mother walked out of the front door to greet us.
“Oh, I’m so happy you two are here,” she said, giving me a quick hug and kiss to my cheek before she turned to the more important one here.
I wasn’t offended.
“Hi, Grandma!” Ira called out with a wave as she opened his door, and even if the straps securing him in the car seat were difficult to open, he somehow always managed to open them before I even got the chance to get out of the car.
Luckily, he never did that when we were still driving.
“Hello, darling. Are you hungry yet?”
It was only eleven in the morning, but I didn’t mind eating lunch already.
“We didn’t have much for breakfast,” I told her as she picked Ira up.
He didn’t mind being carried, but right now he didn’t feel like it.
He squirmed in her arms and she let him down on his feet, quickly running toward the front door.
“Okay, we’ll have lunch in a few then,” she said, smiling up at me.
“You didn’t bring your date,” she pointed out.
She had told me to bring the girl I was seeing so she could finally meet her, but asking Rooney to spend a whole day at my mother’s didn’t sound like fun.
Mom would ask her a million questions, and I didn’t want to scare Rooney off.
“No, I didn’t. Another time,” I told her.
“If you’re trying to hide her from me, I will be mad at you for the rest of my life,” she muttered.
“Won’t be too long then,” I replied with a grin.
Mom hit my chest and murmured a curse at me, rolling her eyes.
She knew I was just joking, and I was lucky she didn’t take anything serious that I threw her way.
Being her only child, she tried to make me more of a friend than a son to her.
She succeeded with that, but there were moments where she couldn’t stop herself from showing me her motherly side.
We followed Ira into the house and I let him run to the kitchen where a delicious smell came from.
“How is Ira doing?”
“He’s good. We have a doctor’s appointment in a few weeks just to check on how things are going with the pump.”
“He looks happy and healthy to me,” Mom said, smiling brightly at me. “I always knew you’d be the best daddy ever. Shame there is no woman who can watch you be one twenty-four-seven,” she said, puckering her lips.
I rolled my eyes at her. “I don’t need to prove to anyone that I’m a good father.”
“No, you don’t. But it would be nice having someone close to you who appreciates you for who you are. I can tell you like that neighbor of yours, or else your eyes wouldn’t have that happy gleam in them. What’s her name again?” she asked.
I couldn’t get away from this conversation, so I might as well go along with it.
“Rooney,” I told her,
I lifted Ira up to sit him down on the counter next to the sink so he could wash his hands.
“And she’s twenty, you said? Is she in college?”
“Yeah, she’s studying art. She’s really talented.”
“I painted with Rooney!” Ira called out with a smile on his face.
“You did? Do you like Rooney?” Mom asked.
She was trying to make a point here even though she never met her before.
“I like Rooney,” Ira said, nodding his head and then pointing at me. “Daddy likes her too.”
“Oh, does he now?” She looked at me with a raised brow.
“Daddy kissed Rooney.”
Guess he kept spying on us while I got closer to her. “I kissed her on the cheek, buddy. That’s a different thing.”
Why the fuck was I trying to justify this in front of my three-year-old?
“Cheek, lips, what’s the difference?” Mom asked. “I wanna meet her soon. Next time I invite you over, I want you to bring her with you.”
Starting an argument with her wasn’t taking me anywhere, so I gave her a quick nod to hopefully make her change the subject.
To my luck, her boyfriend walked into the house with a newspaper in hand and a sweaty tracksuit on.
I didn’t take him as a sporty guy, but even for his age, George was pretty much in shape.
“Visitors,” he said as he walked up to the kitchen.
“Good to see you, George,” I told him, shaking his hand.
His grumpy and tired face were only a façade. George was a nice guy, caring and loving.
“Good to see you too, Wells.”
“I’m here too!” Ira called out.
“Hey, big boy. You having lunch with