Old Flames

Old Flames: Chapter 31

 Chapter 31

Lainie returned to the dining room just in time for the explosion.  Her mother was leaning over the table, right in Aaron’s dad’s face, and hissing at him.  Really, hissing, like a feral cat.  Lainie had never seen her mother do that. Nor arch quite so cat-like.  She could see her mother’s neck bristling.  It was amazingly fascinating.

And Mr. Dozier was growling back at her.  A deep-chested rumble that rolled out of his throat and drawing his lips back away from his teeth. Aaron had his head in his hands, bowed over the table, and mumbling under his breath. The whole scene caused Lainie to stop and take it all in.  Feline hissing and canine growls...like cats and dogs.  It was the cliche in the flesh.

And that’s when she started laughing.  Aaron’s head popped up and he gave her a bemused, it’s-official-they’ve-driven-us-both-nuts smile.  The animalistic sounds ceased when the two aging, immature adults turned to look at Lainie.

“I leave you alone for two minutes,” Lainie said, still laughing.

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” her mother said.  “This jackass called me a...a whore in front of the children!”

“I did no such thing, Genna,” Richard explained, going back to growling, “but since you brought it up...”  He grinned evilly.

“You’re a pig!” Genna shouted.

“And you’re a lousy mother!”

Lainie’s eyes widened at that, but her mother beat her to any comment.  “How dare you!  You know nothing about me or my parenting skills!  You’re the one who took Lainie’s house away from her!  Evicting a widow and two small children!  You’re a selfish bastard, only out to prove yourself a man, when you don’t even have the balls to be one!  And I know!  You impotent, pompous ass!”

And with that, Richard stood up and leaned over in Genna’s face.  “Impotent?!  I got you to screaming my name, didn’t I, Genna?  And I can get women half your age into my bed...and they never seem to mind my vasectomy or the fact that I won’t get them pregnant!  They like it that I can go all night!  Unlike you!  Wham -- Bam -- Snore!”

Lainie opened her mouth to suggest that too much information was being shared, especially since the whole mental image was making her dinner come back up, but they kept shouting over top of each other -- her mother suggesting the types of women that Richard probably slept with, and Richard retorting with hints of Genna’s jealousy and spite for younger women.  Aaron settled back in his chair and resumed eating.  That’s when Lainie realized that she didn’t have to do this.  

Aaron had been right.  It really didn’t matter if their parents got along.  The children were happy either way, since they weren’t familiar with either way anyhow, and Lainie and Chris and Chloe only had to love Aaron, not the rest of his family.  She met his eyes...and smiled at him.  He returned the smile, added a wink and a shake of his head at the cat and dog.

When Genna snarled and scooped up a handful of mashed potatoes and smeared it in Richard’s face, Lainie picked up her plate and asked Aaron, “Care to join us on the deck?  It’s such a nice night out.”

“I’d love you,” he replied as Richard retaliated with a handful of stuffing.  He grabbed his plate and followed her to the back door, leaving his dad and her mom to battle it out.  But then he stopped suddenly, returned to the table to get the carving knife off the turkey platter, and grinned at Lainie as he tossed it in the sink.  “You never know...”

Lainie leaned up to give him a quick kiss, and they exited the warzone.  The kids had abandoned their plates -- the chocolate cake was gone -- and were chasing Bowser around the backyard.  Lainie and Aaron settled down at the patio table to finish their Thanksgiving dinner and to watch the twins laugh and play.  The little ones didn’t seem to notice the racket coming from inside the house, and that was just fine with Lainie.  It wasn’t her fight.  And it wasn’t Aaron’s, and after tonight, Richard and Genna might not ever be invited over to dinner again.  And that was okay, too.

Ten minutes later, Lainie sighed contently on the double chaise lounger with Aaron...right as the crash of glass shattered against the wall from inside the dining room.  The kids heard it and stopped, looking toward the house.  Lainie winced.  “That sounded like my grandmother’s Lalique crystal bowl.”

Then Genna screamed, “That was my mother’s, you clumsy oaf!”

“Yup, it was,” Aaron said, wrapping his arm around her.  “Sorry about that...I can buy you another one.”

“That’s okay,” Lainie said, snuggling into him.  “I never liked the hideous thing.  But now Chloe will never get the pleasure and insurance premiums of owning it.”

“It was insured?  For how much?”

“About two thousand, I think,” Lainie said.  “I don’t remember.”

“Really?” Aaron said, sounding amazed.  “Can we take a vacation off the claim?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Lainie said.  “How about we go right now?”

“And leave those two alone in my house?  What if they burn the place down?”

Lainie giggled.  “It’s insured, right?”

“Yeah, but I like it here,” he said.  Chloe and Chris started getting tired and they joined Lainie and Aaron on the lounger, cuddling up in Aaron’s lap.

“I like it here, too,” Lainie said softly.  And she really did, but the kids were only going to get bigger and soon, this tiny house would feel smaller and smaller.  She didn’t want to suggest that they might have to move, because that would feel like she was pressuring Aaron into a long-term commitment that she wasn’t sure he was prepared to make right now.  The topic of marriage barely came up between them.  He claimed he wanted to marry her, but it never went any further than that.  Then again, after tonight, Aaron might not want to hurry into becoming part of her family.  He had enough craziness to deal with in his own.

The ruckus inside the house quietened down, and Lainie breathed out with a sigh.  Maybe if they stayed out here long enough Genna and Richard would leave on their own.  But it was getting chilly, and the kids were starting to shiver as their eyes drooped closed.

“I guess we should get them to bed,” Aaron suggested, untangling himself and picking up Chris.

“I wonder if they left,” Lainie whispered, tucking Chloe onto her hip.

“Could we be that lucky?” Aaron asked, entering the house.  But they weren’t.  Richard was sitting at the table, wiping cranberry sauce off his tie with a napkin, and her mother was sweeping up the shards of crystal on the floor.  They both smiled pleasantly when Aaron and Lainie came through the dining room.  Lainie glanced suspiciously at them, and warily at Aaron, but he only shook his head and headed toward the twins’ bedroom.

After putting the kids in their beds and turning on the night lights, Lainie headed back into the destroyed dining room.  “Why are you two smiling?” she asked immediately, placing her hands on her hips.  “You were tearing at each other’s throats half an hour ago.”

Genna waved her hand as she bent down with the dust pan.  “Oh, that!  We were just two bulls charging at the same red cape.  Everything’s fine now.”

“Describe fine,” Lainie insisted, not trusting either of them.  It was too creepy how they were so pleasant and congenial toward each other now.

“Just letting off a little ancient steam, dear,” her mother said, and Aaron came up behind Lainie, whispering in her ear, “Let it go, Lainie...and maybe they will go, too.”

Lainie shut her mouth.

Genna dumped the broken bowl pieces into the trash and said, “So sorry about the mess.  I’ll stick around to clean it up.”

“No!” Aaron and Lainie both objected loudly, and Lainie added, “That’s alright, Mom.  I’ll get it.  You must be tired.  You’ve helped so much today already.”

“I don’t mind, dear,” Genna said, and Lainie insisted that she didn’t need any more assistance.  Her mother finally conceded and went in search of her gum packet.  Richard stood up and smiled at Lainie.  

“I apologize for the bowl,” he said.  “I understand it’s a family heirloom.  Allow me to pay you for it.”

Lainie shook her head, but Richard was already pulling his wallet out of his jacket pocket, and Aaron squeezed her waist.  “Let him...more vacation funds for us.”

“Fine,” she whispered over shoulder, “but we’re taking the kids to Disney World for Christmas.”

“It’s a plan,” Aaron said in her ear and nibbled on it for added measure.  Richard counted out hundred dollar bills, and Lainie lost track of how many after a few seconds.  But she let Aaron take the money from his dad.  Touching Mr. Dozier gave her the willies.  She just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Her mother came back into the room with her purse slung over her shoulder.  “Don’t worry, Lainie...I’ll give you another bowl.”

“Another one?!” Lainie asked, appalled.

“Of course,” Genna said.  “Grandma Jo had six of those things.  She was a hoarder, you know.  She liked cats, too.  Had thirty of them.  Smelly creatures.”

Aaron chuckled.  Lainie thought, And that’s where the crazy gene came from...Grandma Jo.  It’s good to know where these things start.

After a lot of milling around for the next twenty minutes, Lainie and Aaron finally got their respective parents out of the house.  Then they turned to each other and collapsed on the couch.

“I don’t want to say, ‘I told you so’,” Aaron began, “since that would be a bad continuation of this relationship...”

Lainie laid her head on his shoulder and said, “You’re a great voice of reason...always, always tell me so.”

“I intend to,” he said in a tender tone which made Lainie smile to herself.  “Always and always.”  He kissed the top of her head, and she thought that maybe one of these days, he would get around to asking her to marry him.  They couldn’t live like this forever, after all.

*****

Aaron noticed the subtle signs.  Something was making Lainie frustrated, and it wasn’t the disaster at Thanksgiving.  For a week afterward, she seemed...I don’t know  -- restless, unsettled, he thought.  Then one afternoon while waiting in line at the grocery store’s checkout lane, she absently picked up a bridal magazine and flipped through it.  He watched how her cheeks softened and her eyes devoured page after page, and everything clicked in his brain.

Married.  She wants to get married.

He’d been biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment, and he’d even picked out an engagement ring for her, but mostly he just wanted her to get settled into their new life together before embarking on something so life-changing for both of them.  If Aaron had his way, he’d take her down to the courthouse right that moment and get hitched, but he had so many other things to consider.  The kids, for two.  Chloe and Chris needed to adjust to this new family, yet now Aaron wondered if waiting had been the wrong idea.  

As they walked to her car with a cart full of groceries, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she smiled at him.  “Why do you ask?”

He stopped in the middle of the parking lot and looked at her.  “With us, I mean...are you okay with the way our life together is going?”

There was a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, but she answered, “Of course...aren’t you?”

He pulled her into his arms.  “You know I love you, right?”

“Why do I sense a ‘but’ in there?”

“No ‘but’,” he said and kissed her.  A car honked at them, wanting to back out of a parking space.  “Whoops.  I guess we can’t do that here.”

She smiled wickedly at him.  “Then take me home, and we’ll do it there.”  Which he did, but he could never quite shake off the feeling that she wanted more.  He hoped that it was only anxiety making him feel this way, and that Lainie truly was eager for their next step.  Heavens, he hoped so!  Because if what he planned when awry...

Well, let’s not think about that.  Positive thoughts.

As the Christmas holiday got closer and closer, the plans to take the kids to Disney World became a reality.  Aaron managed to wrangle a whole week away from the station -- but he had to tell the crew why he needed a whole week off, and then he needed to tell the kids.  So, when Lainie went out one afternoon to finish the Christmas shopping, Aaron sat down with Chris and Chloe at the dining table and said, “I need your help with something.”

Chloe nodded her head sympathetically as though it was the most natural thing in the world to ask for their help, even if she didn’t know what that required yet.  Chris, on the other hand, went straight for the kill -- “You forgot to get Mommy a Christmas present, didn’t you?”

Aaron chuckled.  “No, I didn’t forget to get her a present...in fact, that’s what I need your help with, how to give it to her.”

Chloe giggled and said, “You wrap it in pretty paper and put it under the tree, silly.  Haven’t you done this before?”

“Not like this, I haven’t,” Aaron replied with a small smile.  “But I don’t want to put this present under the tree.  I want to give it to her myself.”

“Can we see it?” Chris asked, seriously.  “Mommy says it’s important to have all the information before making a decision.  That way, you know you are making a good choice.”

“Very wise of your mother,” Aaron said and pulled the ring box out of his pocket.  “What do you think?” he asked when he showed them the ring.  “Do you think she’ll like it?”

It was a simple, round-cut diamond set on a wide band and adorned with amethysts -- the twin’s birthstone.  The matching wedding band had more amethysts around the whole of it, and Aaron thought it was perfect for Lainie.  Simple, yet dignified and feminine...just like her.  

Chloe looked at the sparkling set of rings and her eyes widened.  “Wow!”

Chris leaned over and frowned.  “It’s kind of small.”

Aaron glanced at the two-carat diamond and deflated.  “You think so?”  He didn’t want to go any bigger because then the rings just look ridiculous and heavy.

“No, it isn’t,” Chloe confirmed.  “It’s bigger than any of her other rings.”

“Then it’s too big?” Aaron asked, and kicked himself because he should have gone through Lainie’s jewelry to see what she liked.  “Maybe I should have taken you two with me.  You guys know what your Momma likes.”

Chloe patted his hand.  “Momma likes everything.  Chris gave her a necklace he made at school -- it was really ugly -- but Momma loves it anyway.”

“It was not ugly!” Chris exclaimed.  “Your’s was all pink and girly...that’s ugly!”

“Pink is not ugly!” Chloe shot back.  “It’s made from red, and you like red!”

“Yeah, but red is a real color!  Pink is a baby’s color!”

“It is not!”

“Is, too!”

“Nuh uh!”

“Uh huh!”

“Having fun?” Lainie asked, coming through the front door with a tickled expression on her face.  Aaron quickly stuffed the ring box back in his pocket, but thankfully, Lainie was occupied with the kids, who immediately stopped their bickering and jumped up to see what their mother brought home in all those shopping bags.  “What’dcha get?” they both asked, peeking into the tops of the bags.

Lainie laughed and set everything but one small bag on the couch.  “Presents for your teachers and a couple of things for our trip.  But this one,” she said, tucking the small bag under her arm, “is for Aaron.  So, he needs to leave, then I can show it to you and we can wrap it.”

Three pairs of eyes turned to him, and he sighed with amusement.  “I guess that’s my cue to leave the room,” he said and walked over to give Lainie a small kiss.  She moved the bag behind her back as he approached, but he was more interested in her mouth than anything else.

“Mmm,” he rumbled, “your nose is cold.”

“It is December,” she laughed.  “You can warm me up later.”

“Oh, I plan to,” he said and whistled for Bowser.  “Come on...let’s go for a walk.”  Aaron hooked Bowser’s leash to his collar, grabbed his coat off the hook behind the door and headed out into the wintery wind.  Bowser immediately protested, but Aaron dragged him off the porch.  “Yeah, I know...but trust me, it’s for the best.  We’re not welcome at home right now...well, I’m not, but if I have to leave, then so do you.”

Bowser moaned, a pitiful sound, but Aaron hauled him along the sidewalk for a whole block.  By then, both males were pretty much frozen and Aaron figured Lainie and the kids could have wrapped a 90” flatscreen with post-it notes.  Whatever was in that little bag wasn’t quite as big, so he assumed it was safe to head back inside -- at least, they better be finished, he thought as Bowser caught sight of the house and found a burst of energy, dragging his master up the porch in haste.  And luckily they were gone long enough.  Lainie had the kids at the table, rolling out sugar cookie dough and singing carols.  

There was a brilliant happiness in Lainie’s eyes as she made a memory with her children, and Aaron felt his chest expand because he was part of this.  This was his family, and he knew marrying that woman was the best thing he could ever do.  And later that night, while Lainie took a shower and Aaron tucked the kids into bed, he explained his plan to them, how much he loved their mother and wanted so very much to be their daddy, and they grinned and hugged him and told him they loved him, too.

It was a delirious high to know they approved, and it carried him all the way into the week before Christmas when all four of them boarded a plane for Florida and their Disney vacation...and a beginning to a dream.