Axel made true to his word and woke me up only when the meal was being served. After that slept through intervals until he woke me up just as the pilot was announcing our arrival in Sacramento International. I sat up bleary eyed and groggily but a lot better than I would have been if I had forced myself to stay awake during the eleven hour flight.
"Finally home." I said tiredly to Axel. He scrubbed his face with his hands "I'm surely looking forward to the brutality I'm definitely going to experience from customs."
I couldn't help but grin. Even after a long and tiring flight, his sarcasm couldn't be dulled.
"Hopefully when I marry an American citizen they'll cut me some slack." He said with a cheeky grin and I couldn't help the heat that spread inside me. I cleared my throat and stood up to get our hand luggage from the overhead compartment. "Come on. We should get going."
Security was not so bad on my side but I could see Axel's scowl after he'd emerged from the Immigrations side when we met at the baggage claim showed that he did not enjoy it. I smiled and placed my head on his shoulder while squeezing his arm to comfort him.
"You're lucky you're hot enough for me to endure all this scrutiny." He mumbled.
I kissed his cheek "I know. I have nothing if not my looks."
He chuckled.
After he had gotten our luggage, we walked to the arrival hall and my heart was pounding. Right there waiting for us was my Mom's boyfriend, Paul, waiting for us with a smile on his face. I smiled back at him "Hey Paul."
"Oh my you look so grown up Kendall." He said giving me a nice squeeze. "Your mother and I have missed you."
"I've missed you both too." I said even though my words were muffled by his clothed shoulder.
As soon as we pulled apart, his eyes travelled to where Axel stood and I could clearly see the surprise in his eyes.
"Oh Paul this is my boyfriend Axel. Axel, this is Paul my mother's boyfriend." I introduced going back to my boyfriend's side.
"Nice to meet you." Axel said stretching out his hand politely to Paul. I couldn't gauge any of their reactions so my heart pounded through my ribcage. Paul returned the handshake "Very wonderful to meet you also Axel. I'm just surprised that Kendall never let it out that he was dating anyone. At all."
I could feel both their eyes on me so I cleared my throat "Um it's been a really long flight. We should start going now."
Paul cleared his throat "Yeah. Besides your Mom has been really jumpy to see you so we probably shouldn't waste any more time. Let me help with your bags."
It felt good to be back in Sacramento. London was a pretty nice city to live in, but I'd always miss the warmth and sun back here. Even though I had deliberately moved away for college because I wanted to discover more of myself, I would always miss this place because it was my home. It was where I grew up.
"So how's Mom?" I asked Paul from behind where I was sitting with Axel.
"She's ok. But she really misses you kids a lot. Any idea when Mara's coming home?" Paul asked very innocently.
"No I have no idea." I replied closing my eyes.
Even though I'd promised to tell my mom everything, it still made me feel less than enthusiastic whenever I imagined the whole conversation. Just because it was something I had and needed to do didn't mean that I was very happy about it.
"I can hear you thinking again." Axel said in a low sing song voice.
I groaned closing my eyes "Turn it off." It was still really amazing how well he knew me.
"How do you even know when I'm thinking." I asked wanting to know.
Axel shrugged " Not very sure, I just do. You have this concentrated look in your eye and sometimes you pucker your lips out." He showed me and I laughed out before slapping his arm playfully.
"I don't look like that." I said trying to look serious but failing due to the amusement and fatigue I felt. For a moment, I thought that I caught Paul look at us through the review mirror. Maybe I had just imagined it. Paul and I weren't by any means close; between us a mutual respect existed. He was the man who was currently with my mother while I was the son of the woman he was with. He was a very decent man from what I had seen which suited me fine. However, his opinion of Axel and I didn't burn quite as deeply as my mother's would.
"Here we are." Paul announced as he pulled up into the driveway of our house. My anxiousness increased as I surveyed the exterior and marveled about how little had changed since I'd been gone. It was refreshing. The garden gnome mom had installed still remained, even though I'd told her so many times that it was useless since we didn't have a garden. The bottom of the garage door was still as scrapped as I'd left it: all through the summer before going to university, I had promised to paint it up but always forgot.
The red mailbox was still slightly crooked from when I was playing football with my dad a few years ago and accidently hit it in the middle with the ball so it bent it a little. Mom was angry and had told us to fix it, but Dad in his ever cool manner had joked that it gave the house a bit of character. I can swear that she probably thought that he'd turn our house into something from Dr. Seuss. That's what he always claimed.
The memory of him was a bit welcome at that stage but I pushed it away as soon as my mom appeared from behind the door causing my heart to lurch. Her hair was in a neat bun on the top of her head, she wore jeans and a simple thin lavender sweater. Her smile was as wide as I'd remembered. She too hadn't changed.
"Mom." I said simply as I reached out to hug her. Her thin arms were wrapped around me in a split second and I held her as tight as I could since I couldn't remember the last time I held her.
"Oh sweetie I've missed you." She said. It was so much better to hear her voice live than over the phone or Skype. My nose was pressed in her neck and I inhaled the scent of the Elizabeth Arden perfume she had always worn since I was a child. It made my eyes water a little. And not because it was too much.
Her arms tightened around me "Mom you're crushing me." I joked. She huffed and didn't let go "I haven't seen my baby in so long. I'll crush you as much as I want to."
Finally, she allowed me to pull away and then took a very long look at me from head to toe "You haven't changed so much. Maybe you're a little taller now."
I felt Axel's presence beside me and I brushed his fingers. My mother was now looking at him with deep rooted curiosity, a lot more than the way Paul had stared but she appeared less surprised than he did.
"You didn't tell me that you were bringing a friend with you Kendall." Mom said but it could hear the questioning tone in her voice.
I cleared my throat "Um he's not a friend. He's my boyfriend." If she was shocked by my revelation, she really didn't show it. For a moment I wondered if she had heard me at all. All she maintained was a cool and calm face towards my words.
And just as he'd done with Paul, Axel politely stretched out his hand "Axel Gold. Wonderful to meet you Mrs. Ross."
My mother tilted her head slightly to look at his hand which made me nervous. Was she not happy by my bringing him here without any warning? It was a bit irrational for me to bring him here without informing anyone but the truth was that I didn't know how exactly to tell my mom I was seeing someone. I thought that it would be better to see him herself.
But my Mom shook him back while maintaining her smile "Please call me Maureen. I haven't referred to myself as Mrs. Ross in years."
My heart stabilized.
"You must be exhausted from your flight. Why don't we all go in?" She placed her hand on my shoulder as we walked. Paul had already carried our stuff into the house through the garage which I was grateful for because the very thought of hauling those heavy bags made me feel like breaking into half. The interior of the house hadn't changed as well. Everything was just how I had remembered it.
Even the pictures of dad remained.
"I hope you don't mind that I cleaned up your room a bit." Mom said as we walked upstairs. My room was also still the same, expect neater. Mom didn't clean a bit; she cleaned a lot. Just like I knew she would. Our bags were already in the room courtesy of Paul who was nowhere in sight. Most likely back in the garage.
I smiled "It's ok mom. Lord knows that was probably the only time it would ever be cleaned with me away."
She turned to Axel "I'm sorry. Kendall didn't tell me you were coming or I'd have made the guest room up."
"It's ok mom. He can sleep in the same room with me." I quickly replied. Mom quite hesitant about that. She wasn't strict or overbearing but there were still things which she couldn't easily just let go unlike most parents.
Axel, being the charming nut he was, said trying to save the situation "It's quite alright Maureen. I can sleep on the couch."
We both stared at him in horror.
I held his hand "Babe it's really ok. Mom you can understand right?" I pleaded with her. She placed her hands around her waist "Just for tonight. Tomorrow we can set up the guest room." it wasn't a suggestion. I nodded.
"Thank Maureen." Axel thanked.
Mom smiled slightly "Pleasure is mine dear. I'm going down to make something to eat. You two should rest."
With one final squeeze and utterance about how much I was missed, mom finally went downstairs. I sat on the bed in relief "That went well."
Axel joined me "Ah it did. Apart from the fact that she must hate me for stealing away her infant son."
I threw my arm around his shoulder "She doesn't hate you. At least not yet."
He laid back on the bed "Wow how comforting. So there's a chance for her to actually hate me? Yay." Chuckling, I went on all fours right on top of him with my hands and knees on either side of him so that we could be eye to eye "No babe she won't. She just needs to get to know you."
I kissed him.
"Ok then. I'll try to make her like me." He said with a sigh.
I kissed him again "She will babe." Even with my assurance towards Axel, I wasn't assured myself. I didn't know if my mom would end up believing the things I was going to tell her or not.
I could only hope.