Chapter 42
Dillon is in his room on the boat. He has several movies spread out over his bed and a bowl of popcorn nearby. There is a knock at the door, and Dillon answers.
"Thanks for stopping by," he said.
"Is everything all right, Dillon?" Georgie asked.
"Yeah," he said truthfully. "Want some popcorn?"
"Sure."
"Open your mouth," Dillon told her. "Can you catch?" he laughed.
Georgie laughed.
"I'm serious. One…Two…Three…Oh! So close."
"Dillon, what's going on?"
"Does Mac know you're here?"
Georgie shook her head. "My mom does. She's covering for me. Are you sure everything is all right?"
"I wanted our last night on the boat to be special."
"Wait. Wait. Last night? Dillon, I don't understand. Are you breaking up with me?"
"No, no, no," Dillon said. "Sorry. You know I really should have worded that better, huh?"
"Dillon," Georgie said. "Can you please tell me what is going on?"
Dillon cleared his throat, "I'm moving back home."
Georgie was shocked.
"I know," acknowledged Dillon.
"Why?" Georgie asked.
"For my mom."
Georgie's eyes widened. "For your mom?"
"After today, I realized that I needed to move back home."
Georgie began to realize. "Today was the anniversary of your grandmother's death."
Dillon nodded. "I don't know why they call it an anniversary. Sounds almost like a celebration…which it isn't of course."
"Of course not," Georgie repeated. "So you're not going to spend any more time here?"
"As of right now? No. Probably not."
"But why not? Luke is your stepfather now. Talk to him about keeping it available, so we can still hang out here. Dillon…We need to spend time alone. This place is perfect."
Dillon nodded. "It is, isn't it?"
"So why give it up? You can still move back home and keep this place."
"I know. I know, but—I think it's better if I just forget about this place. At least for a little while. And focus on living at home."
"Is something the matter, Dillon?"
He sighed. "Today, me and my mom…We uh…Something happened."
"Something not good?"
"Something awkward," Dillon laughed.
"Are you going to explain?" she smiled.
"Oh yeah. Yeah. I, um, like totally flipped out in front of her. I started apologizing and couldn't stop, and she had to calm me down, and it was so embarrassing," he laughed. "But then it wasn't. 'Cause she's my mom. And we're allowed to have those kind of moments or something…," he said.
Georgie smiled.
"Then she apologized to me. And she told me she loved me. And well, it made for a very sappy movie," he laughed. "I want to make her happy," he told Georgie. "And moving back home is a good start."
"That is very sweet of you," Georgie replied.
Dillon nodded. "So…Any more popcorn?" he asked.
"Of course!" laughed Georgie.
Chapter 43
Alan and Monica were talking in their bedroom.
"Alan," Monica stated. "I have to tell you something."
"Go ahead and say it, Monica. I'm all ears," he said rudely.
"I never made that phone call," she said sincerely.
"What?"
"I never called the divorce lawyer."
"Are you going to tomorrow?"
"I don't know."
"That's it? You don't know?"
"I don't know, Alan! Part of me wants to try and work through our problems. We've done so before, but I don't know."
"We could try again," he said.
Monica swallowed. "Only if you accept Jason as your son."
"That's not fair, Monica."
"Then this is the end."
"Jason doesn't even consider himself our son."
"He hasn't for years, and you accepted him then."
"That was before our other son died."
"Believe it or not, I am mourning the loss of AJ. You were right about earlier."
"What about earlier?"
"Your sister and her comments DID hurt me." She paused. "I loved AJ. I know he made his fair share of mistakes, but he was my son, and I loved him."
A tear fell down her cheek. Alan wanted to comfort her, but he held back.
Monica continued, "And I wish that he could still be with us. I wish I could tell my son that I loved him and that I never meant to choose one son over another. I wish...," she began to crumble.
"Monica…," Alan whispered.
Monica closed her eyes. "I wish," she said again. "That we had another chance; that we had another chance to try and make everything all right."
"Monica, please."
"But no. AJ is dead. Our first child, Alan, is dead. He is never coming back. And as a mother, I…I don't know how," Monica said as the tears fell. "I don't know how I am supposed to accept the loss of my own child. That is NOT supposed to happen. It's not, Alan, damnit!"
Alan moved closer to Monica. The two embraced.
Chapter 44
Tracy had moved to a different room. Brook entered with a glass of soda. Tracy was sipping her wine.
Tracy made a face. "How can you consume such…ugh!"
Brook Lynn laughed. "It's good. Wanna try some?" Brook held the soda under Tracy's nose. "Mmmm…"
"Ew! Get it away from me."
Brook laughed again. "All right. All right."
Tracy spoke, "Your great-grandmother used to stop the family arguments. She would be proud of you."
"For stopping a fight?"
Tracy laughed, "For taking control and well…for turning out to be such a wonderful young lady."
"You think I'm wonderful?" Brook laughed.
Tracy nodded. "I know I don't show it very often. If at all."
"Uh Granny?"
Tracy looked at her.
"Thank you. Thank you for listening to me today and allowing me to understand you better."
"Do you like what you understand?" Tracy jokingly replied.
Brook nodded. "I do."
Tracy swallowed. "I'm glad."
"So am I. This could be neat, you know?" Brook said.
"Neat?" Tracy looked like she was going to be sick.
"Oh Granny. This is going to be so much fun. You have no idea."
Tracy smiled uneasily. "I don't want to promise you an ordinary relationship."
"Haven't we already been through this?"
"We have," Tracy said. "I am just making it clear."
"I understand," Brook told her.
"What I will promise, however, is to try. I promise to try and make this work for the both of us."
Brook smiled.
PREVIEWS FOR CHAPTERS 45 AND 46:
It's the next morning, and Alan finds himself mediating between his sister and his wife.
The family gathers in the den for breakfast.
Notice: The PREVIEWS have been changed. At one point, Chapters 45 and 46 were combined, but due to last minute additions/revisions to the forthcoming Alan/Tracy/Monica scene (which had been part of the breakfast scene), I decided to create 2 separate ones. As a result, the former "Dillon has an announcement" preview has been moved to a future chapter.
Author's Note: Happy Holidays! I hope you and your families have a wonderful and safe time. :)