Last November
Mamá barely smiled when I walked into her house. “What’s wrong?” I was supposed to be picking her up to go out to lunch, but based on her expression and uncombed hair, it looked like I’d be fixing her something here.
“It’s nothing.” She continued loading the dishwasher as if I’d dropped by unexpectedly.
“It’s not nothing. You aren’t dressed, and you never run late.”
She paused, holding a dish over the sink. “Oh! We had lunch plans! Manolo, I’m so sorry.” She set the plate down and picked up a towel to dry her hands. Then she pressed the towel to her face. Uh oh.
I went over to her, and, wrapping my arms around her, I guided her into the living room to sit on the couch. She felt tiny and frail, which was just wrong. Her personality was larger than life, and she was the strongest person I knew. I’d always felt like she was invincible.
“Do you want some coffee? Tea?” She shook her head, sniffling and dabbing her eyes. Fuck. “Mamá, tell me what happened.”
She held the towel to her face for a few more seconds, then she pulled it away. “Eloise and I are taking a break from our relationship.”
“Oh, no! I’m sorry to hear that.” I squeezed her tighter.
I’d only met Eloise a couple of times, and both had been before my injury when she and Mamá had only been dating casually.
Around August or September, they’d gotten serious.
My night shifts and Eloise’s work schedules meant we hadn’t been able to spend any time together since then.
Next week the three of us were supposed to have had an early Thanksgiving dinner together before I went to work, but it didn’t sound like that would be happening now.
“Is this break something Eloise asked for?” It was a good bet based on all the crying.
Mamá shook her head. “No. I asked for it.” Holy shit. She took a deep breath and faced me. “I cannot share any details because it is not my secret to tell, but Eloise disclosed something about herself, and I have to decide if I can live with it.”
Live with it? Like she had a kink Mamá wasn’t comfortable with? Inwardly I cringed. I did not want to know if that was the case.
“I’m so sorry, Mamá. I hope you can work it out.”
“Me too.”
I gave her another hug. “Well, I’m still planning on coming over and making Thanksgiving dinner next week. We’ll have fun, just the two of us. Or, if you don’t feel like being alone, we can go over and have dinner with Rory and the guys.”
She smiled. “I think I wouldn’t be good company for them, but I’d like it if we called on video and talked to Pia.”
“Of course. Anything you want.” I’d make sure to spend extra time with her through the holidays so she wouldn’t feel so alone.
And, come to think of it, I hadn’t seen the guys and Pia in almost a month.
After Thanksgiving, I’d have them over for dinner one night when Mamá could come too.
She adored Pia, who was the only person who could make Mamá play video games.
They both ended up laughing too hard for either of them to win.
It was clear I’d been spending too much time lately focused on my own shit. I still had Mamá and my friends, and I needed to fucking act like it.