Her Legacy

XXXIV. Fresh

"I was feeling insecure you might not love me anymore." John Lennon

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Chapter XXXIV – Fresh

Our pizza arrived a little while later, and Shea and I bickered over pineapple again. I was full after two and a half pieces and Shea was still hungry, so he begrudgingly sufferedeating my leftover Hawaiian pieces, dramatically acting as though I was trying to poison him.

After dinner, we found a movie to watch on cable and settled into the couch. I rested my head on Shea's chest, not realising just how tired I was after today. My eyes were quickly becoming heavy, and Shea's calm heartbeat was lulling me to sleep.

I must've fallen asleep, because I woke up startled when the front door burst open and Mom practically fell through carrying a dozen shopping bags. Shea and I leapt off the couch to help, but I regretted the sudden movement.

Shea stopped, but I motioned for him to go and help her while I sat back down with a thump.

Shea immediately took the brunt of the burden, carrying the majority of the bags over to the kitchen counter for her. Mom followed him, and I couldn't help but noticed her hair looking shiny and refreshed. It looked healthy and bouncy and –

Oh my God, my mom went and got a blowout.

She began unpacking her groceries, muttering to Shea where they belonged, and I saw her lifting out packages of bacon, eggs, pancake mix, fresh fruits and four different kinds of milk to go with the seven varieties of cereal she had purchased.

I then saw that the remaining bags that weren't groceries were from clothing stores that I had seen in Newtown. She must have just made it before they closed.

A blowout, all this food, and new clothes?

My mom was trying to impress my dad! That wasn't a crazy assumption, right? Holy shit, she still cared about him! I beamed like an idiot, and Shea noticed, giving me a puzzled look.

Once the groceries were away, Mom collected her clothing bags and ducked upstairs. She hadn't noticed my stupid expression. She honestly looked a little stressed.

"What?" asked Shea curiously. "It's weird for your mom to buy food?"

"Mom got a blowout!"I whispered excitedly.

Shea looked at me like I had just spoken Japanese. "What in the world is a blowout?"

"Didn't you notice her hair?" I scoffed.

Shea frowned. "It's ... brown?"

I rolled my eyes and grinned. "My dad is coming over for breakfast tomorrow!" I told him. "Mom went and got her hair done. She's bought all this food. I mean, she bought almond milk! She's trying to impress!" Mom didn't even like two percent milk in her coffee as she thought it tasted like water. "And she's just gone upstairs with bags of new clothes!"

"You're cute when you're excited." Shea smirked.

"Will you help me up the stairs?" I pleaded. "I need to talk to her!"

I had expected him to allow me to lean on him as we walked, but instead Shea whipped me up into his arms and carried me up the stairs with ease. Placing me down safely on the landing, I made my way over to my mom's bedroom.

I knocked on the door and opened it, slipping inside, and closing the door behind me.

Mom was standing in front of her floor length mirror wearing a sports bra and yoga pants, while holding up two very nice blouses up against her. One was a minty green colour, which suited her complexion nicely, and would go great with her eyes. It looked like it was quite form fitting, and wrap around, leaving a low v neckline. The other was black, sleeveless, and more flowy.