Memory Lane

Chapter 10. Breakfast

Jax

I banged on my mother's door until she opened it to let me in. She held the door open for me as I made my way into the kitchen. The smell of coffee filled the air and I could also smell a fresh scent of bacon. The smell was familiar, but I figured it was something my mom was cooking.

"What brings you by?" she asked returning to her cup of coffee. I remembered the conversation I had with Tara last night. It had become routine to hear her complain about my mom every night. I usually was able to calm her down, but I guess my mom has amped up her tactics.

"Mom, you need to leave Tara alone." She rolled her eyes at me and placed her mug on the countertop. "Is that what she sent you to tell me today? Isn't the good doctor a grown woman, if she has a problem with me, she can say it to my face like an adult."

I started to grow frustrated, "mom, Tara didn't send me to talk to you. I'm just tired of whatever this is that you guys have going on. Whether you like it or not, she is my wife and the mother of your grandkids."

"Like I haven't heard this song before," she muttered underneath her breath.

"Mom, I'm serious. Stop egging Tara on, she has enough on her plate."

"Alright, Dad," she said ignoring me.

I rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to argue with her. My mom was stubborn, and once she figured out that she wasn't going to get her way, she suddenly went deaf. "Good morning," I looked over to see Desiree walking past me in the kitchen. She made a beeline to the oven and grabbed the oven mitts on the stovetop. When she pulled out her breakfast casserole, my stomach started to grumble and my mouth watered.

I hadn't realized how much I'd missed her cooking until one of my favorite dishes was staring back at me. It was a heart attack on a plate with hashbrowns, bacon, cheese, and eggs. It would put you in a food coma if you ate more than one slice. Desiree stared at her masterpiece in admiration. She unknowingly did a little dance when she opened the cabinet for some plates.

"Hey, did you want some? I remember this used to be your favorite," she smiled at me. "Yeah, sure," I couldn't help but smile back at her. Her brown eyes were always so full and her smile was always my favorite thing to look at.

"You want me to cut it? I don't want you ruining your uniform," Gemma volunteered.

"I'll be fine, and plus the kids love it when you smell like food. I smelled like apples according to this little boy yesterday, he wouldn't stop following me, it was so cute." She handed me a plate of the casserole and I didn't hesitate to get my first bite. My eyes closed when the food touched my tongue, it was so freaking good. I didn't notice how satisfied I must have looked until my mom was hiding her smile with the coffee mug.

I rolled my eyes at her as Des placed a plate in front of my mom. It was interesting to see their dynamic, my mom was completely different with Desiree. It was almost as if she was submissive, Des seemed like she had the controls. I guess she gave my mom something that Tara couldn't, but I had no idea what it was.

"So, you got a job?" I took a chance at conversing with her.

"Yeah, I work at the Charming Horizon's Daycare." I nodded my head as I noticed her uniform. She was wearing a pink polo with the name of her job engraved on it with khaki pants. I smiled to myself when I noticed that her socks had little cartoon animals on them. Des was always a beautiful woman, but there was always an innocence about her that I loved.

"Is that new?" Gemma said noticing her wrist. I looked over at Des to see that she was sporting some fresh ink. She held her arm up for us to see, "yeah, I got it with Wendy after we had lunch one day. It was kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing."

"Wendy?"

She looked over at me, "oh, yeah, sorry I saw her at the hospital and we just started talking. I hope that isn't an issue for you, she kind of told me...everything."

"Why would he care who you talk to? I mean, with him being married to Tara and all," my mom chimed in. I scolded her from across the room, "what'd you guys talk about?" I asked Desiree.

"She did most of the talking since I didn't really have anything to tell her. She felt really bad about getting with you after...the accident, so she got me this as a gift," she gestured towards her tattoo. I put my empty plate down in the sink and reached for Desiree's arm. "Nathaniel?" I looked back up at Desiree who was biting her lip nervously. "Yeah, when I was talking to the lawyer, she gave me the doctor's notes and I found out I was going to have a boy. So, then Wendy suggested that it may help to name him, make him more real. I always loved your middle name, so it only seemed fitting."

I took a deep breath as I could feel the tears form in my eyes. After Desiree's kidnapping, I didn't want to hear about the child that was supposed to be. It was all just too hard to process when my wife was nowhere to be found. Desiree took her hand and wiped a tear that had escaped from my eyes. "Yeah, it's a good name, would have been good for him."

Desiree stared at me for a moment, and for that small fraction of a second, it felt like she was staring into my soul. "Well, I better get going, I don't want to be late," she reached for a hug and I wrapped my arms around her frame. The hug was quick, kind of like the hug you give your aunt. She gave me a quick peck on the cheek that did more to me than she realized. She proceeded to do the same to Gemma before she rushed out the door with her sneakers in hand. I looked out the window to see Wayne waiting patiently for her in his truck.

"So, is that all you came to say this morning? Nothing else on your mind?" I knew what my mom was trying to do. She never got over the loss of Desiree, no one did, we all just buried the hurt.

"look, I have a lot of club sh** to deal with today, so can you please try not to do your little dance with Tara today. I'm tired of hearing about this, I mean it, mom." I gave her a peck on the cheek before I left, I had no intention of extending this conversation. This thing with Tara had to come to an end and fast, I had enough to deal with without my mom adding her two cents. Whether she liked it or not, Tara was her daughter-in-law, not Desiree, and she needed to come to terms with that before she ends up pushing Tara away.