Chapter Eight: Home to Mother

Holy crap. I'm not exactly the type of girl that you want to bring home to mom, Seth, I felt like telling him. But I couldn't exactly tell him that without starting a whole new round of questions.

"Okay…" I told him, not exactly being sure what to tell him. What do you tell a guy that you've known about for exactly a week who wants to take you home to go meet his mother, and possibly his father? I have no earthly idea, that's what.

"Am I going to meet your dad too, or is that saved for tomorrow night?" I asked him nervously. Please, dear God, don't tell me I'm going to meet the parents. I've barley known him for a week.

"No, my dad died quite a few years ago, actually," he told me his voice suddenly growing somber. I felt really bad for him, I mean, I know what it's like to not have a dad, but I couldn't imagine having one and then having him taken away from me.

"Oh, I'm sorry," suddenly hoping that I hadn't offended him in the slightest. That's not exactly what I wanted to do.

"It's okay," he told me reassuringly. "I mean, how were you supposed to know? It's not like I exactly have a sign around my head that says 'fatherless son' or anything like that. It's all cool."

It was silent for a second, but then I turned to ask him another question.

"So why do you want me to meet your mom?" I asked him, truly curious. As far as normal guys were concerned, the less you knew about their family, the better. And that's the way it was on my side of things with Seth. There was no way that I was going to tell him that my mother leaves me alone more often than not.

There was a lot about myself that I wanted to keep hidden with him.

"I don't know. I have this weird precognition that you two would get along really well. I think you and my sister Leah would too, actually."

Oh wow, he had a sister. "So where does Leah live?" I asked him.

"Well, right know she goes to Washington State, so she's currently in Seattle. She's studying to be a teacher, actually. But she comes home for the holidays and stuff. She's not too fond of home, but it's not our mom or anything. She just has other issues," I could tell that he probably wasn't going to say anything more on the subject, and that was fine with me. It sounded highly personal, and I was never one to pry.

"So what's she like, your mother?" I asked again, for some insane reason I was feeling highly nervous about meeting her. The last time that we had met wasn't exactly under the best of circumstances and I was really rude. I really need to work on that. It was no wonder that no one liked me. But I had used my rudeness for so long as a shield that it was really hard to let go of, especially at a point where I could be counted on being vulnerable. I wasn't quite used to it yet, but I have to resolve to let it go at some point, especially now that I had Seth, and he had friends. Really cool friends from the sound of it and I wanted them to like me.

"She's really tough, she's been through a lot these past years, and she has a really big heart, so don't let her shell intimidate you. She loves doing that to people sometimes, but she probably won't do that to you, so I wouldn't worry about that. But she also has this way of looking into people. It's strange, but strangely right, and I'm sad to say that neither I nor my sister got that particular talent."

She sounded like a really awesome mom, and all of the respect that I had felt on Saturday came back.

"Well we're here, what do you think?" he asked me. This was the first time (second, if you thought about it technically) that I had seen the outside of his house. It was small and quaint. The panels of wood on the outside were painted yellow, and it was outlined in a white scalloped trim. On the whole it was extremely cute. I adored it immediately.

"It's so cute," I squealed, very uncharacteristically but it really was, and Seth chuckled at my expression.

"I guess," he replied, and he gestured his way to the front door. "Ladies first," he told me, opening the door. I gulped, and stepped inside.

The house was very warm, with the same décor as before. But that was a silly thought. It's not like their living room was going to change the second time I was in. There were two hallways leading out of the living room, which seemed to be the main room of the house.

"Mom," Seth called, his voice lingering around the house.

"In the kitchen," was the muffled reply I heard from the second hallway.

"Come on," Seth told me, and grabbed my hand. I recoiled from the sudden contact, and pulled my hand from his before he could get a good grip. I couldn't see his face, and suddenly had a wave of guilt pass over me for a reason that was foreign to me.

This scared me. I used the hand that Seth had grabbed to nervously brush through my behaving hair, trying to soften the blow, even though Seth couldn't see.

"Hey Seth, I was just thinking about you. And who's this?" Seth's mother added as soon as she noticed me behind Seth.

"This is Sophie, the girl who I brought home the other day, remember?" he asked.

"Oh yes, I remember. The rude one, who couldn't say thank you properly," she told me with a harsh look. Seth looked like he was about to object, when I intervened. I wasn't going to be rude, but I couldn't exactly say that what she had said didn't hurt, something that also surprised me.

"Yep that's me. My mom sometimes calls me that too," I said. For some reason Seth's mom smiled.

"Okay. I like you," she told me simply, and Seth's face relaxed considerably. "You can call me Sue, by the way. Everyone else does."

"Okay Sue," I answered, the name feeling alien on my tongue.

She smiled at me again. "Would you like a cookie?" she asked, and I nodded numbly in reply. The cookie that she gave me was double chocolate chip (I love chocolate), and it was quite soft. Sue was a good cook.

"Seth told me about the muffin that you introduced him to, and so I decided to try my hand at it. They're not exactly muffins, but I had to give it a shot, and my muffins never turn out right, so I figured a cookie is the way to go. I mean, who doesn't like a cookie?"

"Freaks of nature," I mumbled, being a smart aleck.

"Exactly," she agreed, and handed Seth two more. He had already eaten five by the time that I had finished my one. It was amazing; he inhaled them like a vacuum. I stared at him.

"What?" he asked, starting to feel self-conscious.

"How many cookies have you eaten?" I asked him.

"I dunno, about seven I guess," he answered, looking confused.

I just looked at him. "I've never seen someone consume as much food as you that fast, ever."

He shrugged. "You should see Jacob. He can eat ever more than I can. Or maybe even Paul. Mom, who do you think eats more, Jacob or Paul?" he asked his mother.

"Probably Paul. Remember that one time I made three cakes for all of you, but Paul ate two of them?" Sue reminisced, smiling as she did so.

I wanted to meet these people, and soon. They all seemed like such a family, and I wanted to join as much as possible. This feeling left me feeling staggered. I had never felt anything like this… longing. It made me, well not uncomfortable, but… different. I can't explain it.

"So are all you guy's family or something?" I asked while grabbing another cookie. Sue really was an excellent cook. She gave the coffee place's muffins a run for their money.

Sue and Seth exchanged a brief look that I didn't miss before Seth answered my question. "Yes, something a bit like that." And then he changed the subject.

"So are you free tomorrow?" Seth asked me.

I nodded. I was always free.

"Good, bring her over here again, Seth," Sue said as she ran the water for the dirty dishes. I felt useless, so I went to go help, grabbing a dishtowel that was on the oven.

I nodded more eagerly.

I like Sue, and I wanted her to like me as well. And I also wanted to see Seth again. We just felt so natural here, the two of us.

We weren't awkward with each other anymore, I realized as he drove me home. We had an effortless conversation on the way home, and that was more than I had felt for anyone in a very long time.