Don't Say You Love Me

Chapter FOURTEEN

Teegan

"Francis said he heard you come in the back door around 1A.M.," my mom tells me the next morning.

   Busted.

   I mean, I did accidentally slam the door and then I tripped over a toy airplane that was on the floor, in the kitchen doorway. I'd planned on being quiet, but it didn't work out that way.

   I have been in the kitchen with my mom and the kids for about ten minutes and she's bringing this up now, while Oscar and Josie eat pancakes and giggle about all the animals they saw at the zoo. They keep stopping to tell me something and then go back to eating. I look up at my mom, who is standing near the stove, drinking her coffee.

   "Sorry. I didn't mean to make so much noise."

   "Well, Francis was awake, in his office, so that's not the issue. I'm wondering why you were out so late considering you said goodnight to me at 10P.M.," she says, looking confused.

   Her hair is back in a braid and she's wearing her glasses, which she only does at home. Waking up in her beach house two full weeks later was strange because I've never been here this long, but it also just feels right. I don't miss Seattle as much as I expected to, and even though I miss my dad and family there, I have this stand in family here.

   "I..." I begin, wondering if I'm actually going to tell her this. She sighs. "Okay, so, I don't sleep well. I'm usually fine in Seattle, but sometimes I just can't sleep. And since I've been here, I haven't... slept well at all."

   She looks at me like I have three heads and then puts down her coffee mug. "And you're just telling me this now?"

   "It's just... embarrassing, I guess. I try to sleep. I lay there and close my eyes but I just don't sleep, so I end up getting up and trying to keep busy until I'm tired enough. Last night it was midnight and I just thought... walking the beach might help," I admit, avoiding her eyes.   

   "Insomnia is usually caused by stress, or depression." She says this like she's very concerned about me, suddenly.

   "I'm fine, really. I think it's just a new bed, and new surroundings," I tell her quickly, then look over at the kids. "How many flamingos did you see, Oscar?"

   He grins, syrup all over his face. "Like fifty, at least."

   "Wow. That's amazing."

   "We will talk more about this later, Teegan," my mom says and then gives me a smile. "Coffee?"

   I nod at her and accept the cup of black coffee she hands over.

   I never really considered my mother much of a mom. She'd spent so many years barely in my life that I basically told myself it would always be that way. Now she is acting like a real mom, but I'm already eighteen. I am not going to say that I don't like the new-found relationship we have, though. I might even be starting to like it too much.

   I've just hung up from a phone call with Kiara where we talked about a lot of things - her job, my lack of social life, the kids, and her new potential love interest, Casey - when I hear a knock on my bedroom door. It's a tiny knock, so I know it's either Oscar or Josie.

   "Come in!" I call out, because the door is not fully closed.

   A minute later the door glides open and there is Josie, in a pink sun dress, her blond hair up in a pony tail. "Hi, Teeegan."

   "Hey." I smile at her.

   "You can paint my nail now. Mama gave me dis," she says and holds out a bright pink nail polish.