“Yeah, I think she was, probably still is. She’ll need her friends. And I’m proud of you for not being afraid of who you are. Brandy’s a lucky girl.”
“Thanks. We’ll be there for Kaylin and Dani. For Coach, too. We’ve already talked about it, me and the team.”
“I believe you, and I’m proud of you.”
***
Mother – I’d like to see you for lunch today, if you’re free.
I ran my hands over my eyes. It was Tuesday morning, and I’d been dreading this text for the last two days. The news stories hadn’t let up, if anything they were getting worse. Sandy had turned off her phone, and reporters had turned up outside her house. One even showed up to her clinic. She’d spent last night here, just to get away from it. Well, maybe not just for that.
But with the attention this was getting, my mother weighing in on it was inevitable.
Me- I’m free. Where?
She picked a spot. I couldn’t have cared less which one, and she was waiting for me when I arrived. She was sitting facing the door, legs crossed, sipping on her normal unsweetened tea as I entered.
She stood up as I made my way to the table. “Mother.” She kissed me on the cheek without an ounce of affection showing on her face. Quite impressive really, but par for the course where she was concerned. I tried to stay as stoic as possible, but the energy between us was the same as always. She was the alpha, and I wasn’t, and we both knew it.
“So, I take it you’ve been watching the news.”
I could have played dumb, but I was sick of the disingenuousness of it all. “Of course. Kaylin’s Paige’s friend. And Sandy’s just broken up about it.”
My mother’s expression soured further, if that were possible. “I’m sure that she’s scared of losing her job.”
“Mother, she’s a doctor, she coaches because she loves it, not because she has to. And she’s broken up because one of her players, a young woman she cares about, tried to kill herself.”
“I doubt that, Melanie. Those people don’t care about anyone but themselves.”
“Those people? I’m one of those people too, y’know. So I don’t care about anyone but myself?”
“Apparently not. I’ve never seen you so selfish. And it’s going to stop now.”
“I’m being selfish, for being happy for the first time in my, well, in a long time. We’ve been over this before.”
“But this is different, Melanie.”
“How?”
“Because this has legs, especially from what happened last week. That coach is going to go down for this.”
“No she isn’t.”
“Yes she is, because people need someone to blame, Melanie, and they aren’t going to blame the scared, grieving parents. So we need to talk about what you’re going to do when that happens.”
I gave a dry chuckle. “You mean you’re going to tell me what I’m going to do.”
She almost cracked a smile. I think she thought she’d won, and that made me mad. “Well, you have to admit this isn’t your strong suit, making good decisions.”
“I’ve made some bad ones, like when I listened to you about marrying Bill, or not applying for that job with Houghton Mifflin when I graduated college.”
“Those were both the right decisions, and you know it. And you’re going to back off from this relationship. You can destroy your own life, but I will not let you drag down your family, your brother’s career. Let her sink.”
“Is that an order?”
“Melanie.” Her voice took me right back to childhood, the tone saying she’d had enough of whatever insolence she felt I was guilty of. But I also realized that I wasn’t a child.
“Mom, you know the first rule of command? Never give an order you know won’t be followed.” I stood up. She may be the alpha, but I was a mother too, and I’d had it. The only reason I’d agreed to meet her was to say what I had to say right now. “I’m going to stand by her side through this, whatever it ends up being. After the holidays she’s moving in with me, and when she asks me to marry her, I’m going to say ‘yes’. And it’s up to you if you want to continue to be a part of my life, or my children’s lives, but it’s on my terms. And John can fend for his fucking self. I can’t wait to vote against him.”
I turned on my heel and walked out, straight toward the door. I didn’t care if I bumped into a chair or two as I did, like I normally would. Luckily I didn’t trip. I was breathing heavily by the time I made it out to the car. I immediately called Sandy when I got to the car.
“Hey, Baby. How are you?”
“Hi, I didn’t think you’d answer.”
“Just charting from this morning’s appointments. I only have a minute though, my next appointment is being brought back, and I have to look her chart over.”
“I just had lunch with Mom.”
“You need to stop doing that.”
I giggled at the humor in her voice. “I may just have. Talk to you tonight?”
“Sure. Want me to bring Paige home after practice?”
“Yes, please. Can you bring Will, too? He has debate, and I have to get Charlie from robotics.”
“Of course.”
“Alright, I’ll text him to head over to the field house after debate finishes.”
***
As we cuddled in bed that night I marveled at how perfect the busy night had gone. I could get very used to having another adult around in the afternoons. We hadn’t made love, but just being able to slip into her arms as I came to bed was wonderful.
Sandy’s fingers ran softly through my hair as I lay against her. “So, there’s going to be an emergency meeting of the school board on Thursday.”
“What?” I put my hand on her shoulder and propped myself up on my elbow. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t want to worry Paige, or have her distract the team.”
I gave her a slightly stern look. “Sandy, we have to tell her.” We’d made a point of not watching the news tonight, although I knew from checking local news web pages that the story was only growing.
“I know. I just wanted to talk to you about it first. You don’t have to be a part of it if you don’t want to.”
“And make my mother happy? Not a chance. She told me to dump you again. Basically just stand back and let the bus run you over.”
“That might not be a bad idea.” She tried to say it with humor, but there was just a tinge of fear in my normally confident lover’s voice. “I know how vicious rumor mills and gossips can be.”
“I don’t care about those things. I only care about you, and us, together.”
There was a tear in her eye. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I’m in this all the way. For better or for worse.” I realized what I’d said and blushed. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” She put her hand on my cheek and rolled me onto my back, fixing me with her most intense gaze, and my heart melted inside my chest. “I’m going to marry you someday, Melanie Pierson. I love you, and I want you forever. Always by my side.”
A sob broke free from my chest, and she kissed me. I knew in that moment, as she covered me with her body, that I’d made the right choice. She would always be the right choice.
*****
When I dropped Will and Paige off at school in the morning I sent my son off while holding his sister back, telling her about the meeting coming up. “Coach doesn’t want to worry you all, but I thought you should know.”
Paige was quiet for a moment. “Should I tell the team?”
“That’s up to you, you’re the captain. What do you think?”
“I think that if someone were keeping it from me, I’d be angry. Thanks, Mom.”
She didn’t give me a hug, but that didn’t surprise me, especially not with the hard set to her eyes as she left our van. That told me she was processing the information. I heard her call out, and two young women in letterman’s jackets responded from near the entrance. Paige started jogging their way, and I just drove on, trusting her to deal with things.