Old Flames

Old Flames: Chapter 29

Old Flames: Chapter 29

The following weeks drifted by.  Lainie and the kids temporarily moved in with Aaron, until they could sort out their future.  The spare bedroom was converted for the twins to share with Bowser, who took turns snuggling up with Chloe and Chris every night.  And Lainie joined Aaron in his bed at night, something they were both worried about.  What would the kids think?  However, neither Chris nor Chloe found this arrangement odd at all.  They thought it was great fun to bounce on Aaron’s bed in the morning and see both their momma and their new daddy together...though technically, Aaron had yet to pop the question to Lainie.  He was trying to give her some time to adjust to everything.

Lainie didn’t think that was necessary.  She found her life to be well-adjusted enough.  The kids were happy, her book was finished and sent off to a literary agent, and she was in love with a wonderful man.  At night, he’d make sweet, quiet love to her after the kids fell asleep, and sometimes during the day, when the kids were at school, he’d come home for lunch and chase Lainie around the house, having wild, boisterous sex in the middle of the living room.

Life was great.

Well...almost great.  Aaron still resented his father for kicking her out of her house, and Lainie was still upset with her mother for running off to Las Vegas when she needed her support.  Somehow, all of them were going to have to sit down and sort out their differences.  

And one day, she knew exactly how to do that.  Chloe came home from preschool, talking about the story she heard at school...an American Indian folktale about three sisters, who learned to support each other in order to survive.  And Chris talked about giving thanks for everything, even saying, “Thank you, Bowser, for getting dog hair all over my pillow.”

With Thanksgiving coming up that next week, Lainie decided to have both of their families over for dinner.  Aaron’s house was small, but she figured it was neutral territory, and if their parents got too unbearable, they could just kick them out.

However, approaching this idea to Aaron proved to be difficult.  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said over dinner one night.  “Why can’t we have Thanksgiving with just the four of us?  It’s our first real holiday together, and I really don’t feel like taking the carving knife to my dad or your mom.”

“I think that if we lay down the law beforehand with them, everything will be okay,” Lainie said, trying to instill some positivity into her voice.  “I really don’t want to go through the rest of our lives together hating each other’s mom and dad.  I want this settled.  I want a new beginning for us.  We both deserve it, and the kids won’t feel like they’re in the middle of a war zone everytime we see them.”

Aaron sighed and relented.  He didn’t like it, he told her so, but he also knew she was right.  They needed peace in their families.

The next day, Lainie went to visit her mom.  Genna Moon sat out in her back porch, drinking cup after cup of coffee and chewing tenaciously on sticks of gum.  “Are you feeling alright?” Lainie asked her.  “You seem jittery.”

Genna chewed noisily on her gum and swallowed more coffee.  “I’m fine...just trying to quit smoking.”

Lainie blinked at her.  “Really?  Why?”

Her mother narrowed an irritate gaze at Lainie.  “I thought you wanted me to quit.”

“I do,” Lainie said in a rush.  “But you’ve never tried before.  What happened?  Did the doctor say anything to you?”

“No...I just thought I would give it a shot,” Genna said, spitting out that wad of gum after sucking all the flavor from it and sticking another piece in her mouth.

“Is that the nicotine gum?”  Lainie picked up the package on the side table.

“No.  I’m going cold turkey.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Since last week,” Genna said, getting up to get more coffee.  Lainie noticed the coffee can on the counter of the little kitchenette on the back porch.  Half-caf.

“You’re nicotine free and running on half-caf?” Lainie asked, amazed.  Who are you and what have you done with my mother?

“Yup...did you need something?  You haven’t visited me in a while.  Are the kids okay?”

Lainie stared at her.  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Okay...well, I came over to tell you we’re having Thanksgiving dinner at Aaron’s house this year.”

Genna shot her daughter a look.  “Why not here?”

Lainie took a deep breath.  “Because we are also inviting Aaron’s dad, and we didn’t want you uncomfortable with him being in your house.”

“You mean you want me to behave myself and not kill him with my set of butcher knives.”

“What is with you and Aaron and knives?” Lainie muttered to herself.  She spoke to her mother, “And yes, I want you to behave yourself.  But Aaron’s dad will behave, too.  I want us to heal this family as best as we can.  I love Aaron, and he loves me.  We have to start somewhere.  Having both of you over for Thanksgiving is that start.  Will you come?”

“Of course, I will come,” Genna said, looking insulted.  “You’re my daughter.  I love you and support you, no matter what.”

Lainie pursed her lips.  “Really, mom...you’re okay?  Not sick or anything?”

“No, but I’m getting annoyed,” Genna said.

Lainie held her palms up.  “Okay...okay.  I’ll take your word for it.  Maybe you should have tried to quit smoking a long time ago.”

Genna flashed her teeth at Lainie.  “Thanks, hon.  That’s comforting.”  But her mother wasn’t mad, and that made Lainie feel better.  She gave her mom a hug and they talked and watched soap operas until it was time for Lainie to pick up the twins at preschool.

*****

Aaron didn’t have such a positive feeling about inviting his dad for Thanksgiving dinner.  As soon as Richard Dozier heard Genna was coming, he grinned and said, “I’m there, my boy!  I’ll bring the appetizers if Genna brings the pie!”

Aaron thought, Oh, God, this is going to be a disaster.

But Lainie wanted them all together.  He could argue until he was blue in the face, and she would still have her way.  He just hoped the kids stayed out of firing range.  The last thing he wanted was his dad and Lainie’s mom yelling at each other over the mashed potatoes, and Chris and Chloe hearing every word.

Unfortunately -- or fortunately, Aaron couldn’t decide -- he had to work the morning shift on Thanksgiving day and didn’t get home until after four o’clock.  Dinner was at six, but when he walked through the front door, hoping to get an hour to shower and help Lainie with the last minute meal preparations before their guests showed up, he discovered that they had both been there since noon.

Crap.  Aaron found Lainie in the small kitchen, chopping vegetables for the salad while her mother drank coffee, chewed on some gum and sliced the ham, all the while talking non-stop about everything and nothing.  Lainie’s fingers were clenched so tight around the handle of the knife, he almost smiled to think she might be the one to start waving sharp objects around tonight.

“I’m home,” he called softly from the doorway and walked over to plant a kiss on Lainie’s cheek.  Her eyes were wild with restraint as she forced a smile at him.  

“They’ve been here for four hours,” she whispered in his ear.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered back and turned to Genna Moon.  “Mrs. Moon, how are you?”

“None of that Mrs. Moon stuff,” Genna exclaimed and pulled him into a hug.  “We’re family now.  You can call me Mom.”

Not likely, he thought, but he smiled at her politely.  “Is Dad here, too?”

“He’s in the backyard with the kids,” Lainie said, her eyes saying something else -- Go save them!  “He brought a croquet set with him.  I’ve had to settle a fuss between them three times already.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he told her close to her ear and kissed her again.  “I love you.’

“I love you, too,” she whispered back and smiled at him for real.  Too bad her mom and his dad were here.  He’d pull her into the bedroom for a few moments.

Aaron stepped out onto his back deck.  His dad was lounging in a chair, talking on his cell phone, while the kids smacked croquet balls all around the yard and Bowser chased after them.  They weren’t even trying to get them through the hoops, just trying to hit each other’s ball.  He could see Chloe getting frustrated because Chris kept knocking hers into the bushes.

Aaron let out a whistle right before Chloe turned to her brother with her mallet raised in her tiny fists.  Both kids grinned when they saw him, dropped their mallets and raced to him.  “Daddy, daddy, you’re home!  Grandpa brought us a game!”

Grandpa, huh?

“That was nice of him,” Aaron said, scooping both squirming bodies into his arms.  “Are you two playing nicely with each other?”

“No,” they both said, and Aaron let out a chuckle.  At least they were honest.  “Chris won’t leave my ball alone,” Chloe said, and Chris said, “But she wouldn’t let me score.”  Chloe stuck her tongue out.  Chris did the same, and Aaron made to drop them both.  They squealed and held on tighter.

“Hey now,” Aaron said to them.  “It’s Thanksgiving, and it’s a time to love your family and be thankful for having them close to you.”

“A lesson we should all acknowledge,” Richard said, approaching Aaron as he tucked his cell phone into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

Yeah, Aaron thought, seeing his dad’s fake-charming grin.  I love Lainie, and I love these little ones, and I love you, too, Dad, but you’re only here because I do love Lainie.

“You’re early,” Aaron said to his father, letting the children slip out of his grasp and scamper down to the yard again.

“I wanted to spend some time with my grandchildren.”

They’re not your grandchildren.  But Aaron didn’t say that.  He just smiled weakly.  “Can I get you a beer?”

“That’ll be great.”

Aaron told the kids to stay in the backyard and be nice to each other.  Then he and his dad entered through the kitchen door.  Lainie had her head stuck inside the refrigerator, banging her forehead against the milk jug as Genna Moon rambled on obliviously behind her daughter about a Thanksgiving from years ago.  But as soon as Genna saw Richard, she muttered something and left the kitchen.  Aaron could see Lainie filling her lungs with relief before turning around.

Then she looked at his dad and stiffened.  Aaron suspected it had been this way all afternoon.  Each of them pussyfooting around the other, not really communicating in any way.  Lainie must have been waiting for him to get home to start all that.  Then again, she hadn’t been expecting them four hours early.  Taking a second look at the woman he loved, he noticed that she wore jeans and a t-shirt, but she hadn’t taken the time to really dress herself the way he knew she would want to look.

Aaron came over to her.  “What needs to be done?”

She smiled faintly.  “Nothing...everything is almost ready.  Just waiting for the dressing to finish baking.”

He smoothed a strand of hair out of her eyes, the loving caress obvious to even his father.  But Aaron ignored him for the moment.  He saw only Lainie and her stress.  “I’ll take care of the rest,” he told her softly.  “Go lock yourself in the bedroom and take as long as you need.”

“Will you come with me?” she whispered, her eyes glowing for a bare moment.  “I need you to hold me for just a minute or two.”

“I can’t leave them alone together,” he told her quietly.  “But when they’re gone, I’ll hold you all night.”

“I can’t wait,” she said, kissed him softly and slipped out of the kitchen.  Aaron grabbed two beers from the refrigerator and handed one to his dad.

A speculative frown covered Richard’s face, but he didn’t say anything.  Aaron let him muse over his thoughts while he checked the timer on the oven and began setting table.  Genna came into the dining room to help him, but he noticed that she never got within three feet of his dad.  The tension in the house seemed to magnify as they all ignored it, and Aaron knew an outburst was just waiting to happen.