Renee's River | √

35. surprises & needed visits

"I missed you," he told her, hugging her.

"I missed you too, honey."

He looked at me, an eyebrow raised. "Did Renée put you up to this?"

"Hey!" I threw my hands up in the air and mom laughed, "No, she didn't. She was surprised when she saw me as well."

I rolled my eyes at him and he chuckled, kissing my forehead. "Do you feel better?"

I nodded, "I do."

"Did you take the pill? And did you have something to eat?" Taking a seat on the high stool.

Mom tiptoed to kiss the top of Tanner's head, "Thank you for taking good care of your sister, honey. She had some soup before I came."

Tanner looked at me, eyebrows furrowed. "You had soup? Did you make it?"

I flushed, running my fingers through my hair. "No, River came over. Sky had asked him to bring me some gourmet brownies because I'd told her I wouldn't be coming to work."

"And he brought some soup?"

"And juice, yeah," I said quietly, nodding.

Mom looked at us, confused. "Who's Sky? Is that a nickname?"

"Yeah, for Skylar. She works at the bakery too."

"I see," mom nodded, and I bit my lip, knowing what she was going to ask next. "And who's River? Is that a nickname too?"

Tanner chuckled, "No, that's his name, and he's your future son-in-law."

"Tanner!" I looked at him, my cheeks on fire as mom looked at me.

"Don't worry mom, he seems really decent," Tanner told mom.

"Tanner, jeez, you can shush now," I said through gritted teeth.

"Who's River, honey?" Mom looked at me. "A guy from school?"

I shook my head, before rolling my eyes at Tanner who had a proud look on his face. He could be annoying sometimes.

"I met him at the bakery," I told her. "He's doing a job there."

"What does he do?"

"He's an artist," I answered.

"How old is he?"

Mom and her questions made me feel like I was in an interview and I wanted to disappear right now.

"17," I looked at her.

"Is he good at what he does?"

"He really is talented, mom," I smiled.

"Well, that's good," she nodded.

"So, you approve?" Tanner looked at mom.

"Mom, tell Tanner to stop talking, we haven't even talked about dating." I rolled my eyes.

"Well, as long as Tanner says he looks really decent then that's fine."

I looked at mom in surprise.

"But," she placed emphasis on the word. "I need to meet him one day, and, you're only 16 Renee, be careful."

Now, this was so awkward because I knew exactly what she mean, so I only nodded.

I took out dishes when I saw dinner was ready and mom dished out food for three of us.

"And how's your girlfriend, honey, what's her name?" Mom looked at Tanner.

"Mom, it's Kendall." He told her.

"Yeah, Kendall, how's she?"

"She's good," he answered, taking a spoon of his food.

"Have you maybe heard from Mackenzie at all?" She asked softly and I did a happy dance inside. Looks like I wasn't the only one who was team Zee.

"Mom," he gave her a look.

"Fine, I'm sorry," she raised her two hands like she was surrendering and went back to eating.

"How's dad?" He asked her.

She nodded, "He's good. I told your sister he might come when he's less busy."

"Okay," he nodded. "I didn't see your car outside, by the way. Everything okay with it?"

"Yes, it's fine. Everyone's talking about Uber and I wanted to see how it works."

"You can't be serious, mom" Tanner laughed and I chuckled before asking, "How was it?"

"It was quite enjoyable. The driver was a bit talkative but at least, he spoke sensibly," she answered, causing me and Tanner to laugh again.

We continued to eat our dinner, talking and laughing as we ate. It made me so happy mom had come today, and something about she and River's presence today made me feel better.

"Okay, kids, I have to get back home now," mom said minutes after we had finished eating and were relaxing watching TV.

"Aw, mom," I hugged her.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay the night?" Tanner looked at her.

"I'd love to, but I have to get home to your dad."

"Say hi to him for us," he said.

"I will," she gave us a hug each, kissing our foreheads.

"Thanks for dinner," I said.

"No problem. If you might need anything, let me and your dad know. I love you," she said, making her way to the door.

"Has your uber pulled up?" Tanner asked, chuckling.

"It has," she nodded and smiled proudly.

We said a final bye as she slipped out of the door.

"We needed that visit," I looked at Tanner.

"We really did," he nodded. "And I'm just glad you feel better."

*****

Authors Note:
I wanted to make this chapter only about Tanner, Renee and their mom.

Did you enjoy the chapter? What was your favourite part of the chapter?

Let me know what you think!

Don't forget to vote, comment and follow me!