10/17

Episode 3, Chapter 12

 "You have no idea what it took to get us here." Laney told Parker after his parents greeted her mother and led her to the kitchen table. "First, I had to talk her into it, while being as vague as possible, which is not easy with my mom. Then I had to get her to lay off about my sweat shirt and baggy pants. I have no idea how this is going to go because she is really out of her comfort zone now."

"Just keep breathing. I'm sure it will go fine," he told her with all the enthusiasm he could put into it. She laughed.

"Yeah, okay," she laughed at his strained attempt to put a happy face on things. "You have no idea either, but thanks for trying. Come on, let's get this over with." The two of them went to take their seats.

To everyone's relief, however, Ms. Dempson held up admirably most of the night. Laney explained what happened to her and about Parker's similar situation. The Carlisle's brought out the growth chart and Parker told his story. Then Laney demonstrated her powers. Parker's parents even allowed him one cross room teleport so Ms. Dempson would understand the scope of what had happened. Laney's mother had gone from skeptical to shocked to accepting in the span of forty-five minutes.

"But what I don't understand is what any of this has to do with your clothes, sweetie? What's with the sweats?" Ms. Dempson asked, after everything had been laid out. Laney's cheeks took on a warmer shade of chocolate as she leaned over to whisper something in her mother's ear. Whatever it was, Ms. Dempson had to choke back a laugh. "Sorry sweet heart. I know you told me about growing a few inches but I guess I hadn't thought about all that might mean for you." Mrs. Carlisle pointed to Parker.

"You have no idea how much shopping we just had to do this morning to accommodate his growth spurt."

"I told Mom last night that I thought you had grown some. We can go shopping first thing in the morning," was all Ms. Dempson said as she chuckled one last time before her face turned thoughtful again. "Sweetheart, I don't know why you thought you needed to hide any of this from me. You should have known better. You can always tell me anything, anytime and I'll be there for you. That's my job as your mother." Her words made Laney smile at Mrs. Carlisle, who smiled back, nodding.

"I know, and I'm really sorry, Mama." She gestured at Parker's mom. "Mrs. Carlisle reminded me of that. I freaked, and I'm sorry. I promise I'll let you know what's going on from here on out." They hugged each other. Ms. Dempson sat back, blotting her eyes, then looked around at the rest of them.

"Thank you so much for being here for my daughter like you have, even though you're dealing with this yourself. I have to admit, while I would have preferred to know what was happening sooner, it is nice to know right away that we are not alone in this," she said squeezing the arm she had around Laney's shoulder a little.

"No, you aren't at all. I've already told Laney that you and she are welcome over here as much as you need over the next few weeks, " Mrs. Carlisle replied. "Your mother too."

At that reminder, Ms. Dempson sat back in her seat. A forced laugh slipped out as she rubbed her forehead a moment.

"My gosh," she said, a little dazedly. "What in the world are we going to say to mother?" She looked at her daughter, and shook her head smiling. "You know how she's going to take this, right?" Laney smiled a little.

"Yeah, she's going to blame it on the government putting stuff in our water," Laney said. She turned back to the Carlisle's who were listening politely. "Nan can get a little," she paused, trying to think of a way to explain. Her mother saved her by cutting in.

"My mother has a thing for conspiracies," Ms. Dempson snorted. "I love her to the moon and back but when her paranoia gets going, there is nothing you can do but stay out of its way. This," she said with a vague gesture at Laney and Parker, "Is going to be a field day for her."