CHAPTER 34
“A nd you remember where the bookstore is?” she asked.
“Mom, yes,” he replied.
“You know what? I didn’t get you paper clips. You need paper clips.”
“Why would I need paper clips?” AJ asked.
“You’ll have paper and stuff.”
“Mom, my papers get turned in online,” he argued.
“Right.”
Elisa looked around his tiny dorm room. She remembered hers being just as small, if not smaller. AJ had a roommate, just like she’d had, but his roommate was out with his own parents for dinner since they’d be leaving the following morning.
“Well, I’m here tomorrow, too, so if there’s something else you need, make a list, okay?”
“Mom, you don’t have to stay the night.”
“It’s a long drive,” she replied. “And we can have breakfast tomorrow, right?”
“Yes, breakfast,” he said.
“Mom, are you ready?” Adele asked. “We’re parked outside, and there’s a security guard eyeing the car.”
“Yeah, I’m ready,” she said, lying through her teeth.
She was not ready to drop her baby boy off at college, and she wouldn’t be ready to drop her baby girl off next, either.
“Baby bro, you good?” Adele asked.
“Yeah. You two can go. I’m just going to be unpacking and stuff until my roommate gets back. Then, we’re going to check out the rec room downstairs.”
“I hope I have a rec room in my dorm, too. This is the athletic dorm, so you guys get all the cool stuff.” Adele approached AJ and gave him a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow for breakfast. ”
“Save the hug for then,” he replied, but Elisa watched him hold on to his sister for dear life before finally letting her go.
“Whatever,” Adele teased him. “Mom?”
“Yes.” Elisa hugged her son next, not caring about his hugs-waiting-until-tomorrow rule, and added, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Not too early, Mom,” he said.
“Nine,” she replied. “We’re having breakfast, and then I have to hit the road to get your sister to school.”
“Okay. Cool.”
◆◆◆
“She’ll be there the day after me, so I’m going to go help her unpack,” Adele said as she drove them back to the hotel.
“Honey, her parents are moving her in. Make sure you give them the space to do that and say their goodbyes, okay? I know this is a big step for you and Wendy, but it’s also a big step for the parents.”
“I know. Her parents aren’t staying the night, though. They’re dropping her off and heading home, so I’m going to go there and help her unpack.”
“Okay. Just please be respectful if they do change their mind and decide to stay. I know many parents think they’re ready to drop and run, but it’s hard to say goodbye.”
“It’s not really a goodbye, Mom. We’ll be home in, like, a month for fall break.”
“It’s closer to two months,” Elisa replied when Adele pulled them into the hotel parking lot.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Um… Wendy and I were thinking.”
“About?”
“That thing you and I talked about at Dad’s.”
“Oh,” she said and turned in her seat once the car was parked. “You’re both ready?”
Adele nodded and said, “Her roommate isn’t moving in until school starts. She’s skipping orientation.”
“So, you’ll have the room to yourselves?”
“Yes. But I swear, that’s not why. We’re just both ready. We’ve known each other forever, but we’ve also been on, like, six dates now, and we talk all the time.”
“Trust me, I know,” Elisa teased.
Adele laughed and said, “I know I’ve already had sex, technically, but this is different than with Tucker. And not because Wendy is a girl. A woman, I mean.” She cleared her throat. “I think I’m in love with her. Maybe I have been for a while, and I didn’t know.”
Elisa nodded and replied, “Well, if you’re both ready, and you’ll have some privacy, there’s nothing I’m going to do to try to convince you otherwise.”
“I know. I just… I wanted you to know ahead of time. I didn’t talk to you before Tucker, and I should have because you always told me that I could. And you were so cool when I finally did, that I thought you might want to know before Wendy and I do that.”
“Honey, thank you for trusting me with this,” she said and cupped her daughter’s cheek. “I am so incredibly proud of you.”
“Mom, come on. Save the sappy stuff until we’re saying, ‘See ya later,’ at school.”
“See ya later?”
“Yeah, since it’s not a goodbye.” Adele opened the car door before adding, “And can you say goodnight to Myra for me? I just want to FaceTime Wendy and probably text AJ next since it’s his first night on his own.”
“I’ll tell her. And you’re a good big sister,” Elisa noted, getting out of the car, too.
“We’ve made a deal to talk on the phone at least once a week, no matter what,” Adele shared.
“Good. I think that’s important. I want you two to remain close.”
“We will. He shared a womb with me. We’re not like Dad and Aunt Annabelle. I don’t know what happened there. ”
Elisa laughed at that as they walked into the hotel lobby through the automatic sliding glass doors, and when they got to their floor, she hugged her daughter, kissed her temple, and said goodnight before Adele went into her own room, which Elisa had gotten for her only because she had someone waiting for her in her room.
Adele would likely be on the phone with Wendy the whole night anyway, planning and replanning their moves to school and orientation schedules to try to see each other as soon as possible.
As she used her key to get into her own room, Elisa was grateful that they hadn’t had any adjoining rooms available, which meant that Adele had a room across the hall and not immediately next to the room Elisa would share with Myra tonight because Myra was standing in the short hallway, and she wasn’t wearing any clothes.
“Babe! The door’s open,” she said and quickly slammed the door behind her.
“I was just about to get in the shower. I heard the beep on the lock.”
Hearing the water running now, Elisa looked down at Myra’s body and asked, “Want company?”
“Yes, but I expected you to be later.”
“AJ was ready for me to be gone. We’re all having breakfast tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” Myra said. “Want to talk about it?”
“No, I want to shower with you. After that, we can talk about it.” Elisa dropped her purse onto the small desk and pulled her shirt and sweater off at the same time.
“Yeah, much better idea,” Myra said, wrapping her arms around Elisa’s waist in order to unbutton and unzip her jeans.
“How was work?”
“Fine,” Myra replied, and her hand moved into Elisa’s panties, cupping her. “The drive was fine, too. Now, want to get in the shower with me so that I can take care of this?” she asked, sliding a finger through Elisa’s wetness.
“ This didn’t exist until a few seconds ago when I saw you standing there naked. ”
“Well, let’s get in, and I’ll make sure to make it worth it for you.”
“You always do,” Elisa said.
Myra removed her hand and helped Elisa get the rest of her clothes off.
She had insisted on meeting Elisa here after work in case Elisa needed support after dropping her son off at school, and AJ had asked her to come as well, wanting to say goodbye to her.
They’d been getting to know each other lately, and he had seemed to enjoy their day together at city hall and then later, at the house as he helped Myra finish the work on the kitchen.
Adele and Myra hadn’t spent as much time together yet because Adele had a new girlfriend, but she seemed to like what Myra had cooked for them a few times and had accepted Myra’s offer to teach her a few things on breaks if she wanted to.
Adele, ever the planner, was already thinking about how, if she wanted an off-campus apartment her sophomore year, she would have to learn to cook more dishes since she wouldn’t have a university cafeteria or her mom cooking for her.
When Myra got into the shower first and made sure to move out of the way of the shower spray, Elisa got in after her and pressed her against the back wall.
“Oh,” Myra said.
“Yeah, oh. You worked all day and then drove to be here for me. You’re getting whatever you want right now.” Elisa kissed her deeply, reveling in how good it felt to have someone she could count on like this and how happy she was to have Myra in her life. “So, what do you want, baby?”
“Just you,” Myra replied. “Always you.”
Elisa smiled softly at her and reached between Myra’s legs.
Myra’s eyes closed at that, and Elisa moved her lips to Myra’s neck.
A few minutes later, Myra came and turned them around.
Her fingers moved inside Elisa, her thumb pressed to Elisa’s clit, and it was Elisa’s turn to hold in her scream as she came hard because even though Adele’s room was across the hall, they had neighbors that shared the walls of this one.
“Want to hear some good news?” Myra asked .
“Yes.”
“Your roof is fixed.”
“What?”
“I had two of the guys work on it today since you and the kids were all gone, and Buster was at my place, waiting for Gwen to pick him up.”
“It’s done? My house is done?” she asked, not believing any of it.
“Yes. Well, it’s done for now.”
“For now? What else is wrong with it?”
Myra began soaping Elisa’s body and replied, “Nothing. It’s a good house. But you’re dating a contractor now. I can get everything for cost and do the labor myself, so what do you want me to work on next?”
“Nothing. I just want you to be there, babe. I don’t want you to be working all the time.”
“Well, here’s the thing…” Myra said as she began soaping Elisa’s breasts. “My house is small. I just have the two bedrooms, and you have three, so if we ever decided to take that step where we’re moving in together one day, we’d probably move into your place, right?”
“I guess so,” Elisa replied, having not thought of that before this moment.
“I could renovate other things, but I could also build you a nice back deck with some shade, and there could maybe be a time when we connect our houses.”
“Connect them?”
“I was talking to AJ the other day, and he mentioned how cool it would be to work on more stuff with me. I’m not saying we do it tomorrow or anything, but one day, we could connect the houses. I can do all the work, and AJ could help.”
“Why would we need a five-bedroom house with two kitchens and two living rooms?”
“We don’t now, but we could in the future.
It’s possible that your kids will want their own kids one day, and there would be space.
Plus, we could make the living room a game room or something to encourage the kids to come home and hang out with us.
It’s just an idea, and I know it’s far off, but that kind of work takes planning and time anyway.
I thought maybe AJ and I could work on some small stuff in your house first, and if we get there, we get there. ”
Elisa smiled at her and replied, “You’re thinking about being with me when my kids start having kids? Also, it better be in, like, ten years because they both have plans.”
“In case it’s escaped your notice, I was all alone before you called up asking for an estimate, Elisa.
I’ve been crazy about you since I first laid eyes on you, and I like those kids of yours, too.
I’m including Buster in that now, by the way.
” Myra smiled. “You make me happier than I’ve been in years.
Probably ever, if I’m being honest.” She knelt in front of Elisa and began soaping her legs.
“I like thinking about ten weeks, ten months, and yes, ten years into the future. I think Adele and I are very much alike in that regard.”
“I guess so.” Elisa laughed and waited for Myra to stand back up. “And I like that idea.”
“Which one?”
“All of them,” she replied and kissed her.
◆◆◆
The following morning, Elisa, Myra, and Adele met AJ outside his dorm building, and Myra drove them to a diner off-campus.
On the way there, Elisa held Myra’s hand in her own lap and listened to AJ tell Adele about the soccer schedule and his roommate, who seemed cool, according to him.
Then, at the diner, they ate pancakes and waffles with bacon and eggs, and Myra had an arm wrapped over Elisa’s shoulders.
Adele actually rolled her eyes at them before she smiled and gave Elisa a wink.
AJ didn’t pay them much attention as he kept talking about his class schedule and how he had one class at eight in the morning that he was going to try to change because he’d have workouts for soccer until seven-thirty.
When the waitress brought the check, Elisa swallowed because this was it.
They were about to drive AJ back to his dorm, and she would have to hug him goodbye, letting her son go off on his own for the first time.
She placed her hand on Myra’s thigh and squeezed it.
This was what she needed Myra here for: the aftermath.
Myra would have to hold her tonight as she cried because they would be dropping Adele off next, and Elisa would be going home alone for the first time.
Well, not alone. Myra would be there. Buster would be there, too, and Gwen would be there when she needed her.
Elisa was finally getting that new start she had been craving for so long, and it was just about perfect.
If only she didn’t have to leave her kids at school and could keep them with her and protect them always.
“Hey, Mom?” AJ asked after the check was paid.
“Yeah, honey?”
“Um… Before you go, do you think we could get those paper clips?”