"Mom?" I hopped up onto the kitchen counter next to where my mom was cooking dinner.
"Olivia" She looked me up and down. I wasn't supposed to sit on the counter. But, where else would I sit to talk to her? It was the only option.
I just smiled smugly, not moving. "You know, it was a little rude of you to tell me you met someone and then suddenly no further information."
She raised her eyebrow in amusement.
"As your daughter, don't I have the right to know?" I teased.
"My daughter who still sits on the counter even after I told her millions of times I don't want to eat food off the same counter her butt was just on?"
I knew that was coming.
"Get down." She said with a laugh.
She wasn't mad or anything. She didn't really get mad at me much. I think it was her way of overcompensating for my dad. Don't worry, I'm not some crazy disrespectful kid. It's just... my mom and I have a different type of relationship.
I hopped off the counter. "Now tell me?" I gave my best persuasive look.
She smiled. "Her name is Callie. Callie Torres. She's a surgeon-"
"At the same place you work at?" My mom's a CNA. She had always dreamed of being a doctor when she was a kid... but then she had me, and 12 years of schooling plus 200,000 dollars of debt isn't an option when you have a child.
"No, no." She shook her head. "My place doesn't have surgeons... it's where people go after the surgery. She works at the hospital."
"Oh." I nodded a little. I've been to my moms work countless of times, guess I never picked up on that. Whoops.
My mom nodded back, "She's actually an orthopedic surgeon."
"As in like... bones?"
"At an extremely dumbed down level, yes" Mom laughed.
"Hey..." I laughed too, shifting my weight between feet. My mom always teases that I can't stand still. She's right. "Did you say yes to the date?"
"I did." My mom went back to what she was doing.
"When is it?" I smiled more, getting excited. My mom had never dated- obviously. This was new, and interesting. I loved the idea of it.
"Friday night." She glanced at me. "I was thinking, I could have Teddy come over and hang out with you. Just so you're not all alone on a Friday." Teddy was like the aunt I never had. She was one of my moms best friends, and I always ended up 'hanging out' with the two of them- unless they went out, then I would opt to stay home alone.
"Fine by me."
"Good."
Silence.
"Do you know where you're going?" I was curious- I wanted her to talk to me about it.
"I have an idea. Why so many questions?"
"Cuz I wanna know." I shrugged. "Will I get to meet her?"
My mom stopped what she was doing and looked at me. "I don't think so. Not this time."
"Why not?"
"Because I barely know her."
I broke eye contact. She seemed a little distant, like she didn't want to talk about it.
"Honey,"
"What?" I mumbled, probably barely loud enough for her to hear me.
"I want you to meet her... or, anyone I end up dating. Obviously. But, maybe after the first date? You know, if it gets more serious."
I just nodded my head.
"Bad answer?" My mom laughed.
My face broke into a little smirk. "No. I just... why don't you want to talk to me about it?"
She got closer to me, shrugging her shoulders, "I guess I just don't know what to say about it. I don't wanna be one of those weird moms that gives you too much information."
We both laughed at that.
"I want to share this with you, Liv. But, you get why I don't think you two should meet on Friday, right?"
"Of course." I did understand it- who was to say the date would even be good? And, who wants to greet their date by saying 'hi, here is my daughter.' Kinda awkward.
"She knows about you, though." Mom said as she tucked some of my hair behind my ear, making me look at her.
"She does?" I asked, tilting my head.
"Of course she does." Mom spoke matter-of-factly. 'Why wouldn't the woman I just met know about my daughter?'
I laughed at my own thought.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing."
Mom gave me a look.
"It's just funny to think about how you even got to that topic." I said with a shrug- I knew she wouldn't let up unless I told her.
My mom's eyebrows scrunched. "Not really a crazy topic." She kissed my head and then walked back across the kitchen, getting our dinner from the oven. "So, what would you like to know about her?"
I smiled at that. She did want to talk to me about it. "What does she look like?" I asked as I grabbed us plates.
"Thank you. Hold on! I can show you a picture."
"You have a picture of her?"
"No... her instagram."
I nodded. Sometimes I forget how young my mom is. She's just as active on social media as I am- it's a big deal in her generation, too. We're just barely in different generations to begin with. It's kinda weird to think about.
I put some of the food she made onto two plates while she pulled up Callie's instagram.
"Here, you can look through if you want to." She passed me the phone and took our two plates to the couch. We basically had to eat on the couch- we didn't have a 'dining room' in the apartment. But, I liked it better that way, anyway.
I followed her to the couch and looked through a couple of the pictures. She was a brunette, brown eyes. Very pretty. She looked like she was probably around mom's age.
"She's pretty." I shut off mom's phone. "How old is she?"
"Thirty!" Mom had the biggest smile on her face.
I smiled at how excited she seemed, "What's she like?" I started to eat my dinner.
"She's really nice." She paused to take a bite. "Well... obviously she's really smart. Surgeon and all."
I laughed.
"She seems very sweet. Genuine." My mom said with some thought. "She is very easy to talk to."
"All good things." I hypothesized.
Mom nodded in agreement. "I've only talked with her in person that one time, though, we will see how Friday goes."
"Hopefully good."
"Hopefully."
I want my mom to be happy. I do. Maybe this is it for her. After all that she has been through, she deserves one of those cheesy fairytale endings.