LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 52

It was a brutally hot and sunny day simply because every mid-August day in Georgia was a brutally hot and sunny day. Ralph and his father spent the better part of the day at the local indoor waterpark to escape the heat. On their way home, Jeffery stopped to pick up a large meat and veggie pizza. Although, his distracted son was antsy to get home because Jack was coming over later. The boys hadn't seen each other in a little short of a week, and Ralph was practically itching with excitement to reunite with the blond boy. Ralph hated how quickly he could forget what it was like to really look at Jack, to smell him, to feel him, to hear his voice without the muffled static of a phone line distorting it. So his father forgave the boy when they brought the pizza home and Ralph just picked off a few veggies and meat pieces from his slice.

Ralph wasn't reaccustomed to stomaching bread yet, so his lack of appetite had less to do with Jack's anticipated arrival than it did with the island. Laurie was growing more concerned as the passage of time did not align with the amount of progress she expected to be made in her son's post-island diet. Jeffery assured her that these things take time, even if the time that had elapsed since the rescue had already doubled the amount of time the boys actually spent on the island. Laurie started to force the issue that Ralph simply wasn't trying hard enough to keep an open mind when it came to food. He just discarded anything he didn't want, making little effort to reintroduce his body to foods he used to enjoy, Laurie believed. Jeffery countered, as usual, with an argument around the uniqueness of what Ralph endured and how impossible it would be to lay out an ideal recovery timeline. It was an unfair standard to hold their son to, Jeffery believed.

Laurie sighed heavily to herself as Ralph declared he was finished eating for now. The boy's mother decided that tonight, this wasn't a hill worth dying on. She waved him off to wash up after dinner so he could return to anxiously awaiting and preparing for Jack to show up.

Jack Merridew was nothing if not bold. The Langley house was a safe place for him to land, almost like a second home to him. Which was the other half of the reason he burst through the front door without bothering to knock or ring the doorbell, along with that boldness of his.

"Heyo, Langley people" Jack announced himself with a simple confidence that made Ralph both jealous of and mesmerized by him. Ralph was up and off the couch in an instant, throwing his arms around Jack's waist in an emotional haze of longing and relief.

"And hey you, especially" Jack said smugly but quieter this time as he brought his hands up to caress Ralph's smitten face.

"I miss you" Ralph looked at him with a sappy smile. He was overwhelmed by the joy and liberation of seeing Jack for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Man, you're such a basketcase sometimes" Jack mocked him lovingly before pulling Ralph back into his embrace. "I missed you too" he whispered so softly Ralph himself could hardly hear it. The latter sunk into the reassurance, the love he felt for Jack, and the safety he experienced in his bony little arms.

Jack was invited to have some of the pizza Jeffery bought. Laurie assured him there was plenty left over since Ralph hardly had any.

"Thanks!" Jack expressed graciously as he took three large pieces from the box. Laurie was momentarily relieved that at least somebody was going to eat it. She almost decided to point Jack's normal diet out to her husband the next time he insisted Ralph's delayed recovery was normal. But then she watched Jack pick off and eat all meat off the pizza, every last crumb of it from all three pieces, and discard the rest.

If only I didn't love them, I could just about kill them, Laurie thought frustratedly. All that money she continuously spent on nice meals just for the boys to keep insisting on plain fruit and meat.