Title: Tiger Lilies
Rating: PG
Warnings: None (For once, it's not AU! ...as of yet.)
Pairing: Jake/Clare
Summary: "I want to meet your mom." Jake's run out of reasons to say no.
Notes: I typed this up on my iPod, and didn't have my beta look over it. In other words, don't expect grammatical perfection.
Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi.
"I want to meet your mom."
Jake turned to stare at his girlfriend, silently weighing his options. They were in his car, sitting in the parking lot of Degrassi because Clare said that she wanted to talk before they left. It wasn't the first time the topic had been brought up, but it was the first time that Jake didn't have a Perfectly Reasonable Excuse to say no, and thus had to actually consider saying yes.
Finally, Clare couldn't stand the awkward silence any longer. "I mean, I've met your dad, and you've met both my parents, so..."
"This isn't casual." He cut her off, and she laughed.
"I think we passed 'casual' a while back, Jake."
"Yeah, well, this is the polar opposite of casual. This is 'it was never casual, no matter how much I lied to myself'."
"...I'm okay with that if you are." She said softly.
"It's a long drive." He warned her, already shifting the car into gear. He'd found that, at some point, he'd developed a crippling inability to say no to Clare Edwards.
The ride was silent. Clare didn't comment as they left the city, or when he pulled on to the highway. It wasn't an angry or awkward silence; they were just too nervous to make small talk. Albeit, they were nervous for different reasons.
He was worried that she would think he was crazy, or that she just wouldn't get it. He should, he supposed, give her some warning as to what was coming. But he couldn't find the right words; this wasn't something he'd ever had to explain before.
She said nothing as he pulled into the parking lot of the familiar flower shop. "Have to get her a gift." He explained softly. Clare nodded, hands twisting the fabric over her lap.
It barely took him a minute to find the flowers he wanted - "Tiger lilies, they're her favorite" he told Clare - since he'd used the same flower shop for years. He could make this purchase in his sleep.
Clare gently took the flowers from him as they got back into the car, holding them delicately in her lap as he drove. She still hasn't said a word. Silence continued to rein as he shifted the car into park again. Taking a breath to steel his nerves, he turned to her, fully expecting her to be freaking out.
They had just come to a stop in a cemetery, after all.
Only she wasn't freaking out. She was looking around through the windows, obviously surprised, but it didn't look like she was questioning his sanity. So, he got out of the car, walked over the the passenger side, and opened the door.
She looked up at him with wide eyes. "I - I didn't - I'm sorry." She stuttered. He grit teeth, waiting for her to explain that this was too weird, that she had changed her mind and wanted to go home now. "I'll stop pushing." She promised. "I'll wait until you want to do this. I - I shouldn't have rushed it to begin with, and I'm sorry." She pushed the flowers into his hand. "Go see your mom. I'll wait."
It took him a minute to process what she was trying to say, but then he smiled. "Come on." He said, holding out his free hand to her. She hesitated for a moment.
Her hand was warm as she slowly laced her fingers between his.
She stumbled a bit, shoes sliding on the uneven ground, as they walked past the headstones. But he didn't park far - after only a few feet, they come to a stop.
Rachel Martin: Loving Wife, Devoted Mother.
His parents had been legally divorced when she died, but it had been amicable - so much so that she hadn't changed her name yet and many people had acted like they were still married, only temporarily separated. His dad had been a complete wreck at the time, Jake had only been ten years old, and she didn't have any other family, so most of the arrangements had been made by a woman at the funeral home - including the engraving. He didn't know if the flip of the more traditional "Devoted Wife, Loving Mother" was intentional or not, but he liked it.
"Hi, Mom." He greeted, keeping his voice low, as he knelt to place the bouquet on the headstone. "This is Clare."
Clare sat down in the grass, tucking her legs under her in a way that he thought looked completely uncomfortable, but she apparently didn't mind. He sat cross-legged next to her.
"Hello." She said after a moment. "Ms. Martin, I've been waiting to meet you. I hope you know what an amazing person your son is." She paused, reaching out to take his hand, pulling one into her lap to hold it in both of hers. "We've been dating for a while now. He makes me really happy. And I think I make him happy, too." She smiled at him and he smiled back, squeezing her hand. She kept talking.
It was over an hour before they returned to the car.
End
Random thing my brain chose to obsess over: are "devoted wife, loving mother" and "loving wife, devoted mother" interchangeable? The internet seems to say yes. But I referenced one as "more traditional" because it's the one I hear used all the time in RL.
Inspired By:
My boyfriend was eager to meet my mom, despite my various protests. I pulled into the parking lot of the cemetery where she's buried, expecting him to completely freak out. When we approached her grave, he sat down, said hello, and talked with her for an hour about how lucky he is to have me. LGMH
(From Love Gives Me Hope)