It's been a long time since Sharon got to spend a quiet and calm evening. Those evenings have been especially rare since Rusty came to live with her. She loved Rusty, she really did, but he changed her life and made them more eventful. It wasn't something she was not able to handle. She was glad that Daniel Dunn was out of the picture and that Rusty was once again safe and seemed to be feeling happy with her. Sitting in her living room, a cup of herbal tea and a book she's been dying to read for a very long time in her hand, she brought her knees to her chest and was so concentrated that she barely heard the irritating sound of her phone.

"Sharon," She heard Rusty's voice. She put down the book and looked at him. "Your phone."

"Oh." Sharon said and grabbed the phone from the table. Without looking at the screen to see who it was, she picked it up.

"Sharon, finally." She heard her mother's voice.

"Hello, mother." She said, rather coldly into the receiver. "How are you?"

"I heard this rumor and I hope it isn't true," Her mother's voice was high pitched, which was an alarming sign and Sharon knew it. Something was wrong and if not, something was going to become wrong very soon. "…that you have a boy in your house."

"I don't know who told you this, mother." Sharon threw a glance at Rusty who seemed to be listening. "But yes, the rumor is in fact true." She tried to sound proud and confident. Truth was that she was confident with taking Rusty in, but not very confident about her mother hearing about it.

"Sharon Elizabeth, are you out of your mind?" She knew this would come. Maybe she should have lied about Rusty.

"Mother, I'm a grown woman. I am very capable of making decisions about my life on my own." She was assuring herself, mostly, because her mother obviously could not ever be convinced of that. Sharon was an only child and her mother thought it gave her the right to criticize and interfere with her life.

"You know, Sharon, it seems like it's time for me to come for a visit. I haven't been to LA in quite a while." Her mother stated. "And if you don't mind, Alfie will be joining me."

"I do mind!" Sharon said, but her mother already hung up on her.

"Who was that?" Rusty asked. She forgot he was listening.

"My mother." Sharon grinned. "She wants to meet you." She tried to smile, as if her mother visiting her in LA would be a good thing but Rusty was smart enough to figure out that it was a fake smile that was hiding something else.

"You're not happy with this." He stated.

"No, I'm not." Sharon admitted. She sighed and gazed at him softly. "My mother heard about you being here somehow." She started. "She's not very happy with this."

"Are you?" Rusty asked. He found it odd that Sharon did not tell her parents about him.

"I am happy that you are here, but my mother… Well, you'll meet her pretty soon and see for yourself." She replied. "And Rusty, I cannot stress this enough, be nice to her. Be very nice and very polite."

"You're scared of her." Rusty stated. Sharon's expression froze on her face. "What did she do to you?"

"Nothing." She shrugged. "She just has a lot of expectations." Sharon Shrugged and grabbed her book, bringing her knees to her chest and leaning over them.

"Sharon," Rusty interrupted her after a while.

"Hmm" She replied.

"If you want to know the rest of the story, then you'd have to turn the page." Only then she realized that she was just staring at the book blankly. She closed it with a faint thud and put it on the table.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed now." She said as she grabbed her cup from the table and put it in the sink. She reached out for the sponge.

"Sharon, don't worry about it. I'll wash it." Rusty said.

"Are you sure?" She asked. Rusty shrugged. "Okay. Goodnight, Rusty." She walked to her room and closed the door behind her.