Baited

Chapter 7. Home sweet homo

Neither Cooper nor I had had a chance to put our bags down before our Mothers arms were around us in a tight embrace. The mixture of our mothers perfumes smelling of powder, vanilla, lavender, cotton candy and floral invaded my senses. We were home.

"Honey, I missed you." My mother cried as her lips attacked every crevice of my face with kisses. When she had her fix of kisses, she pulled back to look me up and down. "You look so tan. Such a handsome boy." Then she squinted her eyes together and pursed her lips. "But you look thin. What have you boys been eating?"

My Mother is a petite woman, maybe about 5'5 in height. She's in her late 40's with deep brown curly hair she often has pulled up in a messy bun and the same blue eyes myself and my siblings inherited. She is an outgoing woman not afraid of speaking her mind and extremely protective of those she loves. Often a little overbearing and overprotective.

With that she turned to Coopers who's mother seemed to be done giving him the once over and the two swapped children.

"Hello, Mama Sophia." I gushed as my second mother embraced me in a similar fashion as my Mother.

Mama Sophia, Cooper's Mother, was about 5'6 and a curvy woman; also in her late 40's. She had bleach blond hair with dark roots; the lack of upkeep at the beauty salon a running joke in our family. I think she likes the dark roots and bleach blond look though. It was her thing and it made her light brown eyes pop with the contrasting colors. Her personality matched my mothers to a T. It's no wonder the two have been best friends since grammar school.

"Spencer, my sweet, sweet, boy. We've missed you both so much." She paused and like my mother, pulled back to give me a once over before she too asked if we've been eating. "Come! We cooked." She went to grab a hold of my hand to pull me further inside before realizing I was still holding my bags.

"Put those down." She insisted, waving her hand in a downward direction. "We'll get your fathers to help with that. Or one of your brothers when they get their asses off your couch and head over. Now come!"

If you haven't caught on yet, our families are very close. Sophia is like a second mother to me. Myself and my three older siblings had been raised to call her Mama Sophia. Cooper's Father, Ray, we called Papa Ray. My Mothers name is Josephine and my Fathers name is Greg. Respectively, Cooper and his two siblings refer to them as Mama Jo' and Papa Greg.

"Brother's?" I asked as I was being pulled towards the dining room. "Who's here?" I turned back to look at Cooper who was still cornered by my Mom. She had just begun her kissing attack. He loves the attention so I figured he'd be no help to me at the moment.

"They all are." Mama Sophia replied as though it was obvious. "Well, except for John. Him and his big time university. I'd be surprised if he visits at all this summer." She complained with sadness in her voice.

John is the oldest of the bunch at 25. He's Cooper's brother and left home as soon as he could. Unlike Cooper and I who love this town and plan on staying and starting our families here, he couldn't wait to get out. He's currently at Harvard practicing law and rarely comes home to visit. Needless to say, just the mention of his name can cause our Mothers to break down and ruin an evening.

"You boys left us for what felt like an eternity and so we had to celebrate your return. Your Mother and I made sure all you other siblings' asses would be home for the welcoming." Mama Sophia quickly moved on from the mention of John.

"We were gone for two weeks, Mama Sophia." I responded amusingly. These women are too much sometimes.

"Two weeks too long. Your siblings left us high and dry for college. Our babies are all we have left so you better get used to us fussing over you both!"