Tayler, Colt and Devin were loading their car early the next morning to return home to Pennsylvania when Tayler's phone rang. "Got breakfast plans?"
"Good morning. How are you this morning? I'm very well, thanks for asking. Why, it's so nice to hear from you. Oh, no, you aren't interrupting us packing the car. No trouble at all. What question is burning in that little mind of yours? I know it must be of dire importance because it has fried the section of your brain that houses your manners." Tayler's voice was full of syrupy sweetness. Her sons covered their mouths, having been on the receiving end of this type of rebuke before they were finding it funny to see Jon getting it from their mother. "Are we busy later? Do we have plans for breakfast? Well we were trying to get everything packed into the car so we could go ahead and check out of the hotel. Then we can find a nice place to eat on our way out of town and get a few hours of travel in before boredom becomes too big of an issue."
Jon muttered, "Ask a simple question and get a ten-minute soliloquy on how I asked her out to breakfast wrong. Damn. I really am bad at this relationship stuff."
Tayler immediately felt bad for being so harsh. "Jon, I didn't mean"
"Nah, don't worry about it. I gotta learn how to talk to ya." he tried to shrug it off. Tayler realized she had hurt his feelings. "So, is it too late?"
Tayler walked out onto the balcony so she could talk to Jon without her sons hearing her. "Listen, Jon. I'm sorry for being so harsh. I've just… It's been a long time since I've been in a healthy relationship or cared about the other person's feelings. I haven't even wanted to give it a shot. And my marriage was so bad… At the end… Well… I have to remember that you are different people. I have to remember that…" Even through the phone Jon could tell that Tayler was getting emotional. He tried to interrupt but she continued softly. "I have to remember to give you a chance. You deserve a fresh slate. Respect. I am going to give that to you."
When she was silent, he spoke. "We're going to figure this out, Tayler. I haven't been in a relationship that worked. Well, I can't think of one that ever worked to be honest. In my life. I want to try. I'm going to screw up. An early morning 'got plans' call counts as a screw up. I'll learn 'cause I want to. I'm not stupid. I can do this, I've just never met anyone who… Yeah. Well… Ya wanna meet up for breakfast before you start driving home?" He changed the subject back to the more comfortable topic of breakfast.
"We'd love to meet up for breakfast." Tayler agreed.
"Great. How about I-Hop? The wrestler's favorite choice at 2 am." Jon suggested.
"Meet you there in an hour."
An hour and fifteen minutes later, Tayler and her sons were waiting in the I-Hop parking lot for Jon. "He is going to show up, isn't he?" Devin asked. "Did I mess up by being so scared of his temper?"
"Sweetie, things happen. Traffic, forgotten wallet, can't find shoes, gps doesn't work, dead phone battery, a call from work that you just have to take, any number of things that cause people to run late. We have no idea why he is a little late. Stop worrying." Tayler put her arm around Devin's shoulder as she nibbled on her bottom lip.
Before she could say anything else, a car wheeled into the lot and a harried looking Jon popped out. "Hope you weren't waiting too long." he greeted gruffly as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Tough morning?" Tayler asked. He cut is eyes to the side as he shook hands with the boys. "Ahh." she nodded.
"Ever want everything to go perfect?" he asked. "It never does."
Devin looked up at the man who was still rubbing his head in frustration. "Why do you want everything to be perfect?"
Jon dropped a hand on to the pre-teen's shoulder and guided him towards the restaurant doors. "I don't know when I'm going to see you all again and I wanted to leave you with a good impression. You guys should like me, I hope. I want you to be okay with me… I want to call your mom…" Tayler smiled as Jon kept restarting his explanation but never finishing it.
"You can call. We can start with that." Tayler whispered. Jon's eyes flew to hers.
"We're good with that." Devin agreed. "I won't get scared."
Jon knuckle-bumped Devin's shoulder. "The past is the past. I promise you. I won't give you a reason to be scared in the future."
"So you don't think I'm a siss… A fraidy…" The boy's voice trailed off each time, until Jon's large hand clasped his shoulder firmly. "What happened in your past gave you good reason to have your reactions." He leaned in close to Devin's ear. "And we've got some shared experiences, Dev. Surviving that means you are tough. You are one heck of a young man, and you're gonna grow into a real mature man thanks to your mom and brother. It'll get easier." Devin looked at Jon with skeptical eyes. "Yeah, my childhood sucked. But I decided I wasn't going to go down that road, I wanted to become a wrestler. You have to make a decision about the path you want to take in the future."
Tayler nodded. "Insightful."
Colton fiddled with his silverware. "What are you thinking about?" Jon asked.
"I want to become a professional fire fighter." he said, surprising his mother. "When families are broken, I want to help them heal. When someone is hurt, I want to help. On their worst day, I want to be the man that helps put them back together. I want to be a real-life helper, healer, and responder. I want to try to repair the destruction that I know my dad caused. I can do that by being a better man. Maybe I'm in high school, but this is what I want to do."
Tayler squeezed her son's hand. "I would be proud of anything you choose to do. Just don't let him affect you too much."
Jon spoke quietly. "He will affect your lives no matter what. Don't let what he did to you cause you to make hasty decisions."
Tayler looked at Jon with glistening eyes. "Like choose a career you know nothing about because you have hyped it up in your mind. Or shut another man out of our lives because of what he did. We have to move on." She blinked and then gave Jon a tiny smile. "How did you move on?"
"I'm a work in progress." he admitted. "But I met this brazen woman who made me want to step out of my comfort zone."