Fire & Ice

thirteen

The rest of the night was quiet. Mom and I put a movie on Netflix but didn't stay awake through the whole thing. I woke up some time during the middle of the night to find that the tv was turned off and a blanket was thrown over mom and I. Cassie. I sighed and stood from the couch before I swung moms legs over the spot I just left and fixed the blanket over her. Once I got to my bed I crawled under the blankets and fell right back asleep.

            When I woke up in the morning it was to someone cooking breakfast. I took a few moments to myself in bed before getting up and walking into the living room. Mom wasn't on the couch and I found her in the kitchen talking with Cassie. Just my luck. I didn't say anything to either of them but took the waiting cup of coffee and took a seat at the table next to Cassie. Once I was sitting mom came over to me and pressed a lingering kiss to the top of my head.

            Neither of us said anything for a few moments as mom gave me a plate of pancakes with a whipped cream smile on it. It got a smile out of me and the lingering tension dissipated. Mom and I talked about today's game and how excited she was to get to watch us in person. I just wish I could be playing again. I pushed the thought from my mind and focused in on the moment. We had another day game so it wouldn't be long before we had to get ready to go.

            Cassie disappeared into her room after we finished breakfast and I started to wash the dishes. Mom kept looking at me and I wanted to throw a dish at her.

            "What?" I asked having enough of her staring.

            "That girl has a crush on you and it is so painful to sit here and watch you pretend she doesn't." Mom said and hopped up on the counter next to the sink.

            "Mom stop it." I said and flung some soapy water at her hoping she would drop the subject.

            "I'm serious! You should have heard her the night she called me when you were freaking out. She sounded so scared. Also don't get me started on the looks she's been giving you when you aren't looking." Mom said and wiped the bubbles off her shirt.

            "To come back to your room to get something you forgot to find your roommate having a mental break down, I would be scared too. And what kind of gaydar do you have?" I asked as I trying to deflect from the statement and finished washing another plate.

            "I would say I have excellent gaydar. So excellent in fact that I have taken it a spin for myself." Mom said and took a sip of her coffee. I dropped the spoon I was washing into the sink and looked at her. "Don't give me that look, I was dealing with my own stress about your father and one of my friends from work saw and we kissed then one thing lead to another and I'm going to leave it at that." Mom said.

            It took a me a few minutes to wrap my head around what my mom told me. She hopped off the counter after she told me about it to give me some space to process it. I'm totally okay with her going out with other women, but I didn't need to know about her sex life. That was something she could have kept to herself.

            When I was done with the dishes I jumped into the shower and then got dressed for the game. We still had a little while before the game so I thought it might be nice to show mom around campus a little. Once she was ready to go I told Cassie that I was going to show my mom around and she told me she will see us at the game.

            As we left the room mom started teasing me about Cassie again and wouldn't stop until I punched her in the arm. She dropped the subject for now as I showed her around campus for a little bit before we made our way to the rink. It was still a bit early so there wasn't that many people here yet. I did talk to the rink manager and told him that I'll cover Cassies entrance fee for the games. When I did it, mom snickered at me and I flipped her off before we walked down the hall to the locker room.