Escaping the Current

9. The Rest of the Night Under Fairy Lights

'Kaden?' Diane yelled from the kitchen as he walked in the front door.

Kaden was still floating on cloud nine. 'Yeah,' he sang as he glided to the kitchen. He made his way to his mom who was bent over by the oven checking on the lasagna. 'Hi, mommy.'

'Hi, baby,' she uttered rising up. When she got a look at his face, she raised her brow and smiled. 'Have a nice night?'

Kaden hadn't even noticed he was still smiling from ear to ear. He licked his lips and crinkled his nose to try to control his face, but the ecstasy was uncontrollable. He tried several times to stop himself from smiling and smiling, but every time he was almost successful, an image of Austin flashed through his mind. He sat down on the counter.

His mother knew who the cause of this unbridled joy was. She had a seat on a chair, next to him. 'Spill,' she grinned.

As Kaden was getting into what happened, they heard the front door jiggling and then opening. They heard some murmurs. Diane rolled her eyes, thinking Charles was talking to himself again. He did eventually make his way to the kitchen. He gave Diane a kiss. Kaden pulled a grossed-out face. His dad rolled his eyes as he made his way to Kaden. He gave Kaden a tight bear hug and as much forehead kisses as he could fit in before Kaden could pry himself out of his dad's grip. 'That was assault. You should arrest yourself.'

Charles laughed as he made his way to the fridge to grab a beer. 'Well, your mom is going to arrest me later tonight.' Charles winked at Diane as he patted on the cuffs hanging on his pants. Diane gave him a sassy smile and purred like a cat.

'This is why I go to therapy,' Kaden grumbled, shaking his head. He moved off the counter and made his way to the kitchen staircase. 'I'm going to my room. Please call me when the lasagne is ready, and when you two have learned to be normal parents.'

Diane and Charles shared a secret glance at each other.

'Okay, we'll stop,' Diane assured. 'Come have a seat and tell us how tonight went.'

She elbowed Charles, who nearly spilled his beer. 'Yeah, have a seat and tell us what you did today,' Charles insisted.

Kaden raised his brow at his weird acting parents. They smiled and pointed at the counter. He smiled and went back to where he'd been sitting. He began telling them the events of the evening. His eyes lit up when he mentioned the kiss. And he couldn't help but laugh every now and then while telling them.

As they listened, Diane and Charlie were sharing glances at each other, and raising their brows and winking at each other. His parents had spent so many years listening to Austin related conversations. Most were quite sad and needed them to provide advice, support and tons of distraction. Diane bore most of it thought. She was the nurturer. She could just look at Kaden and know he wasn't okay. He was her baby, and she knew her baby. She knew how to talk to him.

His dad, though, wasn't as good at giving solid advice that made sense most of the time, but what father wasn't? Although, he had his moments where he would deliver a golden speech that would make Kaden feel much better. Charles was also big on showing affection to his son. Inside his dad's hugs were where Kaden felt the safest in the world. He felt incredibly lucky to have a father who wasn't scared to show affection to his full-grown son. And as a deputy captain of the police station of the town, it was quite rare for men like that to even smile for longer than five seconds. Kaden had always assumed that it was his dad's job and seeing everything that a police officer would, which made his dad want to make sure those he loved were treasured. But even if Kaden's assumption was wrong, he was glad he knew he was loved and cherished by his dad.

Kaden was nearing the end of the date and his parents were still sharing glances. They were happy that, for a change, a story regarding Austin was filled with so much joy. But their glances lingered longer than two parents teasing their love-struck teen. They seemed to be having a non-verbal conversation with each other as he was talking. Charles' eyes glared at Diane and then they shot up to the ceiling. She nodded and turned away to Kaden, who was beginning to notice that they weren't paying attention. But they nodded for him to continue.