Mama's Boy

Breakfast and Tea

Nathan woke up to Shelly calling his phone and answered with a groan. "Hello?"

"That little girl is not there, is she?"

Nathan rolled his eyes to the heavens. "What do you want, Mama?" he asked.

"Let's grab breakfast," she suggested.

"Where do you want to go?" he wondered, groggily wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"The Tearoom," Shelly answered, enthusiasm covering her every syllable.

"Give me an hour."

Nathan hung up and got out of the bed to go and have a shower, getting dressed. He could tell by Shelly's voice that she was happy she didn't have to whine to get what she wanted.

Nathan got dressed and made his bed up. Making his way to have a glass of water, he called Josie, and her voicemail immediately picked up.

Disheartened, Nathan decided he would call one more time later in the day. If she didn't call him back, or her phone went to voicemail again, he would give her the space she obviously desired.

Picking up his car keys, he made his way to Shelly's flat, unlocking the door to let himself in. He found his mother sitting on the sofa, playing a game of Candy Crush, ankles crossed.

"Are you ready?" he asked, breaking her reverie.

"Let me finish my game, and then we can go."

Nathan rolled his eyes and leaned on the wall to wait for his mother to finish. If it had been him asking for a second, he would never hear the end of it.

When Shelly finished, the two headed out to have breakfast. A woman came up to Nathan with her young son, and while she excused herself to the two, Shelly gave her a dirty look. The woman, however, barely noticed, not even speaking anymore once Nathan acknowledged the little boy.

Nathan stopped a passing waiter and asked to borrow his pen, signing a napkin for the little boy and taking a photo with him.

When the two were gone, Nathan turned to his mother and saw her glaring after the woman. "What did she do to you?" he asked, already exasperated.

"I know what all these little young tramps want."

"Autographs and photos for their kids," he said drily. "That is literally all that woman came over here for. Nothing more and nothing less. You have to chill."

"I'm trying to protect your smart ass, Nathan."

"Oh boy," he mumbled, pulling out Shelly's seat. He could do without her lecture today.

"You'll listen to me someday," she clucked.

Nathan decided that the best response to that was silence, and he accepted the menus from the host, passing Shelly's to her.

"Your aunt Stacy is coming to town."

"Good, she can keep you occupied."

Shelly glanced over her menu at her son, choosing this time to ignore the comment. "She asked that she get to see you for a little while."

"I'm sure she did."

"Nathan, be nice to your aunt when she gets here."

Nathan ignored Shelly, only looking up when their server showed up. He couldn't care any less about her sister coming to visit. He didn't know if Shelly realized it, but she was a handful all on her own, and her sister was just icing on the cake. All he wanted was for the crazies to entertain one another and leave him out of it.