13. Party at Mary's
1193 Words
She hadn’t shared with Aidan her mother’s call; that would be like throwing pebbles at a hornet’s nest and hope for the little guys to don’t bite back. If she was being truthful to herself, that would bring a lot of bad memories on its wake, and some secrets as well. Secrets that were not hers to share with.
Aidan seemed like one of the good guys. At school he seemed to be everyone’s favorite teacher, and his dojo was well on its way to become famous, although that had more to do with the teacher – or sensei – himself than with the martial art. It turned out the little demonstration at the park was his way to introduce his favorite sport to the locals, and his friends had lended him a hand. In turn, they had stayed in Paradise Mountains for a few days before returning home.
They had all gathered at the diner the night before leaving, and Aidan had invited her to go. She had gone but had ended up spending more time with Nadine and Mary than with them.
“That guy is throwing you looks that even I’m getting flustered”, said Mary in a casual tone, winking an eye to Nadine, before turning a serious look to Summer.
“Somehow I doubt it.” Summer answered, while taking a peak at Cissy who was hanging around Aidan’s neck like a necklace.
“Oh, he is. And he seems to like your cub.”
Summer almost chocked with the word “cub” and Nadine laughed:
“Don’t mind her, Cissy is having the time of her life. Look, she dragged that little one and seems to be introducing him to Aidan.”
“Yeah, go rescue the poor kid. Aidan is hellbent on converting everyone to his religion…”
“For what I understand, Shorinji Kempo is not a religion…”
“Tell that to those monks over there.” Mary said, pointing her finger at Aidan’s friends who were all lean but well built.
“They’re not monks either…” chuckled Summer, sipping her drink.
“Oh I could think of a thing or two to do with those two…” said Mary so mischievously that Nadine almost choked on her orange juice.
“You’re married, you know?”
“So? I’m not blind… nor dead either… and those guys are a real piece of sin… Oh where the heck is my husband? Now I have the hots…”
“It’s probably just the menopause…” said Nadine in a not so low voice. Mary looked her threateningly, but smiled before leaving to where her husband was finishing a beer. She was married to the town’s mechanic and seldom had Summer seen a couple more in love. She certainly hadn’t seen her parents that way. Ever. She watched with a small pang of jealousy when his hand went into her waist and leaned in for a kiss. Had her father ever kissed her mother like that? Would she even allow it?
Probably not. The woman had a nasty temper.
With Mary’s gone, the conversation seemed to be somewhat stilled. Summer liked Nadine, truly enjoyed her company, but she had to admit the other woman wasn’t very talkative. It was her way of being, of that she was sure, because she had a shy smile but a honest one. She watched her hand flying distractly to her back, rubbing it, and asked:
“Are you ok? Do you want to sit down?”
“No, it just a bit of a backache… you know how it is…”
“Yeah…” she answered vaguely. “How far along are you?”
“Six months. But sometimes it feels more…”
“How so?”
“Well, this little one is active during the night, doesn’t let me sleep all that well, and now is starting to wake up… And seems to prefer my bladder to kick, so I’m constantly going to the bathroom…”
“Oh joy…” said Summer mockingly. Nadine smirked.
“You already went through all this, so you know how it is… And I want to see my baby’s face…”
There was so much anxiety in her words that Summer did force her to sit down and rubbed her back soothingly.
“Hey, calm down… That can’t be good for the baby. You’ll see, these months will go by in a hurry and when you know it, you’ll be hidden in a closet, wishing for the baby to nap five more minutes…”
Nadine’s eyes were big as saucers.
“You did that?”
“Yeah… And I’m ashamed of it too… although I know how overwhelming it is in the first few weeks…”
“At least you had your parent’s help, right?”
Not really, Summer thought drily but that was something she wasn’t about to confide to Nadine. That would lead to more questions and again, she didn’t want to go down that road.
Nadine seemed to understand and although Summer could see she wanted to make more questions, they were saved by the rejoining of Mary, who seemed a bit tipsy.
All in all, it had been a night to remember. Not only did Aidan gave her the necessary space, as Cissy was in her best behavior with her newly found friend.
When the night was drawing to an end, Nadine’s husband and Aidan approached the two women, followed by Herbie, Alex’s grandfather and Mack, Mary’s husband.
Alex kissed his wife and asked:
“Are you tired?”
“A bit… this little one is wide awake…”
“What you really need is a foot massage, a head rest and a good night’s sleep.”
“Sounds good to me…” said Herbie drily, butting in before Nadine could answer. “But where will you sleep?”
“Where do you think?”
“You just wished your wife a good night sleep and now you’re saying you’re sleeping with her? That’s what got her in this condition in the first place! Besides, you snore.”
“I do not!”
Nadine laughed but embraced her husband and leaned in her head in the crook of his neck. Summer watched as he used his height to cast a protective shadow over his wife, shouldering her from the world. They were saying their goodbyes in a matter of minutes before leaving the diner, which was now pretty empty. Only Aidan, Mack and Mary were now behind, as Herbie had called it a night soon after his grandson.
“What do you think of Paradise Mountains so far?” asked Mary. Aidan smiled.
“I’m liking so much that I’m thinking of uprooting myself here.”
“No s**t, Sherlock. I was talking with Summer.”
Summer smiled:
“For now, I’m here…”
“Now that’s a cold shower…”
Cissy had already fallen asleep. Summer hadn’t brought her car, so Aidan offered to give them a ride home. It melted Summer’s heart to see the care with which Aidan picked up tje sleeping child. Slowly but surely, he was starting to build nest in her heart. And that scared her. She had Cissy to think about. But was the little girl part of the equation when he so was so careful with her? Truth be told, he was more present in Cissy’s life than any other men, grandfather and father included.
Aidan was unaware of the circumstances that were around Cissy’s birth. If they were to have a future, he needed to know.
But not today, she decided. Today, the most amazing man she had ever come across, the one that made her heart beat a lot faster and turn head over heels with his devilish smile was taking them home. And then, once Cissy was in bed, who knew?
- Writer
