3. Dating
Olivia blew out a breath slowly. She knew she hadn't lost her looks yet, although she needed to dye her hair more often these days. But dating wasn't just about looks. Certainly not at her age. It was about letting someone in and trusting someone who had already lived a life, like she had. And trusting still didn't come easily to her.
"Noah ..." she sighed, unsure what to tell him.
"Mom, I know you've got trust issues. But you can't tell me to take a leap of faith every once in a while and not take your own advice."
She smiled despite the touchy subject.
"Where is all of this coming from, Noah? I haven't dated in ages. Why are we talking about this now?"
Her son looked at the pavement between them, his shoulders sagging slightly, and he tucked his hands in his coat pockets.
"Well ... you know ... Sarah's dating all the time and now I'm going on a date and ... well, we've moved out and ... I just don't want you to be alone, mom."
Her smile grew wider. He was still her sweet boy, although he didn't want her to call him that anymore.
"I won't be alone, Noah. You two are going to bring two more people into our family one day, and I'll have another daughter and another son. And I'm counting on a few grandchildren too!"
Noah nodded, but she could tell he still wasn't at ease about her being alone.
"I don't need a man of my own to be happy, honey. Honestly. I'm happy already," she told him, putting a hand on his arm and squeezing it.
It was the truth. She didn't need a man to be complete. Besides, she doubted there would ever be enough room in her heart for a man. It seemed all of the space in her heart was being taken up by her children. And by him. There still was no way around him, not even after more than twenty years apart. Part of her heart had simply been locked away on the day he walked out of her life for good.
"Can't you give it one more chance?" Noah asked her hopefully, and for his sake, she told him she'd think about it.
"Alright, let's go inside now, okay? I'm freezing!" she said, rushing towards the entrance of the grocery store. Noah shook his head and followed her a little slower.
At least she'd said she'd think about it.
...
"A little birdie told me you went on a date with Catherine Taylor last night."
Olivia rolled her eyes but decided not to intervene this time. She busied herself stirring her home-made soup, her ears perked up to hear every word of her children's conversation. When Noah had arrived earlier, he'd already winked at her and given her a thumbs up, so she knew his date had gone well. She loved how she could have wordless conversations with her son. Sarah required a far less subtle approach, and Olivia had learned a lot from raising the vocal little girl. She had learned to express herself much more clearly and had noticed that it had even changed the way she had communicated on the job. She didn't leave her co-workers and the ADA's guessing anymore and had even wondered if she'd be able to build new relationships more easily now.
"So?"
Noah's answer was short but firm. He wasn't denying he'd been on a date, but wasn't going to share much with his sister. Naturally, it didn't stop Sarah from trying to pry more information out of him.
"So how was it bro? Did you kiss her?"
Olivia pressed her lips together, forcing herself not to intervene.
"That's none of your business," Noah snapped.
"I guess that's a no then," Sarah said in her teasing sing-song voice and Olivia groaned inwardly.
Buttons were being pushed, again.
"I'll have you know that I did kiss her, and she kissed me back, so there!"
Olivia had to turn away to hide the smirk on her face. Sarah had actually made her brother lose his composure and she had to admit she liked it. Sarah squealed and jumped up from the sofa to jump into her big brother's lap, much to his surprise.
"Oh, congratulations! My irresistible big bro!" she said happily, giving her brother a crushing hug. "So when are you bringing her over?"
Noah laughed out loud.
"You haven't brought any of your dates over, Sarah. Which is a good thing, because you have a new guy every week."
"Not every week," Sarah said, climbing out of her brother's lap and frowning at him.
"Every other week then."
Sarah rolled her eyes and returned to the sofa.
"That's different. It's nothing serious, just hanging out and dancing."
"And smooching," Noah added teasingly.
"God, you're such a virgin sometimes," Sarah sighed, resting her head on the armrest of the sofa dramatically and closing her eyes.
Olivia's head snapped up and she glared at her daughter, who could probably feel her mother's eyes on her immediately.
"It's an expression mom," she said, not bothering to open her eyes. "I haven't had sex with anyone yet."
Olivia tried to will the knot in her stomach away. She didn't want to think about her children becoming sexually active. She'd tried to prepare herself and she'd thought she wouldn't have a problem with it at all, considering all the things she'd seen on the job and her own wild teenage years. She certainly wasn't a prude and had had her share of bedroom experiences. But the thought of a man putting his hands on her daughter was still something she kept pushing out of her mind.
Sarah must have picked up on her discomfort and sat up to look at her.
"Mom."
"Yeah."
Two pairs of brown eyes locked over the breakfast bar and the expanse of the living area.
"You raised me well. I'm not having sex with a random date, okay? I know I'm a flirt, but I'm holding out for the right guy to be my first."
Olivia nodded. She had had a few very candid conversations with her daughter and she hadn't sugarcoated her own mistakes. She would just need to trust Sarah's judgment.
"Believe it or not," Noah piped up, "she actually checks in with me when she likes a guy. She knows I'm a better judge of character than she is."
Olivia bit her lip and blinked a few times, suddenly very interested in her soup. Gratitude washed over her for these two wonderful people she'd had the privilege of raising. She must have done something right for them to turn out the way they had.
"Which is exactly why I asked when you're bringing Catherine over," Sarah stated, bringing the conversation back to where it had started originally. "Because you wouldn't kiss a girl unless you were serious about her."
She heard her son sigh in defeat. They all knew Sarah was right.
"I'll talk to her."
"When?" Sarah asked immediately.
"This evening."
"Ooooh. Second date already!" Sarah gloated.
Olivia looked at her son and saw a content smile spread across his face. She was looking forward already to meeting the young woman who was making her son so happy.
...
"Benson."
"Mom, it's me."
"Hey Noah, what makes you call your old mom in the middle of the week?"
"Do I need a special reason to check in with my pretty, not-so-old mom?"
Olivia chuckled. She hardly recognized her son these days. He had really relaxed since he'd started dating Catherine Taylor a few weeks back. He was walking up straighter and had a confident air about him. He smiled a lot and was even considering signing up for one of the school's debate teams soon.
"Well no, but you always have a reason honey, so let's hear it."
"Yeah yeah. Well, actually there is something ..."
They both chuckled over the phone now.
"I wanted to bring Catherine over for dinner on Sunday, but she's going away for the weekend on some annual family outing, so I wondered if she could come over for an early dinner this Friday in stead. She's living with her granddad and he's picking her up after dinner to drive to their weekend destination together."
"Oh. Yes. Yes, of course she can come over. I'd love to meet her."
"And mom?"
"Yeah?"
Could it just be the three of us this first time?"
She smiled.
"I'll call Sarah. Let her know she'll be evicted if she shows up."
"Thanks mom."
"No problem. And Noah?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"Love you too, mom. See you Friday."
After ending their call, Olivia walked into the kitchen to make some coffee for herself. So this Catherine wasn't living on campus, but with her grandfather. Olivia deduced that she wasn't from the city and had moved in with her grandfather when she started college in New York. It had to be reassuring for her parents to know that her grandfather was keeping an eye on her, although she did wonder how much protection an old man could provide when it came down to it. Maybe it was the other way around, and they had sent Catherine over to keep an eye on gramps. Noah had told her that Catherine had just turned nineteen and had transferred in from another school in January, at the beginning of spring semester. She wanted to major in history, which explained her interest in old movies. She made a mental note to ask the girl why she'd chosen Hudson University to continue her studies, which she'd obviously started elsewhere. Her inquisitive mind would always continue looking for new information and she grinned at herself. Deep down, she would always be detective Benson. And she wouldn't have it any other way.
...
I know this story is completely different from my previous ones. It's a lot of fun to write. I hope this is still interesting for my readers as well? Let me know in a review! So far, we're still in the introduction stage but the story will start to unfold very soon.
