Invited

Twenty-Six - Chevelle

After a pan of mushrooms and three cups of hot chocolate, I'm pretty sure I'd told Mom everything about Wicken and then some. Probably more than she cared to know, but she didn't let on if that was the case. She listened like my best friend would, you know, if I had a best friend. I always admired that about our relationship. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't one of those moms who would rather be my friend than a parent. She knew how to put her foot down when need be, but she made it clear that I could confide in her about anything as well. There might be consequences, but I still was able to tell her in a safe atmosphere.

"Sounds like a hunk," she teased. "I can't wait to meet him."

I nodded slowly, hiccuping.

She put an arm around me. "Oh, honey, don't start crying again. You have to keep believing for the best. He's going to come back."

"I hope so," I whispered. "They keep telling me it's going to happen, that it will just take time, but I'm not stupid. I know there are only so many days left until it's going to become impossible."

"Better get on it then. Nothing is impossible, though. Just highly unlikely."

"I don't like that either," I mumbled.

She held my hand in her own. "No matter what happens, you're not going to be alone. I will be there with you, and so will your brother."

"You're going to come with?" My eyes went wide. It was a miracle, seriously. I never thought she'd understand or believe me. Maybe she still didn't and was only humoring me with the whole aliens kidnapping me thing. The fact that she wanted to be with me anyway still spoke volumes. She could have easily shipped me off to an insane asylum.

Mom laughed. "Of course I'm coming with! I can't let you grow a baby all by yourself. Who's going to take care of you when you're big and can't move anymore? Who will hold your hand when it's time to deliver? Or be up at three o'clock in the morning to give you a break so you can sleep?"

Timber might. I hadn't mentioned him yet. She'd only get confused if I did. Then she'd want to know why I wasn't with him. Besides, when he brought his girlfriend back, I'd be out of the picture for him. He'd get to live in his happy love bubble with her and eventually he'd forget all about me. He could claim all he wanted that it wasn't going to happen, but I knew better. Things changed when you had a significant other around. I hadn't been the best roommate to Timber when Wicken had been with me, that's for sure. He understood, but I still felt guilty all the same.

I hugged Mom again. "Thanks. I know it's asking a lot."

"Taking care of you is what I've been doing my whole life. It's not a lot. It's an adventure."

"Which is the same as a lot. You know I'm high maintenance."

She kissed my forehead. "You're you and just the way I want you."

I'd missed her so much. "Anything new here?"

"No," Mom said softly. "We've mostly been trying to deal with the authorities as they searched for hints about what happened to all of you. No one had any answers. It's been emotionally draining. Your brother's grades are dropping and he's missed about a month of school already. He's been staying with your dad, which doesn't help me much, but he said that living here without you was too hard."

"I was gone for college," I pointed out.

"Yes, but that's so much different. We knew you'd be coming back."

While I was up in space dealing with the aliens and adjusting to life on the Surface and being with Timber and Lara, my family was down here suffering. And I was a horrible person for not even thinking about what my disappearance had done to them. I'd been too wrapped up in my own drama. My heart had been broken coming into my old home again, now it was all-out pulverized into dust. I hated to see other people hurting, and it was even worse when I was the cause of said hurting.

"Well, call him up and tell him I'm back. Tonight, I'm all yours," I said.

"And tomorrow?"

"I have to go see Wicken's family." And I was looking forward to that even less. Not only was I unsure of what his mother was going to think about the alien thing, but what about the "surprise: you're a grandma" bit as well? She didn't even seem to want to be a mom in the first place. And I was still irrationally afraid of what he was going to think of my inviting her to the ship without his permission. He said he didn't love her. I'm not sure if he meant it or was just angry with her still. How could anyone not love their family?

I shook the thought out of my head. Now wasn't the time to over analyze stuff. I'd been doing way too much of that lately and I didn't like it. When did I become such a stereotypical girl? That's never been me. Gushy, emotional, jumping to crazy conclusions and all of those other things I've always disliked about my own gender. Hormones were making me bonkers and I was not equipped to deal with them. Another selfish reason I was glad to be back with my mom. I needed female emotional support from someone over the age of six.

There was a support group I was a part of back on the ship. They helped some, but talking about my feelings and life in a group setting didn't comfort me. If anything, I became even more stressed out. Rumor had tried to use all of the juicy gossip going on in my life against me. Someone else might decide to do something similar. I didn't know these women, and I wasn't so sure I wanted to either. In the end, I might not have much of a choice. We'd be helping re-grow society together. Eventually, I'd have to work alongside them.

My mom rubbed my back. "I'll go with you, and that should ease a lot of the pressure. For now, let's relax. I'm going to call your brother and father over, and from there we can find something fun to do." She paused. "We'll wait to tell your father all about this later. I'm not sure how he's going to take it. He might understand better after it goes public. You said that's happening tomorrow, right?"

I nodded. "Right." By "this," I think she meant more about the baby. She wasn't sure how he was going to take the news of my expecting. I put my hands over my stomach. "It's not...obvious, is it?"

"No, I wouldn't have been able to tell if you hadn't said anything."

"Okay, good."

"I'm going to have to unpack all of your old stuff tonight!"

And she was now in official grandma mode. Hopefully, her excitement would start to rub off on me. I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I was growing another human life form inside of me. It hadn't quite sunk in just yet. The morning sickness and hormone spurts were good indications, but those were easy for me to pass off as bad PMS. I was just at the end of my first trimester. The bump on my stomach was just starting to grow. It did look an awful lot like a small puff of fat. Soon, it would be much larger.

The next six or seven months were going to be long and hard.