thank you, Betty. I’m sorry I haven’t been around. It’s been a bumpy couple of months, but I’m happy to be turning a corner. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you are welcoming me back like this.” Piper spoke into Betty’s shoulder and she could feel warm tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She had expected to be excited to see Betty but her tender welcome had moved Piper deeply.
“Sweetheart,” Betty said, pulling away and maternally stroking Piper’s hair, “we don’t just want you here, we need you here.”
“Come on in and sit down, Piper,” Bobby called from the doorway of the sitting room. Piper had hoped she and Bobby would have had a chance to calibrate their talking points before sitting with Betty and Jules, but she decided to follow his lead.
“You’re really starting to spook me with all this, Bobby. You’re being very odd about this big important meeting, even though I was already in my housecoat and curlers. You’re lucky you gave me a few minutes’ notice so I could get myself decent,” Betty said, as she and Piper took a seat on the couch.
“I know. I’m sorry to have to spring this on you. I’ve gone back and forth with myself about whether or not sharing this is the right thing to do. My gut tells me the more you know the more of a liability it is for you, but at the end of the day you are two capable, strong women who deserve the most information possible. I’m not even really sure where to start.” Bobby looked over at Piper for some assistance. She didn’t know exactly what or how much he was planning on sharing, so a starting point would be up to him.
Before Piper could even nod some encouragement in Bobby’s direction Jules chimed in, “Bobby, spit it out. If I thought what you were doing at the town hall was irritating I should have prepared myself for how annoying all this talking in code would be. You have our attention; just say what you need to say. Oh my word, did you get Piper pregnant? Well that happened faster than a knife fight in a phone booth.” Jules’s expression changed quickly from exasperation to glee. She covered her mouth with her hands and shrieked with joy.
“No!” shouted Piper and Bobby in unison. Bobby felt his face redden at the thought of getting Piper pregnant. He certainly wasn’t in the market to be a dad, but the idea of sex with Piper was something he had a hard time not thinking about. From the moment he had walked in to Jules’s office and caught a glimpse of Piper without her shirt, he found it hard not to undress her with his eyes. He pictured them at her place, at his, and sprawled out on blankets in the bed of his pickup parked down by the lake. Even now, with more than enough distraction and