It Should Be Easy

Chapter 21

(Author's Note: Caira's mom in the media)

CARTER.

Will whistles audibly when he sees Caira's mom. She was a certified, bonafide, well taken care of MILF, and she definitely knew it. I didn't have to point her out for Will to know it was her; Caira's resemblance to her mother was uncanny. I mean children look like their parents, but come on. Caira's face was slightly less round, her forehead was a bit bigger, she was slimmer, and her bust was less generous, but I promise you those were the only four differences. They looked like photographs of the same person taken years apart.

Their demeanors were alike too. Her mother pushed her sunglasses up and checked out her nails like Caira would . She looked disinterested in her surroundings, which Caira did a lot. And she even bit her lip as she waited.

In her black linen jumpsuit and wedges, she looked like a rich lady who got lost on her way to a resort. When she saw Caira, however, her face lit up. She stood there, not meeting her in the middle, but waiting for Caira to reach her. Will and I held back, letting them have a few moments together.

"I missed you Cee-Cee!" She says, kissing her forehead.

"You too mommy!"

"I thought the doctor said you would stop growing!"

"I know," Caira groans.

"And what is all this?" Her mom says, tapping Caira's backside. "You tryna get like your Mama? Doing squats?"

"Mommy!"

"What? You look good! It's firm!" Will and I snicker behind them.

"Carter, you remember my mom, Annamae, and this Jonathan's nephew, Will." Anna shoots her daughter an oops look.

"Hey Auntie Anna!"

"Carter come here! I didn't even recognize you!" She continues on, asking almost the exact the same questions her husband did at the gallery.

"And you're Will?"

"Yes ma'am." He extended his right hand.

""You know we don't do that here," she says, engulfing Will in a hug. Will's eyes roll back in his head, as if the hug is that amazing. While I am nearly failing at holding back laughter, Caira looks mortified.

They let the both of us load up all the bags, and nearly drove away without us. Because my mom and Anna were so close, I had assumed that they were more alike, but they couldn't be any more different. Caira and her mother spoke to each other like they were friends; my mother would never do that. And my mother didn't like flashy things, but everything about Anna was flashy. Not in a tacky way, but definitely in an intimidating way.

"When did she have Caira? In utero?" Will whispers. He was joking, but it came from a place of truth. Caira had said that her mother was 17 when she had her. Did that mean she was only 34?

"I think 17," I whispered back. I could see the wheels turning in Will's head as he did the math.

"Caira what are you wearing?" Her question cracks Will up in the backseat. She had on loose ripped boyfriend jeans, a short white v-neck, a baseball cap, and converses. The waistband of her calvins peeked above her jeans. "I didn't give birth to a little boy Caira."

"Heteronormativity!" Caira sings.

"What?"

"Nothing Mommy. It's my style."

"Yeah, okay."

We begin driving up the pathway to Caira's small mansion. It was weird how familiar it was to me. All the memories we had in this house began rushing back. Anna typed in a code to open the gate and get to the house. It was a large brick Victorian structure with Ivy creeping up the exterior and large French windows.