Jessica's Fate

Chapter 16

Zack texted me when he got home, after dropping me off. ~Was thinking about tomorrow night. Bowling? Instead of movie? ~

~I like bowling. ~ I sent back to him. I hadn't been bowling in ages but I'd always liked it when we did manage to go.

~Awesome. Call me before bed if you want to talk. ~

I sent him a smilie face back before I took my laptop downstairs to work a bit on my homework while dinner cooked in the oven. I worked steadily on my work, looking up in confusion when the timer went off to let me know dinner was done... but mom wasn't home yet. I frowned and got up to pull the casserole I'd made from the oven and turned the oven off, setting the dish on top.

Today was a day shift, right? I went to the calendar to look at the schedule that she'd marked out. Yup. Off at 5. It didn't take her that long to get home from the hospital. I was just about to dial her number and call her when the garage door went up. I sighed softly and pulled dishes out so that we could serve ourselves at the stove. I was saving my work when she came into the kitchen. "Hey mom."

"Hi sweetie." She said, coming over and kissing the top of my head. "How was the beach?"

"Warm and sunny." I smiled, glancing up at her. "How was work?"

She made a face. "Had to stay a little later for a staff meeting."

"Anything changing?"

She shrugged. "A little bit." She ran her hand over my hair. "I'll go shower quick and we'll talk about it over dinner."

"Okay. Dinner's ready. I made Mexican lasagna."

"I love your Mexican lasagna." She smiled and headed to the shower.

I put my homework away, running it upstairs to put the laptop on the charger before deciding that we should just eat at the table so I set it for two and brought the food over to the table. I'd just poured us both some ice tea when she came back into the kitchen. I brought the tea over to the table and sat down in my chair, waiting as she dished up her dinner. "So, I was thinking that the two of us could have dinner with Zack on Sunday." I said, a little nervous about her answer. I mean, he'd sounded fine about it.

She looked a little surprised but smiled. "I'd like to meet your guy." She said, blowing on a bite of her dinner before putting it in her mouth.

I dished up my own plate and smiled. "Good. He's free for dinner on Sunday."

"I could make lasagna. Not this but you know, my usual." She offered. "I know you're working Sunday morning."

"I'd like that. Your lasagna is the family classic. Neither Sang, Luke or I can come close to copying it." I said. "You really should get a food handlers card. Luke and Uncle would probably love it if you popped into the diner once every few weeks or so and made up huge pans of lasagna that could be portioned out for a special."

She chuckled. "Ben knows the recipe." She said. "It was his. He taught it to me ages ago when it was the only thing Luke would eat for a month when he was 4." She gave me a sideways glance. "Of course, with you, I was also having Italian cravings for the last trimester so it was helpful for me as well."

I laughed. "Good to know." I said. "Thank goodness it wasn't anything crazy like peanut butter and pickle sandwiches."

She flushed slightly. "Well, first trimester wasn't as normal." She admitted. "Peanut butter, pickle and mayo sandwiches with a little lettuce and I was good to go."

"Eww." I wrinkled my nose and drank some ice tea. "That's terrible."

"Eh, they were better with crunchy peanut butter."