“It’s been a while, son,” his mom told him.
“I know. I’ve been busy.”
“Things going okay with work?”
“Yes. I got a promotion.”
“That’s great. Your father will be so proud.”
“Will he?”
“Why would you ask that? Of course he will. I know he didn’t take to it so much at first, but he is very proud of you.”
“Where is he anyway?”
“He had to go out of town for a few days to check out a new supplier. We’ve been getting a lot of questionable quality material from our old one.”
“You guys ever going to retire?’
“I don’t know. We like what we do. We’ll probably do it until we can’t anymore. You know us.”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Are you seeing anyone?”
“I was, but we had an argument.”
“Is that why you are here? You had to come home to talk to Mama about it?”
“Nah. I just wanted to see you.”
She looked him over, trying to decide if she believed that. No doubt she sensed his vulnerability. She had always been able to tell when he was feeling out of sorts about something.”
“What was the argument about?”
“I pushed too hard, Mom. I just wanted to take care of her. She didn’t want my help.”
“An independent woman. Alpha, I take it.”
“Actually, no. She’s an Omega, but her father was the Alpha of their pack. I think he left a bad impression of all Alphas with his daughter.”
“How? What did he do?”
“I’m not sure really. I think he was just overbearing. You know, like Dad.”
She smiled at this and shook her head.
“Your father is an acquired taste, I suppose. When we first started dating, I thought he was the most obnoxious man I’d ever met in my life. I wanted to run away.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Honestly? I got pregnant and getting married was just what you did in that situation back then. I learned to love him though. He can be a handful at times, but he has always taken good care of me. He’s never hurt me and never been disloyal.”
“Shouldn’t marriage be more than that, Mom?’
“Probably, but I’m content. I could have done far worse. Anyway, your father and I are not you and this girl. You need to decide if you can be what she wants and if you can, sit down with her and talk it out. If you are giving up a part of yourself to be with her, then you have to think real hard about what that will cost you in the long run.”
Ryan considered this and knew she was right, but it was equally good advice for Lucy and when he put himself in her shoes, he could understand where she had been coming from a lot better.
“Will you stay for dinner? Your father should be back by then so you can see him.”
“Sure. It’s been too long since we shared a meal.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“Mine.”
She smiled and returned to cutting up vegetables on the counter in front of him. He watched for a bit, fascinated by how deftly she chopped carrots up into even little pieces without missing a beat.
“This girl. Tell me about her.”
Ryan found himself telling her all about Lucy, a feeling of happiness coming over him as he talked about how wonderful she was.
“It’s good to see you in love. You’ll fix this with her. I know you’ll be fine.”
“No, I just . . . I don’t know about love.”
“I do and I know the sound of a man in love. Don’t let her go, son.”
Ryan didn’t argue the point further, as he realized she was probably right. His father arrived just as she was finishing dinner and Ryan expected the usual cool reception, but instead he was met with a huge smile and a hug.
“You look good, Ryan. It’s good to see you home,” his father told him.
After dinner, he helped his Mom clear away the dishes while his father sat in his favorite arm chair watching television. At least some things didn’t change. His father had never been much for sharing household chores.
“I’m going to head home, Mom. I’ve got an early day tomorrow.”
“Okay, son. Don’t be a stranger. I know we haven’t always been as supportive of your choice as we could have been, but we love you and enjoy seeing you when you can get out to us.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’m going to say goodbye to Dad and get going.”
In truth, he wanted to go check on Lucy. He said his goodbyes and drove up to her place to see if she was home, though he wasn’t sure he should do anything more than just check on her from afar. As he passed by her house and made a loop through the roundabout, he noted that her car was in the drive but no lights were on. She was probably out. He thought about waiting to see if she came home and then realized this was just the sort of behavior that had angered her. He went back past her house and kept going.