In Two Years

Chapter 20: Try Again

I'm woken up by a seventy-pound lump hitting my side. I open my eyes and see Riley getting attacked by Enez, our German Shepard. Pumpkin, my Golden Retriever, has plopped down next to me. That's much better than being on top of me.

"This is probably the best alarm clock to exist," Riley says while rubbing Enez.

"It definitely beats a vomit-inducing ringtone." I snuggle up against Pumpkin. "How did you sleep?"

"That was probably the best night of sleep all semester." I want to ask why. Is it because of my comfortable mattress? Or is it because he was snuggled up next to me?

I grab my phone to check the time. It's 7:30 a.m. My mom is probably still asleep.

She sleeps in on Saturdays and checks in with the diner at around 1 p.m. to give herself some kind of a break on the weekend.

"Are you hungry?"

"Always."

"You are a whole lot of man so it makes sense."

"Yep. I have to feed these muscles somehow." He flexes his gorgeous biceps which makes my internal temperature rise. I laugh at him as I rub my face with my hands.

"You are not allowed to play with those guns. You'll end up hurting someone." He runs his hair timidly. "I'll make us something in a couple of minutes. I'm going to head to the bathroom first."

As I walk out of the bathroom, I catch my mom handing Riley a Snoopy mug filled with coffee and laughing. "Oh no. It's way too early to be sharing embarrassing stories about me."

"Darling, I wouldn't do that until at least the holidays." She gives me a hug. "How are you feeling this morning."

"I'm all good ma. It was just nerves last night."

"I hope so, my love. But you need to tell me if something I ask of you is too much. You shouldn't have let me push you like that."

"I wanted you to. That's the only way I'm going to get through this." I pour coffee into a Charlie Brown mug along with almond milk and creamer.

"Okay." She sounds defeated. "I'm going to take the dogs for a walk. Riley, thank you for staying. I hope to see you around here more."

"It was a pleasure, ma'am."

"Oh, Joanna, please." My mom wrangles up the dogs to put their leashes on before they pull her out the door.

I gather all the ingredients to make pancakes for us. "Do you want chocolate chip pancakes or blueberry?"

"Whatever one you're having."

"Blueberry it is."

"Your mom's name is Joanna." He says as a half question, half statement.

"Yep. Everyone calls her Jo though." I smile at his confused expression.

"I was named after her. Like how Rory was named after Lorelai."

"What's a Lorelai?"

"Oh my God. Okay clearly, you've never seen Gilmore Girls." He looks even more confused. I think I've put this poor man through enough stress for the whole month, so I won't yell at him for never seeing one of the best shows to exist.

"What's the story?"

"At family events, everyone would call my mom Jo, while they would call me Sephine. I kind of hated it when I was little, so I went by Jo at school. My dad absolutely loved it. It started to grow on me as I got into high school, but I would only let my parents call me Sephine."