Does Your Mother Know

Take a Chance On Me

Jodi

Sam promised he'd be home from Sebastian's before noon, but he doesn't return until it's almost six o'clock in the evening. Jodi hears the front door open as she finishes unpacking the last of her groceries, and judging by the two pairs of shoes she hears, he's brought Sebastian back with him.

"Thanks for walking me home." Sam's voice is loud enough that it carries into the kitchen. She can't hear what Sebastian says in response, but Sam's volume lowers considerably after that. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" is the last of their conversation that she catches, and she's relieved when she hears Sebastian leaving, because she hasn't even decided what she's going to make for dinner yet.

"Sam?" she calls out, before he has the chance to retreat to his bedroom. "Can you come to the kitchen and help with dinner, please?"

"Hey Mom," Sam greets her as he enters the kitchen. "Sorry I got home so late; we were playing Solarian Chronicles and we kinda lost track of time. What are we having for dinner, anyways?"

She hesitates. "Is breakfast for dinner alright? I'm not sure what else to make." Sam nods enthusiastically in response, and Jodi frowns as a flash of silver catches her eye. "Sam, what's that?"

"Um, nothing," Sam answers, tugging the collar of his jacket up higher. "Don't worry about it." Despite his efforts to hide it from her, the earring he's wearing is plainly obvious.

Her eyebrows furrow as she studies it. "When were you going to tell me you got this?"

"I'm twenty-two, mom," Sam protests. "I don't have to tell you everything... and it's only the one ear!"

Jodi sighs. "I know." She adjusts the well-worn collar of his denim jacket. "You're all grown up. I remember when this jacket used to be too big for you... You look just like your father in it." She sighs again, then lets go of the fabric. "You'll have your own house and your own family someday. You just need to find a nice girl."

Sam smiles, though it looks strained. "Um, speaking of Dad... have you heard anything?"

"We got a letter a few weeks ago," Jodi admits, and Sam looks hopeful, "but... I haven't opened it yet, I just... I can't open it, Sammy." She hadn't been expecting to receive any more letters after the last one, and she was dreading what the unexpected appearance of a new letter could mean.

"Hey." Sam pulls her into a hug. "It's okay; we'll open it together, okay mom?"

It feels a little odd, letting Sam be the one to comfort her, after almost twenty years of her being responsible for comforting him. "Thank you," she murmurs, rubbing his back a few times, before he lets her go. "Can you start the pancake mix? I'll go get the letter."

In the time that it takes Jodi to retrieve the letter from her bedside table, Sam's managed to mix together the ingredients for the batter without making a mess. She brings the letter over to the kitchen table, where Sam drops into a seat beside her.

"I'll open it," he says, taking the envelope from her.

Jodi's hands are shaking so much that she's not sure she would have been able to open it herself, anyways.

"The last letter was a good one, maybe this one will be, too," Sam tries to assure her, as he clumsily tears open the envelope. Sam hadn't actually read Kent's last two letters, because Jodi had hidden them away in her closet after she'd read them.

The first one had been the worst - an official notice saying that her husband had gone missing in action. There'd been a long stretch of time with no further news about Kent, and too much news on the television about how their troops were falling by the dozens. The lack of news hadn't been too hard to explain away - Sam frequently lamented about how long it took for mail orders to come in. Besides, he'd heard the news reports himself - he'd probably realized the chances of his dad returning home were growing slim.