Certainty

Summary: Post-S6. Jeff and Annie are dating. They haven't yet told his mother.

Chapter One: Doreen

Summary: Annie meets Jeff's mom

After some initial skittishness regarding the status of their relationship following Annie's return from her FBI internship, Jeff and Annie had decided to try dating. They attempted to keep the whole thing from the group, defined these days as including the original living study group members, the Dean, Frankie, Elroy, Chang, and hell the entirety of GCC. They rationalized this decision, agreeing they didn't want any judgment or pressure to make things work (or not work if Annie had any suspicions of Frankie or Shirley's opinions on the matter. She didn't concern herself with the Dean.). Of course the group figured it all out within a month. Surprisingly, no one tried to interfere and no one gave any um hms. It was almost as if everyone had discussed the matter and decided this was the most logical next step in the Community College Chronicles.

They went to a couple private lunches, quickly progressed things to a few cozy dinners, and moved on to more intimate encounters within the time span of two months. Although Jeff was not one to normally hold back on the sexy times, he hadn't wanted to mess things up with Annie. Turns out he needn't have worried, as Annie had been eager to explore this frontier with him and had been pushing for it sooner than he would have expected. But then again, Annie Edison was always full of surprises. Once they were intimate, they both found they couldn't keep their hands off each other. The entire pent up longing and hesitation had been released, and they were quickly discovering they hadn't needed to be too concerned about it. They were remarkably sexually compatible, which added a whole other dimension to their already solid friendship.

Jeff didn't know what to make of any of it except for the fact that he was happy. And he was pretty sure he had never been this happy. He questioned if it could be this easy.

Annie Edison was his friend.

Annie Edison was also now his girlfriend (yes, they were now using those labels, and it didn't seem weird).

Annie Edison, six months into their relationship - which they defined as starting immediately upon her return from the FBI - was also now practically living with him. Maybe not technically living with him, but she was sleeping over five-six nights a week. He was toying with the idea of actually suggesting she move in. He peeked into his closet, noting that half of it was now filled with assorted purple and teal sweaters, skirts, and demure dark navy blazers. He shrugged to himself, surprised again that none of it bothered him. His face blushed when he thought about they moment two months ago when he gave her a key, and his heart did this weird thumping thing when he thought about meeting up with her after work and them riding home together.

Annie Edison was amazing.

The only thing missing was him telling the second most important woman in his life. But given that he had never introduced a girlfriend to his mother before, that would be a huge thing. So he was feeling pretty okay with putting it off.

He didn't see his mother that much anyway.

It wouldn't take much to keep it from her.

He'd wait until he knew for sure things would work out.

It could definitely wait.

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Annie snuggled into Jeff's side, the covers tucked demurely underneath her arms.

"Have I ever mentioned I love your sheets? They're amazingly soft."

As he caressed her hair, he said, "Maybe a few times. I'm starting to suspect it's the reason you keep sleeping over."

She lifted her head and squinted at him in mock annoyance. "It's one reason." Widening her eyes, she scooted up and swung her leg over his. As she fluttered her eyelashes, she said, "Maybe we can get back to the main reason."

He gasped as she let the sheet fall and straddled him.

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After round two they were hungry. Jeff called in a pizza order, figuring it was an easy way to keep Annie happy. He didn't normally eat carbs, but he knew better than to mess with a famished Annie Edison. And she really liked pizza. He made a mental note to go to the gym tomorrow.

He watched as Annie pulled on her dark purple fuzzy sweater, the one she'd wear on these cold early spring weekends.

"Why the rush, milady?"

She lightly swatted his leg as she stood. "Someone has to get the pizza."

"Oh, I'm sure we have like ten more minutes until the delivery guy arrives. Maybe even twenty if it's that stoner Britta's still going on about."

Annie rolled her eyes as she stepped into her black leggings. "Someone has to not be naked."

"That's a shame."

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Exactly eight minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Annie raised her eyebrows at Jeff, wriggling out of his grasp. "I told you. We don't have enough time for this."

Jeff let out a groan.

She quickly threw on her sweater and sprung to her feet. "Get dressed and join me in the living room."

Jeff fell back on the bed. "Fine."

Annie smiled in satisfaction and practically skipped out of the room. She made her way to the front door, grabbing Jeff's wallet, which lay on the side table. She opened the door to see a petite grey-haired woman wearing a camel-colored wool coat. The woman was smiling, but her expression quickly morphed into one of confusion.

Annie squeaked, "Oh!"

Almost simultaneously, the woman said, "Oh!"

The last exclamation was immediately followed by a not-so-subtle look over, the expression on the woman's face being one of incredulity rather than judgment. Eventually she sputtered, "I'm so sorry. I'm here to see Jeffrey."

Annie quickly did mental calculations.

Neighbor? Then why is she wearing a coat? Maybe she's going out or just getting home?

Jeffrey? Formal. Motherly?

Mother?

Oh god.

She plastered on a wide grin. "Oh, um, of course. He's here. I didn't know he was expecting anyone. I'm Annie. And you are….?"

The woman tilted her head, a bemused smile forming. "I'm his mother."

Mother. Yup.

Oh god.

Annie gave the air a swat as she managed to say in her most breezy tone, "His mother? Oh, wow. I'm so sorry. Please, come in." She managed to step back, motioning the woman inside.

The woman nodded and followed her, turning to Annie as the door closed behind her. "Annie is it? I'm Doreen. Very nice to meet you."

Annie accepted the handshake, aware her palms were sweating which she was sure did not go unnoticed. "Nice to meet you, too. May I take your coat?"

"Why thank you, dear. That would be wonderful."

As Annie hung up Doreen's coat in the front closet, Doreen said, "I'm so sorry to stop by like this, but my car had a little bit of trouble, and I needed to have it towed. I asked them to drop me off here so that I could wait while they fixed it. I tried to call but Jeffrey wasn't answering his phone."

Annie smiled as she shut the closet door. "Oh, it's not a problem. I'm sure he'll be excited to see you."

"It's so nice to meet a friend of his. He usually doesn't introduce me to his friends."

Annie stilled for a moment before turning back around to face her with resolve. "So he hasn't mentioned me?"

Doreen smiled tightly. "It doesn't matter, does it? Now we've met."

Annie took a moment to take in the sight of Doreen Winger, noticing the meticulous presentation of casual yet stylish medium-brown pants, pressed white dress shirt, and ruby red blazer. She wondered if she was in real estate.

We've never talked about his mother. He just mentioned she lives an hour away.

Why haven't I ever asked about her?

Annie reflected on the fact that despite the easiness of their relationship thus far, she had been uncomfortable. She had likely subconsciously avoided asking him about his family for fear of disrupting their rhythm. After all, she knew a few things, all bad, about his father. She knew he talked to his mom and saw her on some holidays. But she didn't really know anything else about her. She hadn't asked.

Then again, he hadn't told her.

Annie felt her feet rooted to the spot. She said sheepishly, "I thought you were the pizza delivery guy."

Doreen nodded in comprehension. "I figured something like that." At seeing Annie's face begin to fall, she quickly added, "Oh please, let's not make this anymore awkward than it is. Are you dating my son?"

"Yes!" came the squeaked reply.

Doreen appeared to chuckle to herself for a few moments, her hand half covering her mouth. "Well, um, good. Where is he?"

Annie found herself relaxing slightly, reacting to Doreen's directness and apparent bemusement. She motioned for her to follow her into the living room. As they approached the couch, Doreen glanced around, noticing the array of colorful throw pillows.

Her eyes went to the light purple curtains as she remarked, "Now I haven't been here in quite awhile, but this looks different. Not nearly as drab. Do you live here with my son?"

Annie picked up a pillow and began fluffing it, perhaps with a little too much intensity. "Live here? No! Of course not! We're just dating, I mean sure, we've been friends for a long time, years actually, but then things changed. And yes, things are going really, really well, but live together, that would crazy!"

Doreen's eyes twinkled as she watched Annie continue to smack the pillow. Stepping forward, she carefully placed her hand on Annie's arm. As Annie froze, she took the pillow from her and placed it carefully back on the couch.

"I see. So you two have some things to clarify then?"

Annie's eyes went wide as they both faced each other for what seemed like an eternity.

The moment was broken by the sound of Jeff's footsteps as he strutted from the bedroom to the living room. "Let's get this pizza party started so that we can get back to working up another appetite. I'd like to go for round three…"

Looks of horror instantly fell over all three of their faces as they all became acutely aware that Jeff was only wearing his dark grey microfiber Hanro boxer briefs.

"Mom?!"

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It was insane. His mother was standing in his apartment. With Annie.

And I'm practically naked.

Oh god, did I just say something about round three?

Crap. Like she hasn't already figured everything out.

He cringed, turned, and jogged back into the bedroom.

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Annie closed her eyes and let out a squeak.

Doreen had already turned away and walked over to the window. "My, you have birds on the windowsill. Did you know that? Sparrows."

"Um, yeah."

"Sparrows are lovely."

"Can I um, get you something to drink? I was going to make hot tea. Jeff doesn't drink it, but I like it. Hibiscus chamomile?"

Doreen turned around to face her, a polite smile on her face. "That sounds wonderful, dear. Thank you."

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Two minutes later, Jeff was back.

This time he was safely clad in jeans and a GCC hooded sweatshirt Annie had bought him as a joke. Or at least he assumed it had been a joke. He may have worn it a few times but that was merely so that they could both laugh about it. He didn't find the surprisingly plush interior to be alluring at all.

Stuffing his hands in the pockets, he cleared his throat.

Doreen's head snapped up from her spot on the couch where she was flipping through a skiing magazine. Her face lit up and she sprung to her feet. "Oh, Jeffrey, it's so good to see you!"

"Yeah." He stepped closer to her, and she moved to meet him, pulling him into a firm hug. He noticed she lingered on it slightly longer than usual.

She whispered into his ear, "She's lovely. Good job."

As they pulled out of the embrace, he moved his hands back into the pockets of the hoodie and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry about, um, that a minute ago."

Doreen shook her head. "Well, it is your home. I'm glad you're comfortable." She yanked on the tie coming down for the hoodie to get his attention. As he looked back down at her, she said, "I'm sorry I dropped by unannounced, but my car broke down and I didn't know what to do. I tried to call you."

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I got a tow, but I need somewhere to wait it out. But if I'm interrupting something, I'm sure I can find someplace else. I thought I saw a nice little coffee shop down the street…"

With a roll of the eyes, he interjected, "Don't be ridiculous. Of course you can wait here. We were waiting on pizza."

She nodded with a nervous smile. "Thank you." Casting a glance in the direction of the kitchen, she said in a lowered voice, "Annie's making us tea. Why didn't you tell me about her?"

He shrugged as they both sat down on the couch. After a prolonged sigh, he said, "I just... look, we don't usually discuss stuff like this. It would be kind of a big deal if I were to introduce you guys. I didn't want you to get the wrong impression."

There was a crashing sound from the hallway as the teacup hit the floor.