Moonlight Sonata

The Greatest Audience

"You can close the door Ollie." I watched him slowly close the door only for it to swing open.

"Babe. Didn't you hear me? Some-

It didn't take Mr. Sanchez that long to notice Miss Lilly smack dab in the middle of his living room. His jaw clenched and the vein in his neck became extremely prominent. He slammed the door and started staring my mom down.

She stayed calm and when he stood beside me, still grilling her, she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I get it. You're mad. I'm sorry."

"It's hard. It's taking a whole lot of my control for me not to disrespect you."

"Speak your heart Matthew."

"Speak my-What?! How dare you? I mean what the literal fuck is wrong with you? You could have called someone official and there would have been a full investigation involving my child and my girlfriend. I live for these two now, so when I feel that something or someone is threatening them I have to step in. And when I step in, I don't step lightly."

I flinched a few times during his rant from the intensity of his words and the thickness of his accent. It was sexy but it only popped up when we made love or he was angry.

She glided to him and caressed his cheeks, "I am so sorry. But see that girl next to you? That's my world. You were that thing that came in and threatened what I live for. I'm not making excuses I just panicked. I went about it completely wrong, devastatingly wrong. You don't have to forgive me right now, but I'm going to be around. I want to see my grandbabies grow and I know I need your permission. So can you promise me that you'll forgive me sooner rather than later?"

Like everyone else on this planet, Matthew had fallen under the influence of Lilly Addams. I could see it in his eyes. He kept his composure though as he answered her.

"I'll try my hardest to forgive you. But I won't ever forget."

She smiled that heavenly smile, "I don't expect you too." She pulled him into a loving embrace and if I wasn't surprised by his earlier response, I damn sure wasn't expecting him to hug her back.

But he did.

They finally released one another, leaving Matthew confused and my mom satisfied. She focused her attention back to me, "Can I have a hug now?"

I gave her a tight family squeeze. I actually missed her more than I care to admit. She was smothering, overbearing, over-emotional and a little more than certified but she was my mother.

I let her go to get a good look at her. I don't know when, but she had definitely been crying.

"I missed you so much my baby."

I had to do some serious fighting to keep the tears at bay, "I missed you too. I only have one mother and I'm not gonna lie, it sucked not having you around these months. We were heading to beach, maybe you should stay until we come back."

I know that we all sort of made up but it was too soon to actually hang out for the day.

"Yeah I'll stay but don't you wanna see your gift?"

I furrowed my eyebrows and another knock at the door came.

"Ma'am do you still want this delivered?" We heard a slightly annoyed male voice coming from the door.

Matthew rushed to the door and the smaller man cowered, "Sorry sir but I have it written down here that this address was supposed to receive a delivery?"

"Well if that's what the paper says then I guess it must be true, right?"

I watched the poor guy swallow and bit back a giggle. Matt stepped to the side and allowed the man some space to come into the house. He disappeared for a bit and came back with a big ass box on some sort of rolling platform. I couldn't see what it was and soon my mom was ushering me and everyone else out of the house. I looked at Matt who was holding Mari then I looked at Ivy, Grace and Oliver. With a shrug I led us to my Rover and we went on our merry way to the beach.
*****

Our time at the beach was super sweet. Watching the babies play for the first time melted my heart. Seeing Matthew shirtless, sweaty, tanned and ignoring everything that didn't involve Grace or Mariposa was seriously turning me on. I looked around and saw that every woman from teenagers to grandmothers were foaming at the mouth. There was nothing more attractive than seeing an Adonis take care of his child and treat her like his most prized possession.

"I think I wanna get pregnant again."

"On purpose this time?"

I slowly moved my head towards Ivy, "Yes you little bitch. I mean look at Matty. Look at how he looks!"

"Yeah I know what you mean. I don't think any guy in the world would see a teen mom who has a newborn and stick around for this long. I really hope he doesn't leave me."

"Babe, Ollie isn't going anywhere. Who would leave you? You are the Sun! And if he does make the biggest mistake of his life, I'll be here and so would Gracie. I like him but if he leaves, fuck him."

She reached for my hand and swung them, "All this advice. You give all this amazing advice and just draw a blank when it comes to yourself."

I adjusted my sunhat, shrugged and tried to take my hand back but Ivy's death-like grip wouldn't let me, "Whatever do you mean Ivy Phines?"

"Mama's back."

I nodded and squeezed her hand before echoing her words, "Mama's back."

Nothing else was said after that. We just sat in a comfortable silence and not long after that, the guys came back with the girls.

We fed the kids and just lounged about like old friends once they fell asleep. After a while, it started to get chilly and it was time to go home. I suggested that Ivy and her family stay the night. We'd have dinner, drink a little, watch a movie and hang. It'd be the perfect ending to my birthday.

Surprisingly, the babies slept the whole ride home but I knew that they'd wake up at the wee hours of the night. I'll take what I can get for now.

I pulled into the garage and took Posey out then Gracie while the guys took all the bags.

"Ready to go in?" I asked everyone and they nodded.

I led us into the house and gasped. There were string lights strategically placed all around the house. Oil aromas filled the air and all sorts of flowers were sat in tall and beautiful vases. All of it just screamed 'CHAMOMILLE RAINY DAY ADDAMS'.

I looked back at my friends and my boyfriend who looked to be in just as much awe as I was. I walked further into my house and sat Mariposa on the kitchen counter so I could hold her. When I turned to go upstairs I noticed a gorgeous cherry wood piano in the middle of my living room. Actually my entire living room was reorganized and the piano was the main attraction.

I nuzzled Mariposa close and just started letting tears fall. I haven't played in two years. I let something that was so near and dear to me go because I was feeling down. I walked closer to it and let my fingers glide across the surface. The wood was perfect. Super shiny with no scratches.

"Do you like it?"

My head snapped to meet my mother's face, "I love it, Mommy."

"I know you haven't played in a while and I just couldn't think of any other gift."

I handed off Posey to my mom and sat on the cushioned seat and placed my hands on the keys. Before I could take my next breath, I started a crescendo. I smiled a huge smile, opening up eyes I didn't even know were closed.

Everyone was staring at me with different emotions. Ollie and Ivy were stood there in complete shock. Matthew just wondered at me like I was this sort of mystical creature. And Lilly, she was just enjoying the scene before her.

"Staring is impolite. Sit down and maybe I'll play something for you guys."

I waited for everyone to sit and get comfortable. But before I played I looked at my mom and shook my head. She winked at me and smiled as she rocked my baby.

Again, she was smothering, overbearing, over-emotional and a little more than certified but she was my mother. I smiled to myself and played a sonata I had written but never got to perform. I played perfectly for the greatest audience in the world... my family.