How We Became Us

Chapter 20

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Heather found Matt asleep with his head in Connor's lap, and she raised her eyebrows—pretty sure she was only gone for thirty minutes—but Connor tapped the bottom of his neck, and Heather nodded. She turned into the house to grab a blanket and a large plate of food and walked back out. They rearranged Matt so he lay across both their laps, placed the blanket over him, and ate quietly. Cooper seemed to notice the drop in emotions and sat quietly by Heather's side while they all waited for Matt to wake up.

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"I was expecting a call at like midnight," Kelly said, answering the phone. He already knew who it was and heard a laugh on the other end.

"Hello to you too, Kelly," Matt replied, and Kelly grinned and moved into his room, ignoring his mother's knowing glance. When Jennifer woke up from her nap, she and Kelly sat down to discuss the shift in their relationship. She acknowledged that after the divorce, Kelly had lost both his parents—one by walking away and the other to alcohol and work—and she promised that she would be better. She had asked Kelly to give her a chance to patch up their relationship and not give up on her, and she wanted to be more involved in whatever aspects of Kelly's life he would allow. Kelly didn't know what to say to her and nodded, letting the conversation end there. He wasn't a big heart-to-heart type of guy, and it was weird to have that conversation with his mother as he never had that type of relationship. He promised himself that he would subtly let his mother know when there was a game for her to attend if she wanted. Although he noticed the shift before this conversation, he didn't want to get his hopes up about it being permanent.

"Hi," Kelly said, sitting down on his bed. "How's the puppy?"

"Oh! Cooper is so cute," Matt said, excitement clear in his voice. He went on a small ramble about the puppy and lunch with the Caddell's.

"What about you? How was your day after I left?" Matt asked, putting in his headphones. He moved to the balcony facing the forest and pulled out his sketchbook.

"Nothing much, just a conversation with my mom," Kelly shrugged, and Matt paused.

"Oh?" He said, wondering if Kelly would continue.

"Just, you know, wanting to be a part of my life again," Kelly said vaguely. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell Matt everything about his relationship with his mother; it was more that he wasn't ready to open that door yet. He has always ignored the lack of parental guidelines and has often turned to the Sextons for help if he needed it. He has yet to discuss his emotions fully, and even after so many years, he doesn't duel on it much and barely comes to terms with it himself. He doesn't know how to express that to Matt or anyone, so he opts not to say anything.

"That's good, right?" Matt asked, and Kelly hummed. "Well I'm glad, I like your mom."

"Thanks?" Kelly said with a laugh, and Matt shrugged despite being unable to see him. "Can we Skype? I want to see your face."

"I have to get my laptop!?!" he whined, but he stood up and returned to his room.

"Moving, ugh, what a hard task," Kelly mocked, and Matt stuck out his tongue at the phone. They sent each other their account information, and soon, Matt was moving back outside with his laptop, setting it on the little table he had so Kelly could see him.

"Are you outside?" Kelly asked where he was sitting up against the headboard of his bed.

"On my balcony," Matt said, lifting his laptop and turning it to face the forest. "I like to sit out here and draw. It's peaceful, and I like the view."