The Doctor will see you NOW [4] boyxboy

Thirty Two

My mother was worried about me but she knew that asking me about it would only make things worse so she just accepted it in her gentle way.  She was a heck of a woman, multi-faceted and more interesting than most of the people I knew.  She was quiet and demure with my father, strong and supportive with me and a total kick in the pants when it was needed.  She volunteered at the library and to this day was a teachers assistant to help out kids like me. 

But today, I couldn't help but notice that even though she was energetic and bouncing around the house like a ball, she was aging.  They'd always been old to me, I'd been the kid with the 'grandparents' instead of the cool hip parents.  We'd sort of caught up in the middle though and when I'd hit my mid-twenties they seemed middle aged.  But now we were drifting apart again and I did the math; she was 72.  Not a spring chicken by anyone's standards.

I gave up on the puzzle, pushing my chair back.  "I'm going to take a walk."  At least they wouldn't have to deal with my stimming for a little while.

"Honey?" mom asked.  "It's okay to be nervous but just remember that you like this boy and we love you.  That means we'll like him too.  Everything will be fine."

I just nodded and double checked the time as I headed out the door.  I had two main routes and decided on the shorter one today to make sure I was back in plenty of time.  I was surprised to see that the Young's had painted their house; it had been a nice brick red and now it was an ugly grey.  There was a new fence at the house on the corner which contained a huge dog.  I crossed the street quickly.  The neighborhood was the same but different; sort of like me.

C:  Made up a bit of time Sir.  GPS says 3:13

That was good, he'd run into traffic earlier and hadn't expected to be here until closer to 3:30.  I headed back towards the house to let mom know, she was ridiculously excited about this but I had no idea why.  She'd met Kevin and a few other people but she was acting like, well, the proverbial kid at Christmas.  "Chris should be here in about fifteen minutes."

She looked around the kitchen before wiping her hands on her apron which she then took off and replaced with another one.  This one had a huge Santa on it.  "I think we're ready for him.  Can I wait with you or do you want to be alone to greet him?"

It was obvious even to me which answer she wanted to hear but I really did need to make sureChristopher was prepared.  "I'd like to be alone please but we won't dally.  I'll bring him right in."

"Alright sweetheart, I understand."

"Mom?  Sit down for a few minutes."  She wasn't going to. "You're making me more nervous."  She sat down and then immediately asked my father if he needed anything.  Luckily he said no.  I stared out the kitchen window and it wasn't lost on me that my mother did this exact thing every time I was expected.  It had been hard for them to let me move to Los Angeles after school and they'd come to visit every other weekend for the first year, then finally realized I was capable of living on my own.   The visits had slowly dwindled to once a month and now several years later I was visiting them twice a year. 

His car pulled into the driveway and I went to meet him.  I didn't want him concerned that it was the wrong house and I needed every second I could get without my parents involved.  "Did Kevin call you?"

He smiled at me and I managed to hold eye contact.  "Yes.  He told me about the eye trick, is this right?" he asked, quickly blinking both eyes at once.  

He could call me 'Sir' and respect my authority without them noticing.  I took a deep breath, this would be okay.  "Yes Pet, thank you."

"You seem... are you sure this is okay?  Maybe I shouldn't have come?"

He was so unsure and I didn't want him to worry.  "I think they will love you but the situation is difficult for me, that's all."  I don't know why I had expected my mother to be able to wait but she threw the door open and stood on the step smiling.  "This is my mother."

"She looks so nice!" he whispered.

"I'll get your bag."  By the time I caught up she hadChristopher wrapped up in a hug and then quickly pushed him away for her infamous first impression.

"You're Chris Stevenson!  Oh my heavens, I didn't put it together even with the picture, oh my heavens.  Baby!  You didn't tell me!" 

I had no idea what she was talking about.  "You didn't ask for his last name."

Christopher was just smiling and nodding and she immediately zeroed in.  "Your dimples!  OH Greg they're even cuter in person.  I saw one of your conferences in San Diego Chris, you were just simply wonderful!  Mesmerizing!  And here you are, in the flesh.  Come in, come in."

He'd been here three minutes and I was already completely overwhelmed.