Chapter 22 Every Possible Scenario
EVERY POSSIBLE SCENARIO
“Mom!” Archer yelled when she picked him up at the after-school program. “I got all A’s this time.”
“You did?” she said, reaching her hand over for him to slap it. “That’s wonderful.”
She wouldn’t ruin his surprise that she’d seen it already this morning online.
All his grades stayed the same, but he jumped up his B+ in science to an A.
“I told you I could do it.”
“You did. I’m very proud of you.” Eat that, Tucker! Archer did it on his own without a lecture from his father.
No, she wouldn’t say that out loud. Though it was on the tip of her tongue crawling to escape.
“I can’t wait to tell Jayce about it. When is he coming?”
“He’ll be over around six,” she said.
“Can we order pizza tonight to celebrate?”
“I think we can do that,” she said. Jayce’s stomach seemed to be in much better shape, but she’d get a white pizza with veggies just in case. It was her preference anyway.
“Sweet,” Archer said. “I can’t wait to see him. I wish we could hang out tomorrow.”
“You’re going to have a great time at Max’s,” she said. “Are you nervous about your first sleepover?”
“Nope. I can’t wait. It’s going to be so much fun. And it’s around the corner.”
“That’s right. Close by if you need anything or want to come home.”
“I sleep at Grandma and Grandpa’s with no problem. Even go to Dad’s and am fine. Don’t worry about me.”
As sad as it was, she knew Archer would be okay. Not a lot got to him. Or he brushed it off if it did.
That was why she decided to break the news to him herself before Jayce came over. She was positive her son would not only be fine with it, but be excited.
Maybe she wanted to be the one to give that to him first.
“I’ll always worry about you because that is a mother’s job.”
“Just like Jayce said you’ll always be in my corner,” Archer said.
It was exactly the opening she needed but didn’t want to have the conversation while she was driving.
They’d be home in five minutes.
“Do you have a lot of homework to get done this weekend?”
“I did it already and I’ll show you. I promise I got it done.”
The fact he was offering to show her was nice. The random spot checks had caught him not having things complete in the past and he learned there were things you just had to do as part of life and this was one of them.
It was better for him to do it in the after-school program when all the other kids were and then he could come home and play.
“You can show me quickly, then put your stuff away for the weekend and have fun.”
“That’s why I did it. I like to have fun on the weekends and not have to do homework on Sunday.”
They pulled in her garage a few minutes later, both of them getting out, Archer stopping in the kitchen to pull out his work and show her it was all completed. “Did you have any questions on it?”
“Nope. It was all easy.”
“Then put it away for now,” she said. “I’m going to take a quick shower and change.”
She went to her room while Archer ran up the stairs to his loft. He’d stay up there and play until Jayce came, but she’d go talk to him first.
Most days she lingered beneath the spray, letting the heat wash the germs, the stress, the endless responsibilities right down the drain.
But not today.
Today she rushed, her chest tight with nerves, her heart pounding so hard it echoed in her ears. Her hands trembled as she soaped up, her mind racing through every scenario. What Archer would ask, what he’d think, what he’d feel about the first man she’d ever let into their lives this way.
She prayed she was ready. More than that, she prayed her son was.
She shut the water, dried off, grabbed her T-shirt and shorts and dressed quickly, then went up the stairs, but didn’t see Archer anywhere.
When she heard the faint laughter, she realized he must have gone to the front room to play video games. He wouldn’t get much time this weekend there, not being home or Jayce being around, so he was taking advantage of it.
She had to remind herself that Archer was still eight and would squeeze in what he could when he knew there was a time limit.
“Hey,” she said, walking into the room. “Can you pause that so we can have a chat?”
“Moooommmm,” Archer whined. “I wanted to play before Jayce came. I won’t be able to tomorrow.”
“I know, but we need to talk, then you can go back to it.”
“Will it take long?”
“Depends,” she said. “On you.”
His shoulders dropped and she hated that for him. That he thought he was going to get in trouble when he’d been so proud of himself over his report card.
He paused it and put the controller down. “Did I do something bad?”
“No,” she said, smiling and reaching for his hand. He let her touch it for a second and then she dropped it away. “It’s about Jayce.”
“Is he not coming over tonight?” The disappointment filled Archer’s eyes. She wasn’t sure if that was good or not.
“He’ll be here,” she said. And he was just as nervous as her. She’d send him a text shortly to let him know how it went.
“Good,” Archer said. “It’s going to rain later so maybe we can play games since I’m not getting them now talking to you.”
She squinted at him. “Maybe. You like Jayce, don’t you?”
“I do. He’s great. He likes to spend time with me and hang out. You like him too, right?”
“Yes.” She took a breath and swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Would you be upset if Jayce was more than just your friend? More than a friend to me?”
“Is Jayce your boyfriend?”
She wasn’t so sure that was the word she’d put on it, but the fact she was letting her son know said it was the right term for Archer to understand.
She and Jayce hadn’t had the exclusivity conversation, but she didn’t think they’d need to. He was fully aware of what she thought of cheating and she knew he felt the same.
“Would you be upset if that were the case?”
“No,” Archer said. “But will he want to be with you and not just me? Is he only being nice to me because of you?”
One scenario she’d come up with and was glad her mind went there in preparation.
“He’s not. Remember, he spent that first week with you. It’s been all about you from the start.”
“And now because he’s been spending time with me he likes you again? Like when you were in school before? Was he your boyfriend then?”
She hadn’t thought he’d ask this. “He was.”
“What happened? Did he find someone else like Dad?”
She didn’t know how Archer knew that, but little ears picked up a lot.
The last thing she wanted to do was address anything that had to do with her ex.
“We were young. Only seventeen and friends before and after. We went away to different colleges and that was it. It wasn’t anything more than that. Sometimes in life, things just don’t happen at the right time.”
“Okay. So he’s still my friend and he’ll be your boyfriend too? Nothing is changing there?”
“No,” she said, smiling and shaking her head. “But would you be upset if he maybe held my hand or gave me a kiss?”
“Nope,” Archer said, reaching for his remote. “Just don’t make all those noises and say those love words like in the movies you watch.”
“What noises?” she asked, her eyes wide.
Archer puckered his lips and kept kissing the air and making lip smacking and smooching sounds. “It’s gross.”
She nudged his shoulder with her hand. “Okay, I promise, no kissing noises.”
“Can I get back to my game now?”
“You can,” she said, walking out of the room.
That went a lot better than she thought it would.
She picked up her phone and sent a thumbs up text to Jayce to let him know it was all good.
Guess she worried over nothing.