Holly locked her determined stare on mine as tightly as I locked mine on hers. This was all out war, and I was not planning on losing. I would not subject myself to the torture that would bring.
"Why don't you just go ahead and back out, Vivid?" Holly taunted, "I'll make it worth your while."
"There is absolutely nothing you can give me that would have me willingly throwing myself under the bus. Even a hundred dollar gift card to Zero's or the like won't make me budge." I declined stubbornly.
"There's a possibility that could actually be arranged. Remember, you do love the food they make there." she lured me, tilting her head at just the perfect angle.
"You're seriously willing to spend one hundred freaking dollars just so you don't have to do the works cited page for your project?" Uncle Al, lazing about on the couch nearby watching television, balked in stupefied awe, "I don't think I raised you to be like that."
"You're seriously willing to spend one hundred freaking dollars just so you don't have to do the works cited page for your project?" Uncle Al, lazing about on the couch nearby watching television, balked in stupefied awe, "I don't think I raised you to be like that."
"You haven't seen how many sources we have, and you don't know what our teacher is like." Holly pointed out to him with so much genuine dread that I burst out laughing.
Then it was time to get serious once more. Holly gave me that important look. Our fists slapped on our other palm three times before we drew our weapons. Holly's choice was a sturdy rock. Mine was a glorious piece of paper. My smile returned with renewed vigor while Holly's expression sank so low it might as well have dropped off the face of the planet.
"Yes!" I cheered, "Suck it, Charm!"
"No one is sucking anything in this house," Uncle Al interjected again, much more rapidly than before, "Unless it's Lia and me."
"Dad." Holly rebuked shortly.
"Why don't the two of you just do the citations together?" he ignored her.
"Because she lost rock-paper-scissors most impressively, as you clearly just saw." I boasted.
"Again, you don't know what the situation is like," Holly pouted, "We were lucky enough to get the rest of the project done without biting the other's head off."
"Friends we might be, but good project partners we are not." I added on merrily.
Holly sighed miserably.
"Daddyyy, can you lend me a bit of extra money so I can increase the bribe?" she pleaded with puppy dog eyes.
"Hell no," Uncle Al scoffed merrily, "Besides, I am a firm believer in honoring the victories of a simple child's hand game. It's how Am and I settled everything, and I had to bite my lip and suffer my fair share of losses like you will have to do now."
"You're such a stuffed shirt." Holly folded her arms with a frown.
"Well, I obviously must not have been as firm with you as I should have been if you're willing to throw one hundred dollars around like it's nothing." Uncle Al teased, turning his head back towards the television screen- but not before ruffling Mimosa's hair lovingly, "You need to be more sensible, like your sister here."
Mimosa, sitting casually on the floor at Uncle Al's feet doing her own homework, smiled up at him before sticking out her tongue at Holly like Holly was sticking hers out at her. I chuckled at their age old habit of doing such a thing, and that caught Mimosa's attention. Ours eyes locked for a brief moment, and she managed some sort of a small smile before hurriedly snapping her gaze away.
Homecoming had come and gone. Azure had ended up going with Moon, Holly got a date with some boy in her math class, and Midas and I went stag again. Mimosa didn't go at all. She instead had an evening out with her parents at some fancy restaurant before traveling down to Bayport to see a fireworks display. Before that night, Mimosa avoided me like the plague. After the dance, she started slowly warming up to me once more. We didn't hang out directly with the other too much, but we could handle being around the other's presence. It was the best I could ask for for the moment, so I was trying not to be pushy.
I spent some more time at the Charm's house. Mostly that involved teasing Holly saying I would do the citation page if she could scrounge up two hundred dollars for a gift card, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. Holly eventually just went upstairs to start working on the painfully dull and meticulous part of our project while I chatted with Uncle Al. Eventually though, I crossed the street to return home. There was nothing surprising in the slightest when a chorus of loud laughs, giggles, and squeals greeted me the instant I walked through the door.
"C'mon you two, you're going to break him." I lightly sighed at my sisters who were climbing all over Uncle Blaze.
"Hey, don't treat me like I'm a fragile porcelain doll. I'm as sturdy as I've always been." Uncle Blaze defended immediately.
"Says the one who nearly re-broke his bad ankle the other day and had to have it iced all afternoon because he was going down the stairs too fast."
"But it didn't break though, did it?" he retorted defiantly.
"I didn't know you broke your ankle!" Glade chimed in, amazed.
"Well, it happened quite a long time ago. This one particular idiot was chasing me, and his clumsiness caused me to be hurt."
"Why was he chasing you?"
"Reasons." Uncle Blaze smiled mischievously.
Glade turned towards me for a better explanation, but I could only shrug.
"He's never told the full story. He's probably making up the part about being chased because he actually broke his ankle in a super embarrassing way." I said.
"If only you knew the truth." Uncle Blaze grinned wider.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. The guy had to make everything so damn dramatic.
Mom came out of her room seconds later.
"Ah, good, Coal, you're back," she began, and I knew that tone meant she needed me for something, "I'm about to head out. Mind looking after the girls for a little bit?"
"What? I thought Uncle Blaze was going to be on babysitting duty today." I complained.
"Chill out there, ya goof," Uncle Blaze reprimanded ever so lightly, "I'm just running down to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions. It'll take fifteen minutes tops."
"Where are you going then?" I asked mom.
"Out," she responded deviously, putting her hands on her hips, "There's a little bit of clothes shopping I want to do, and I'll see where it goes from there. Why does it seem to matter so much that you're free? I didn't think you had anywhere to be today."
"I had...stuff I wanted to get done."
"Which means you were just going to be lazy and do nothing." Cerise felt the need to join in.
"No." I defended poorly.
"In any case, like Blaze said, he's not going to be gone long. You can survive watching your sisters until then, and your 'stuff' can follow after." mom instructed without room for rebuttals.
Cerise instantly grabbed on my arm to half drag me outside as mom took off first before Uncle Blaze left a moment later.
It was true I hadn't had any solids plans that day. However, my sudden sense of urgency hadn't come from my chance of being lazy being disrupted. It was because mom was abruptly going out when she had mentioned nothing of it before. Her plans weren't all that specific this time around, and that led me to only one conclusion. She was meeting up with Spruce. I would have loved to have just asked her. However, there was no way I could make her suspicious that I was on to something. There was also the fact that Midas, Rosemary, and I had promised to keep dead silent about what we saw that one day until we could dig up some more information. I didn't want to tell mom her maybe-boyfriend was a cheater unless I had proof to back it up. If only Rosemary had snapped a picture when she zoomed in with her camera.
"Hey, Glade?" I started to question my little sister.
She was running her hands over my head while I sat on the grass as she adored my 'fuzzy' hair. Cerise was swinging like a wild monkey and completely ignoring us.
"What?"
"How would you feel if you found out you were getting a new dad?"
"A new dad?" she repeated curiously.
"Like if mom were to meet someone, fall in love with him, and get married again. Would you be happy that you finally had a real dad?"
"I don't...know if I'd want a new dad. I just want to meet our dad." she said, slightly sad.
"But don't you want that kind of male figure in your life? Aren't you lonely without one?" I wondered.
"Not really. I do want to meet dad, but I'm not lonely without him. I have Blaze, and I have you," Glade flashed me a smile before kissing the top of my head, "And there's Uncle Al, and Uncle Frost, and Uncle Sap too."
"Yeah, that's true." I agreed.
I returned her kiss and smile before having her sit on my lap as she wanted me to braid her hair. As I did, I recalled what I had pondered so long ago after Glade was born. I guess I was right. She couldn't experience the same kind of loneliness the rest of us felt because she had never experienced what it was like to have that something in the first place.
It was nice to see that I wasn't entirely alone in my reluctance to welcome a new parental type figure into my life. True, Glade hadn't directly rejected the idea of mom getting married to someone else, but the response I had gotten was good enough for me. It also gave me absolutely idiotic courage and determination to do what I did next. I was out the door the second Uncle Blaze returned, and I was taking a few too many chances on yellow lights about to turn red. Still, I was resolved to catch up to mom. It was a shot in the dark, honestly. The only thing I had to work off was that she was going clothes shopping first. There were a hundred and one places in Berrybrook and its suburbs for her to check out. There was one store that was her favorite though, and my mad drive had me catching up as soon as she was leaving it.
Lucking out big time, that was when my stalking session began. My friends and I had played hide-and-seek on public lots enough when we were younger for me to be able to dodge out of mom's sight without alerting the others on the street to my suspicious behavior. I actually hoped I wouldn't have to follow her for long. All I wanted to see was a confirmation that my crazy ideas about her secretly meeting with Spruce were false.
Aaaaand, they weren't.
I gave it some time after mom turned a corner before I peeked around it. When I did, I instantly spotted that blue and brown I didn't want to see. Spruce had come from nowhere, and he and mom were standing so comfortably together in line at a food truck that their appearance there together was no coincidence. They sat down after getting their food at a table that was in the perfect position for me to hide down behind a massive stretch of thick flowers and bushes.
I missed the beginning part of their conversation as the traffic going by was frustratingly loud, but it soon quieted. The first thing I heard after it did was Spruce laughing loudly.
"I mean, it's not that I'm a total skeptic, but that just sounds like you're messing with me."
"I'm not!" mom proclaimed merrily, "I swear it's the truth. I wasn't sure what to think the first time I thought I saw her, but I couldn't reason it was just all in my head after she predicted how Wisp and Prism would come out."
I knew the tale mom had told Spruce. It was one she had spoke of many times, and it revolved around the old ghost story of Snowbell. Mom apparently saw her during some sleepover she had in the loft when she was a kid. Snowbell had known she was truly white despite mom being green at the time. Mom had also gone up into the loft when she was pregnant with Wisp and then with Prism and Desire, and both times she heard Snowbell's voice saying she wanted to meet the white baby boy. I would have been more skeptical myself, but dad had revealed once that they hadn't known mom was pregnant with Prism and Desire that second time they went up. It was only once mom supposedly heard Snowbell's wish that she took a pregnancy test to find out she and dad had gotten too frisky at the wrong time.
"Weren't you the one whose entire choir group huddled together to sleep on the floor of the lobby at the old bed and breakfast you were staying at because everyone was freaking out about the eerie voices being heard in all the bedrooms?" mom then pointed out with a smirk.
"For the record, I knew it was the chaperones messing with us, but I kept quiet because it was fun seeing my friends get freaked out." Spruce returned that smirk.
"Uh-huh." mom replied in amused disbelief.
The two continued their conversation of ghostly experiences for some time before going through a bunch of other random topics. I listened intently even when their talking grew incredibly boring. It was all friendly how they were acting so far, but I wasn't going to be deceived. There were hints of something more in the casual atmosphere mom and Spruce created once they moved from their table. They spent most of their time walking around and merely talking, and every now and again mom would grasp onto his arm as they did. It was never anything super close or cuddly, but still.
After about almost an hour of traipsing around the city, the two stopped in at a cafe popular with both my family and friends. I hesitated on whether or not I should follow them inside. The building wasn't overly small, but the inside was packed full of stuff that it made wandering around stealthily next to impossible. You can sort of imagine moving in there as driving down a one-way street. If I made the wrong move or went the wrong way, I could blow my cover in an instant. In the end, I took the risk. The hot weather was getting unbearable, and I was confident enough in knowing the layout of the place to avoid being caught.
However, what happened next made me kinda wish I hadn't gone in. Mom and Spruce got some soda before mom led him over to the karaoke machine. It was hardly them singing together that got me pissed, but it was the song they chose to sing. It was the theme song to one of Quartz's old movies. Mom and dad had sung it together every time they came into this place without fail. I didn't care how good Spruce's singing was- seeing him stand where dad stood while swaying to the melody alongside my mother made me want to rip his vocal cords out. To add insult to injury, the two took several pictures of themselves when they were done. They stood far too close together for my liking.
I snuck upstairs to buy a drink from the vending machine before pacing about madly in the empty men's bathroom. It helped to relieve some of my frustration. Barely. I would have stayed in there longer, but I didn't want to lose track of my quarry. Mom and Spruce singing karaoke signaled, at least to me, that the two were beginning to act a bit more like a couple. Perhaps I could get that solid proof I needed if I followed them for just a little longer. I was bound to get even more mad if I saw them kiss or something, but my craving for answers kept me following my goal.
At least, I would follow them if I could find them. I worried that my silent and quick temper tantrum had indeed lost me that chance. Mom and Spruce weren't where they had been, and moving throughout the first floor before returning to the second yielded me no results either. I feared they had departed from the cafe when I hadn't been looking. I began to peek down the western set of stairs hoping I was wrong when my blood ran cold upon hearing a certain voice.
"Coal?"
Mom's voice was full of confusion and just a touch of suspicion. Me whipping around with a start to greet her with startled eyes and nervous expression probably didn't help my case.
"M-mom, uh..."
"What are you doing here?' she wondered.
"C-can I not be here?" I questioned back too aversely.
"I suppose you can," mom spoke slowly, signaling she was easily seeing through my lackluster skirting around the issue, "It just surprises me that you happened to end up at the exact same place Spruce and I are at when you mentioned nothing of coming here earlier."
"There's a good reason for that..."
I trailed off hopelessly, and I could just picture the explosion mom would make when my devious actions blew up in my face.
"You looked as if you were looking for someone." mom added to hasten my demise.
I opened my mouth pitifully. My stuttering state had thrown away my chance to play our presence at the same location off as truly nothing more than coincidence. The lone thing I could think to say that would save my skin was to say I was heading down the sidewalk to see mom and Spruce inside, and that I wanted to ask mom for a few extra dollars to see a movie or something. There was a slim hope such a lie could work given mom's perceptiveness, but it turned out to be a chance I didn't have to take. That was because I was saved by my new guardian angel.
"He was looking for me." a familiar voice answered in my place.
Candy appeared from nowhere to stand next to me with a brilliant smile.
"Oh, uh, Candy, is it?" mom questioned her.
"Yes, ma'am."
"You're here together with Coal?"
"Exactly. We've been hanging up here playing arcade games, and I took off for a moment to get a snack and use the restroom without telling him, which is why I'm sure he was looking a bit confused." Candy explained flawlessly without any signs of hesitation.
"Why didn't you simply say you were with her? Why didn't you mention earlier that you did have plans?" mom then questioned me.
I once again had no answer to give. The shock of bumping into mom and Spruce had wiped my mind blank.
"He probably was afraid you might think it was a date." Spruce, surprisingly and unknowingly, came to my rescue.
"Pretty much that." I jumped onto the idea instantly.
Mom looked at me before rolling her eyes slightly and laughing quietly- finally appearing appeased.
She teased me for several seconds about being so needlessly secretive, but I finally came up with a good lie about how the 'secret' was to stop Mimosa from being made upset again as she was still recovering from her rejection. Mom understood that. Even better, she and Spruce didn't see a reason to stick around for long. They were going to head somewhere else. With no possible way to follow them anymore, I stuck around to let Candy pull me over to a quiet section of the cafe the second they were out of the building.
"You are my absolute savior." I gushed brightly.
"I would say so," Candy laughed, "You were flubbing so hard, and your mom looked as if she was seconds away from getting ultra pissed. I don't think she would have liked finding out that you were stalking her."
"I wasn't-"
"I saw you doing it," Candy interrupted with an impish smirk, "That was how I knew to come save you."
"Wouldn't that mean you were stalking me then?" I pointed out with a raised brow.
"I merely happened to catch you being sneaky. I wasn't trying to follow you around- unlike you and your less than noble intentions."
"Yeah, sure," I accepted with a hopeless grin and a scratch at the back of my neck, "I suppose I owe you a snack or something as a reward too."
I wasn't fond of the smile that spread across Candy's face then. Without a word, she pointed past my head at something behind me.
"The claw machine?" I asked.
"I want you to win me something from that." she requested firmly.
"But...but you know how rigged that thing is! My pocket's still hurting from that disastrous date with Mimosa." I complained instantly.
"Shall I go catch up to your mom to let her know what you were actually doing?" Candy wondered mischievously.
"Blackmailing me will reduce all the good karma points you earned, you know?" I reminded her.
"How about we compromise then? You only have to try three times," Candy suggested, "Surely you can at least spare a dollar and half for your absolute savior?"
"I suppose I can." I agreed with a lighthearted shrug.
I pulled out the spare change from my pocket to test my luck.
The first try was a bust. The claw dropped and lazily retracted without so much as budging the plushie it fell on half an inch. My second attempt wasn't as bad. The claw at least weakly gripped onto it. The third go was what got Candy and me cheering like little children before ours hopes got crushed. My positioning was perfect. The claw moved down smoothly. It opened it arms, grasped the neck of the plushie firmly around the neck, and pulled it up like it was nothing. That was when the cheering started. Candy excitedly clutched onto my arm as we watched our prize inch closer to the receiving drop. Frustratingly, a split second before it reached the safe point of the chute the claw decided it was done. The plushie dropped just as our mouths did when the machine let it fall back onto the pile of goodies.
"Screw you. Screw you, screw you, screw you." I cursed it bitterly.
"That sucks. You got really close though. Closer than I've ever gotten with one of these things." Candy brushed the loss off.
I, on the other hand, wasn't going to accept that defeat so easily.
"Coal, you don't have to do that," Candy told me when I dug into my pocket to pull out more change, "You gave it your three tries."
"I'm not doing it for you. It's that I'm not going to let this stupid thing fuck with me." I explained.
"Alright then." Candy laughed once more.
She let me go at it. Two dollars and a few more cusses later, our cheers didn't go unrewarded. I won something from a claw game for the first time ever in my life, and I was perfectly happy to present my spoils to my friend.
Our excitement calming down, Candy offered to pay for a quick bite to eat for the both of us. We turned out to have much interest in the plushie than the brownies we got though. The thing was so ridiculously squishy. It definitely had to be made out of some sort of memory foam, and a large part of me enjoyed poking it so much that it was then that I regretted handing it away.
"So, why exactly were you stalking your mom and your old teacher?"
That question of Candy's quickly switched around the thoughts going on in my brain though. I grew slightly more serious.
"I...wanted to see exactly how they acted together when they were alone. Or, not around any of us kids or anything," I started, actually deciding incredibly quickly to reveal the whole truth, "Azure and I, well, we spotted them another time when we were on a walk. The two looked to be acting more than friendly. Mom's always given me the impression that she'll never move on from dad otherwise, so it's been difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that she could be secretly seeing another guy."
"And how were the two today?"
"I'm not quite sure. There was nothing super apparent to suggest they do like the other romantically." I admitted.
"Why don't you just ask your mom about it?"
"How am I supposed to do that without revealing I've been secretly watching them? I don't see the two interact together 'officially' enough to be suspicious on my own."
"I guess that's true."
"There's also..."
"Hmm?"
"Midas, Mary, and I...we saw Spruce with another woman one day. She was all blue. The two were kissing for a good long while. Then we saw that the woman was wearing a wedding ring, but Spruce isn't married."
"Oof, that's a tough situation. Not only is your mom possibly having a new relationship, but it could be with a guy having an affair with a married woman." Candy caught on immediately.
"And that's exactly why I can't talk to mom about this just yet. She'll get angry enough finding out that I discovered her secret, and bringing her the news that Spruce is double-timing her is sure to increase that wrath a thousand times over."
For the first time since I had known her, Candy didn't have much to say. She expressed some sympathies at the problems I faced, recommended I try to find out the truth in a much less morally corrupt way, and offered a round of karaoke to help cheer me up. Needing to 'cleanse' the song mom and Spruce sang, it was the one I picked for Candy and I to sing. She hadn't heard it before, but with my lead she kept up perfectly fine. Mostly we had fun laughing at ourselves. The biggest round of giggles came when my voice cracked big time. Guess I still wasn't fully out of that stage, huh?
Candy demanded she pick a song next, which was totally fine with me. It's not like I had anything else to do now that my plans of following mom had been halted halfway through. Besides, as the songs kept on coming and Candy and I kept on singing, I found that this was some of the most fun I had been having in weeks. Mimosa's and mine awkward air when hanging out with our friends had made relaxing difficult. Now I didn't have to think about any of that. Candy was someone outside all of the situations bogging me down who could sweep me out of them with ease. That thought sunk into my head more with every second that passed. I had always considered her a friend. However, in that moment there was something that forced me to take a closer look at her. I had said to Mimosa that I thought Candy was pretty, but only then it began to register just how much I truly enjoyed glancing her way. The lightest scattering of freckles she had dusted over her nose and cheeks was adorable. Her eyes were as big as her smile. I would have reached out to touch her soft hair that draped over her shoulders if that wouldn't have been creepy, awkward, and obtrusive. When Candy put her arm around me as we swayed back and forth to the music I really didn't want her to let go.
Our voices eventually grew tired, and I just figured that would be the end of our time together for our day. That is, until Candy gently tugged on my sleeve.
"You wanna go someplace else?" she suggested.
"You don't have stuff you have to do?" I asked a little too optimistically.
"Nope. All my friends are busy, so I was just desperately walking around trying to find something to entertain me. Then I found you." Candy flashed me a big smile.
"Well, I'm glad my presence is delightful enough to stave off your boredom." I accepted the subtle compliment grandly.
"You're a little weird, Coal," she giggled, "But, I like that."
She said those words, and there was pulling sensation in my chest. It was wholly unfamiliar, yet pleasant in its own sort of way.
"I think hanging out will get you out of any more potential trouble with your mom too. When she asks what you and I did, you can actually tell her truthfully of stuff we did do. You won't clam up and stutter hopelessly again." Candy pointed out.
"I'm not normally that bad. I'm usually very good at sneaking around." I felt the need to correct.
Candy didn't quite believe me, so as we left the cafe to enjoy a nice walk I got to tell tale after tale of my various sleuthing acts done over the years. The two of us wandered about until the heat beat us down once more. A cheap matinee at the movies cooled us off. Candy and I then spent the afternoon checking out various shops, buying ice cream, dipping our feet in the river, catching the end of an acrobatics show being performed at the park, and generally just talking and enjoying ourselves until we concluded our time together after doing some dancing at an all-ages club. Candy was requested home for dinner by her father, and I started my long trek back to where I parked the car. A minute into that walk I realized my chest was hurting somewhat. It was the kind of tightening where your body's cooling down after having run a long distance. I hadn't even been aware that my heart had been racing.
There was no denying that I was in a pretty good mood when I returned home. Unfortunately, the upbeat attitude didn't last long. No one was in sight as I walked through the door, but seconds after I closed it mom's head poked out of her bedroom door. She signaled silently for me to enter, which was never a good sign. Her expression and body language were stiff.
"How was your time with Candy?" she asked with too much fake, forced interest for me to be anything other than terrified.
"It was great," I said, relieved Candy's idea did give me something honest to talk about, "I won her a plushie from the claw machine, we took a walk, watched a movie, got some ice cream, and so on. All the good stuff."
Mom studied me hard. I think she was actually thrown off a bit from how genuinely the answer came out. It was clear she was expecting me to stutter and grow nervous like I did before. Well, I mean, I certainly was growing nervous anyway. Mom didn't wait long to reveal why I was standing there under her judgment.
"That's good that you had a great time," mom said with a good helping of sarcasm, "I was having a great time with Spruce too. Then I saw you stalking and spying on us."
"I wasn't-" I tried to deny instantly.
"Don't even start," mom cut me off sharply, "Your red stuck out in the cafe like a sore thumb. I didn't call you out the second I spotted you because I hoped you weren't actually doing what you were doing, but you proved me a fool."
I had nothing to say. What could I possibly say? I was sort of curious why mom hadn't called me out at the cafe then if she knew was I was doing, but I suppose it was pretty obvious the answer to that was that she probably didn't want to make a fuss in front of a bunch of people. Spruce hadn't given me an inclination that he had caught on too, so mom most likely didn't want him to find out about my actions either.
"Why, Coal?" mom demanded the explanation.
"I...I just wanted to know how you two were really getting along. Azure and I saw you before, and you seemed to be really into each other. I-"
"When did you and Azure see Spruce and I?" mom interrupted, raising her brow in angry disapproval.
"W-when you were at that fancy resort building..."
"Coal!" mom exclaimed furiously, "Just how often have you been creeping on the two of us?!"
"Azure and I just happened to be walking past! A-and then we got curious..." I gave the pitiful excuse, "Today was the only other time."
"Why on earth is it so important that you know what our relationship is like?" mom wondered sharply, "If I was interested in having another relationship with a man, why couldn't you simply trust me to tell you when the time was right?"
"I...well, I...I guess I'm just selfish. The thought of you being in another relationship seriously bothers me, and I was hoping I could put my worries to rest by proving to myself that there wasn't anything between you and Spruce," I revealed miserably before choosing to put it all out there, "I've been worried that Spruce might be two-timing you too."
A bewildered and puzzled look spread across mom's face, and some of her anger lessened as she stared at me curiously.
"Two-timing me? What do you mean?"
"I swear this instance what we saw was nothing more than coincidence!" I professed first before I dove into the story, "Midas, Mary, and I were hanging out the day after my date with Mimosa, as you know. We walked out of the comic shop to find Spruce kissing, and I mean really kissing, this woman across the street in the park. We were able to see that the woman was wearing a wedding ring. B-but Spruce isn't married, and from how I had seen you two acting...what else could I think but that he was cheating big time?"
Mom's glance on me was totally different now. There was a blank glaze in her eye before she sighed deeply.
"The woman. Was she a Solid light blue?" she asked.
"Um, yeah."
"That's Coast. Spruce's fiancee."
"F-fiancee?"
There was dead silence in the room.
"I think you mistook her 'wedding ring' for an engagement ring." mom told me.
"W-wha...but, but if Spruce had gotten engaged, I feel like I should have heard something about it."
"Forgive the poor man for wanting to keep his private life private," mom rebuked ever so lightly, "Besides, he's been incredibly nervous about the whole thing as well. He naturally doesn't want this marriage to end up in another divorce. Coast wants things done quietly too. Her previous husband was incredibly controlling and he's a little vindictive, so with her still struggling to maintain equal custody of their children she doesn't want her wedding to be another source of stress. That's why she asked me to help Spruce check out potential wedding venues and the services they offer, because she had other things to take care of."
"That's why you two were at that place that day then," I spoke the revelation more for myself than anything else, "She trusts you that much?"
"Yes," mom said defiantly and with a bit more anger returning, "She's sane enough to know that two people of opposite genders can be just platonic friends, unlike some people."
"I'm sorry, but you looked all coupley," I pouted at the jibe, "You were linked on Spruce's arm, you were touching each other's shoulders, and you were dancing and everything."
"I was feeling woozy because of the heat. You know how badly it can affect me due to my white skin. Spruce was helping to keep me steady- that day and today. Don't even get me started on us occasionally touching the other's shoulder. You're constantly doing similar stuff with Holly, Mary, and the rest of your female friends, aren't you? And I seriously just told you Spruce and I were testing out the services the venues offered. We were checking out the dance floor, and since they had some nice music playing we decided to waltz for a minute. Where's the harm in that?"
"There is none." I was forced to say softly.
More silence followed. Mom eventually sighed again, and I glanced at her timidly from under lowered lashes. She was clearly trying to decide what path to take with me. I knew I wasn't going to wriggle my way out of getting punished, but the severity of mom's anger was what was up for debate. I didn't know what to make of the almost amused, exasperated smile she gave me.
"You know, your intuition wasn't too terribly wrong." she said sheepishly, scratching at her neck.
"What do you mean?"
"There was a little something between Spruce and I...a few years ago."
"You didn't sleep together, did you?" I asked immediately with extreme dread.
"No!" mom laughed before having a mildly embarrassed smile grace her lips, "Although, I can't say there weren't a few times where I kinda, sorta wanted to."
"Mom."
"What? Coal, you have no idea what it's been like. Amaranth and I knew each other for twenty-six years. You haven't even been alive that long. Even Wisp hasn't been alive that long! To think that Amaranth would always be right there next to me and then to have him just disappear and never come back...it's been hard. To just keep existing, to keep being there for the rest of you, to take almost full control of this house and all the work and all the bills, it's been the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life," mom spoke before becoming slightly choked up, "And it's been so lonely. These past six years there's been nothing but this great emptiness digging away at my insides like an intense hunger. Spruce helped to ease that ache somewhat."
"So, what? You went on a few dates or something?" I guessed.
"Basically. We didn't call them dates though. We simply hung out while steadily pushing our boundaries. The 'romance', if you can call it that, ended the same day it reached its climax. Spruce was actually set to attend his ex-wife's new wedding, so I went over to his house to help him practicing dancing. The man's terrible at it. I was feeling tired. That's when I leaned against him, and a few seconds later we were kissing. The kiss wasn't done yet when the both of us realized the spark we were trying to trigger wasn't there. There was a basic sort of connection between us, but it wasn't anything like what we'd had before."
Mom linked her fingers together as she spoke, and by the end of it she was fiddling with her wedding ring. She took a deep breath, quelled the tears that were forming in her eyes, and looked up at me with a tender gaze and smile.
"This isn't coming off," she said in regards to the ring, "Ever. I've...contemplated taking it off. I've wondered if I was ready to start a new relationship. Amaranth told me many times that if something happened that I should move on if that was what I wanted. Spruce showed me that that will never happen. If anything, a new relationship will only make the loneliness worse. Amaranth was it for me. Another man will do nothing but remind me of the empty hole in my chest. They could do nothing but show me how much I miss the man who truly has my heart. The ring is stuck on my finger because I'm as married to him today as I ever was when he was here."
Mom gently placed her hand against my check.
"Honestly, the only man to helps to ease my loneliness is you. You have the same round and pudgy face I had when I was your age," she chuckled sweetly, "But you're so much like your father it almost scares me. The older you get the more I feel like he's back once more."
"You can rely on me more then. I'm not a little kid anymore. You don't have to worry about taking care of me. If you need help with those house or chores or watching over Ceri and Glade, I can do that." I encouraged.
"It's not your burden to carry. It's mine." mom spoke seriously.
Her mood then changed in a flash it left me utterly confused. Mom laughed loudly and shook her head.
"What am I talking about?" she asked herself, "You're in big trouble! Doing chores and babysitting your sisters is all you're going to be doing until I say otherwise."
"But I'll still get my allowance, right?" I questioned optimistically.
Mom raised her brow at me again.
"Hanging out with Candy today has made me utterly broke once more."
"How about we discuss it while you help me make dinner?" mom bargained, "Tell me all the details of your not-a-date date, and we'll see."
"Fair enough." I grinned, and mom led me out of the room with an arm around my shoulder.
Holly sighed miserably.
"Daddyyy, can you lend me a bit of extra money so I can increase the bribe?" she pleaded with puppy dog eyes.
"Hell no," Uncle Al scoffed merrily, "Besides, I am a firm believer in honoring the victories of a simple child's hand game. It's how Am and I settled everything, and I had to bite my lip and suffer my fair share of losses like you will have to do now."
"You're such a stuffed shirt." Holly folded her arms with a frown.
"Well, I obviously must not have been as firm with you as I should have been if you're willing to throw one hundred dollars around like it's nothing." Uncle Al teased, turning his head back towards the television screen- but not before ruffling Mimosa's hair lovingly, "You need to be more sensible, like your sister here."
Mimosa, sitting casually on the floor at Uncle Al's feet doing her own homework, smiled up at him before sticking out her tongue at Holly like Holly was sticking hers out at her. I chuckled at their age old habit of doing such a thing, and that caught Mimosa's attention. Ours eyes locked for a brief moment, and she managed some sort of a small smile before hurriedly snapping her gaze away.
Homecoming had come and gone. Azure had ended up going with Moon, Holly got a date with some boy in her math class, and Midas and I went stag again. Mimosa didn't go at all. She instead had an evening out with her parents at some fancy restaurant before traveling down to Bayport to see a fireworks display. Before that night, Mimosa avoided me like the plague. After the dance, she started slowly warming up to me once more. We didn't hang out directly with the other too much, but we could handle being around the other's presence. It was the best I could ask for for the moment, so I was trying not to be pushy.
I spent some more time at the Charm's house. Mostly that involved teasing Holly saying I would do the citation page if she could scrounge up two hundred dollars for a gift card, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. Holly eventually just went upstairs to start working on the painfully dull and meticulous part of our project while I chatted with Uncle Al. Eventually though, I crossed the street to return home. There was nothing surprising in the slightest when a chorus of loud laughs, giggles, and squeals greeted me the instant I walked through the door.
"C'mon you two, you're going to break him." I lightly sighed at my sisters who were climbing all over Uncle Blaze.
"Hey, don't treat me like I'm a fragile porcelain doll. I'm as sturdy as I've always been." Uncle Blaze defended immediately.
"Says the one who nearly re-broke his bad ankle the other day and had to have it iced all afternoon because he was going down the stairs too fast."
"But it didn't break though, did it?" he retorted defiantly.
"I didn't know you broke your ankle!" Glade chimed in, amazed.
"Well, it happened quite a long time ago. This one particular idiot was chasing me, and his clumsiness caused me to be hurt."
"Why was he chasing you?"
"Reasons." Uncle Blaze smiled mischievously.
Glade turned towards me for a better explanation, but I could only shrug.
"He's never told the full story. He's probably making up the part about being chased because he actually broke his ankle in a super embarrassing way." I said.
"If only you knew the truth." Uncle Blaze grinned wider.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. The guy had to make everything so damn dramatic.
Mom came out of her room seconds later.
"Ah, good, Coal, you're back," she began, and I knew that tone meant she needed me for something, "I'm about to head out. Mind looking after the girls for a little bit?"
"What? I thought Uncle Blaze was going to be on babysitting duty today." I complained.
"Chill out there, ya goof," Uncle Blaze reprimanded ever so lightly, "I'm just running down to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions. It'll take fifteen minutes tops."
"Where are you going then?" I asked mom.
"Out," she responded deviously, putting her hands on her hips, "There's a little bit of clothes shopping I want to do, and I'll see where it goes from there. Why does it seem to matter so much that you're free? I didn't think you had anywhere to be today."
"I had...stuff I wanted to get done."
"Which means you were just going to be lazy and do nothing." Cerise felt the need to join in.
"No." I defended poorly.
"In any case, like Blaze said, he's not going to be gone long. You can survive watching your sisters until then, and your 'stuff' can follow after." mom instructed without room for rebuttals.
Cerise instantly grabbed on my arm to half drag me outside as mom took off first before Uncle Blaze left a moment later.
It was true I hadn't had any solids plans that day. However, my sudden sense of urgency hadn't come from my chance of being lazy being disrupted. It was because mom was abruptly going out when she had mentioned nothing of it before. Her plans weren't all that specific this time around, and that led me to only one conclusion. She was meeting up with Spruce. I would have loved to have just asked her. However, there was no way I could make her suspicious that I was on to something. There was also the fact that Midas, Rosemary, and I had promised to keep dead silent about what we saw that one day until we could dig up some more information. I didn't want to tell mom her maybe-boyfriend was a cheater unless I had proof to back it up. If only Rosemary had snapped a picture when she zoomed in with her camera.
"Hey, Glade?" I started to question my little sister.
She was running her hands over my head while I sat on the grass as she adored my 'fuzzy' hair. Cerise was swinging like a wild monkey and completely ignoring us.
"What?"
"How would you feel if you found out you were getting a new dad?"
"A new dad?" she repeated curiously.
"Like if mom were to meet someone, fall in love with him, and get married again. Would you be happy that you finally had a real dad?"
"I don't...know if I'd want a new dad. I just want to meet our dad." she said, slightly sad.
"But don't you want that kind of male figure in your life? Aren't you lonely without one?" I wondered.
"Not really. I do want to meet dad, but I'm not lonely without him. I have Blaze, and I have you," Glade flashed me a smile before kissing the top of my head, "And there's Uncle Al, and Uncle Frost, and Uncle Sap too."
"Yeah, that's true." I agreed.
I returned her kiss and smile before having her sit on my lap as she wanted me to braid her hair. As I did, I recalled what I had pondered so long ago after Glade was born. I guess I was right. She couldn't experience the same kind of loneliness the rest of us felt because she had never experienced what it was like to have that something in the first place.
It was nice to see that I wasn't entirely alone in my reluctance to welcome a new parental type figure into my life. True, Glade hadn't directly rejected the idea of mom getting married to someone else, but the response I had gotten was good enough for me. It also gave me absolutely idiotic courage and determination to do what I did next. I was out the door the second Uncle Blaze returned, and I was taking a few too many chances on yellow lights about to turn red. Still, I was resolved to catch up to mom. It was a shot in the dark, honestly. The only thing I had to work off was that she was going clothes shopping first. There were a hundred and one places in Berrybrook and its suburbs for her to check out. There was one store that was her favorite though, and my mad drive had me catching up as soon as she was leaving it.
Lucking out big time, that was when my stalking session began. My friends and I had played hide-and-seek on public lots enough when we were younger for me to be able to dodge out of mom's sight without alerting the others on the street to my suspicious behavior. I actually hoped I wouldn't have to follow her for long. All I wanted to see was a confirmation that my crazy ideas about her secretly meeting with Spruce were false.
Aaaaand, they weren't.
I gave it some time after mom turned a corner before I peeked around it. When I did, I instantly spotted that blue and brown I didn't want to see. Spruce had come from nowhere, and he and mom were standing so comfortably together in line at a food truck that their appearance there together was no coincidence. They sat down after getting their food at a table that was in the perfect position for me to hide down behind a massive stretch of thick flowers and bushes.
I missed the beginning part of their conversation as the traffic going by was frustratingly loud, but it soon quieted. The first thing I heard after it did was Spruce laughing loudly.
"I mean, it's not that I'm a total skeptic, but that just sounds like you're messing with me."
"I'm not!" mom proclaimed merrily, "I swear it's the truth. I wasn't sure what to think the first time I thought I saw her, but I couldn't reason it was just all in my head after she predicted how Wisp and Prism would come out."
I knew the tale mom had told Spruce. It was one she had spoke of many times, and it revolved around the old ghost story of Snowbell. Mom apparently saw her during some sleepover she had in the loft when she was a kid. Snowbell had known she was truly white despite mom being green at the time. Mom had also gone up into the loft when she was pregnant with Wisp and then with Prism and Desire, and both times she heard Snowbell's voice saying she wanted to meet the white baby boy. I would have been more skeptical myself, but dad had revealed once that they hadn't known mom was pregnant with Prism and Desire that second time they went up. It was only once mom supposedly heard Snowbell's wish that she took a pregnancy test to find out she and dad had gotten too frisky at the wrong time.
"Weren't you the one whose entire choir group huddled together to sleep on the floor of the lobby at the old bed and breakfast you were staying at because everyone was freaking out about the eerie voices being heard in all the bedrooms?" mom then pointed out with a smirk.
"For the record, I knew it was the chaperones messing with us, but I kept quiet because it was fun seeing my friends get freaked out." Spruce returned that smirk.
"Uh-huh." mom replied in amused disbelief.
The two continued their conversation of ghostly experiences for some time before going through a bunch of other random topics. I listened intently even when their talking grew incredibly boring. It was all friendly how they were acting so far, but I wasn't going to be deceived. There were hints of something more in the casual atmosphere mom and Spruce created once they moved from their table. They spent most of their time walking around and merely talking, and every now and again mom would grasp onto his arm as they did. It was never anything super close or cuddly, but still.
After about almost an hour of traipsing around the city, the two stopped in at a cafe popular with both my family and friends. I hesitated on whether or not I should follow them inside. The building wasn't overly small, but the inside was packed full of stuff that it made wandering around stealthily next to impossible. You can sort of imagine moving in there as driving down a one-way street. If I made the wrong move or went the wrong way, I could blow my cover in an instant. In the end, I took the risk. The hot weather was getting unbearable, and I was confident enough in knowing the layout of the place to avoid being caught.
However, what happened next made me kinda wish I hadn't gone in. Mom and Spruce got some soda before mom led him over to the karaoke machine. It was hardly them singing together that got me pissed, but it was the song they chose to sing. It was the theme song to one of Quartz's old movies. Mom and dad had sung it together every time they came into this place without fail. I didn't care how good Spruce's singing was- seeing him stand where dad stood while swaying to the melody alongside my mother made me want to rip his vocal cords out. To add insult to injury, the two took several pictures of themselves when they were done. They stood far too close together for my liking.
I snuck upstairs to buy a drink from the vending machine before pacing about madly in the empty men's bathroom. It helped to relieve some of my frustration. Barely. I would have stayed in there longer, but I didn't want to lose track of my quarry. Mom and Spruce singing karaoke signaled, at least to me, that the two were beginning to act a bit more like a couple. Perhaps I could get that solid proof I needed if I followed them for just a little longer. I was bound to get even more mad if I saw them kiss or something, but my craving for answers kept me following my goal.
At least, I would follow them if I could find them. I worried that my silent and quick temper tantrum had indeed lost me that chance. Mom and Spruce weren't where they had been, and moving throughout the first floor before returning to the second yielded me no results either. I feared they had departed from the cafe when I hadn't been looking. I began to peek down the western set of stairs hoping I was wrong when my blood ran cold upon hearing a certain voice.
"Coal?"
Mom's voice was full of confusion and just a touch of suspicion. Me whipping around with a start to greet her with startled eyes and nervous expression probably didn't help my case.
"M-mom, uh..."
"What are you doing here?' she wondered.
"C-can I not be here?" I questioned back too aversely.
"I suppose you can," mom spoke slowly, signaling she was easily seeing through my lackluster skirting around the issue, "It just surprises me that you happened to end up at the exact same place Spruce and I are at when you mentioned nothing of coming here earlier."
"There's a good reason for that..."
I trailed off hopelessly, and I could just picture the explosion mom would make when my devious actions blew up in my face.
"You looked as if you were looking for someone." mom added to hasten my demise.
I opened my mouth pitifully. My stuttering state had thrown away my chance to play our presence at the same location off as truly nothing more than coincidence. The lone thing I could think to say that would save my skin was to say I was heading down the sidewalk to see mom and Spruce inside, and that I wanted to ask mom for a few extra dollars to see a movie or something. There was a slim hope such a lie could work given mom's perceptiveness, but it turned out to be a chance I didn't have to take. That was because I was saved by my new guardian angel.
"He was looking for me." a familiar voice answered in my place.
Candy appeared from nowhere to stand next to me with a brilliant smile.
"Oh, uh, Candy, is it?" mom questioned her.
"Yes, ma'am."
"You're here together with Coal?"
"Exactly. We've been hanging up here playing arcade games, and I took off for a moment to get a snack and use the restroom without telling him, which is why I'm sure he was looking a bit confused." Candy explained flawlessly without any signs of hesitation.
"Why didn't you simply say you were with her? Why didn't you mention earlier that you did have plans?" mom then questioned me.
I once again had no answer to give. The shock of bumping into mom and Spruce had wiped my mind blank.
"He probably was afraid you might think it was a date." Spruce, surprisingly and unknowingly, came to my rescue.
"Pretty much that." I jumped onto the idea instantly.
Mom looked at me before rolling her eyes slightly and laughing quietly- finally appearing appeased.
She teased me for several seconds about being so needlessly secretive, but I finally came up with a good lie about how the 'secret' was to stop Mimosa from being made upset again as she was still recovering from her rejection. Mom understood that. Even better, she and Spruce didn't see a reason to stick around for long. They were going to head somewhere else. With no possible way to follow them anymore, I stuck around to let Candy pull me over to a quiet section of the cafe the second they were out of the building.
"You are my absolute savior." I gushed brightly.
"I would say so," Candy laughed, "You were flubbing so hard, and your mom looked as if she was seconds away from getting ultra pissed. I don't think she would have liked finding out that you were stalking her."
"I wasn't-"
"I saw you doing it," Candy interrupted with an impish smirk, "That was how I knew to come save you."
"Wouldn't that mean you were stalking me then?" I pointed out with a raised brow.
"I merely happened to catch you being sneaky. I wasn't trying to follow you around- unlike you and your less than noble intentions."
"Yeah, sure," I accepted with a hopeless grin and a scratch at the back of my neck, "I suppose I owe you a snack or something as a reward too."
I wasn't fond of the smile that spread across Candy's face then. Without a word, she pointed past my head at something behind me.
"The claw machine?" I asked.
"I want you to win me something from that." she requested firmly.
"But...but you know how rigged that thing is! My pocket's still hurting from that disastrous date with Mimosa." I complained instantly.
"Shall I go catch up to your mom to let her know what you were actually doing?" Candy wondered mischievously.
"Blackmailing me will reduce all the good karma points you earned, you know?" I reminded her.
"How about we compromise then? You only have to try three times," Candy suggested, "Surely you can at least spare a dollar and half for your absolute savior?"
"I suppose I can." I agreed with a lighthearted shrug.
I pulled out the spare change from my pocket to test my luck.
The first try was a bust. The claw dropped and lazily retracted without so much as budging the plushie it fell on half an inch. My second attempt wasn't as bad. The claw at least weakly gripped onto it. The third go was what got Candy and me cheering like little children before ours hopes got crushed. My positioning was perfect. The claw moved down smoothly. It opened it arms, grasped the neck of the plushie firmly around the neck, and pulled it up like it was nothing. That was when the cheering started. Candy excitedly clutched onto my arm as we watched our prize inch closer to the receiving drop. Frustratingly, a split second before it reached the safe point of the chute the claw decided it was done. The plushie dropped just as our mouths did when the machine let it fall back onto the pile of goodies.
"Screw you. Screw you, screw you, screw you." I cursed it bitterly.
"That sucks. You got really close though. Closer than I've ever gotten with one of these things." Candy brushed the loss off.
I, on the other hand, wasn't going to accept that defeat so easily.
"Coal, you don't have to do that," Candy told me when I dug into my pocket to pull out more change, "You gave it your three tries."
"I'm not doing it for you. It's that I'm not going to let this stupid thing fuck with me." I explained.
"Alright then." Candy laughed once more.
She let me go at it. Two dollars and a few more cusses later, our cheers didn't go unrewarded. I won something from a claw game for the first time ever in my life, and I was perfectly happy to present my spoils to my friend.
Our excitement calming down, Candy offered to pay for a quick bite to eat for the both of us. We turned out to have much interest in the plushie than the brownies we got though. The thing was so ridiculously squishy. It definitely had to be made out of some sort of memory foam, and a large part of me enjoyed poking it so much that it was then that I regretted handing it away.
"So, why exactly were you stalking your mom and your old teacher?"
That question of Candy's quickly switched around the thoughts going on in my brain though. I grew slightly more serious.
"I...wanted to see exactly how they acted together when they were alone. Or, not around any of us kids or anything," I started, actually deciding incredibly quickly to reveal the whole truth, "Azure and I, well, we spotted them another time when we were on a walk. The two looked to be acting more than friendly. Mom's always given me the impression that she'll never move on from dad otherwise, so it's been difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that she could be secretly seeing another guy."
"And how were the two today?"
"I'm not quite sure. There was nothing super apparent to suggest they do like the other romantically." I admitted.
"Why don't you just ask your mom about it?"
"How am I supposed to do that without revealing I've been secretly watching them? I don't see the two interact together 'officially' enough to be suspicious on my own."
"I guess that's true."
"There's also..."
"Hmm?"
"Midas, Mary, and I...we saw Spruce with another woman one day. She was all blue. The two were kissing for a good long while. Then we saw that the woman was wearing a wedding ring, but Spruce isn't married."
"Oof, that's a tough situation. Not only is your mom possibly having a new relationship, but it could be with a guy having an affair with a married woman." Candy caught on immediately.
"And that's exactly why I can't talk to mom about this just yet. She'll get angry enough finding out that I discovered her secret, and bringing her the news that Spruce is double-timing her is sure to increase that wrath a thousand times over."
For the first time since I had known her, Candy didn't have much to say. She expressed some sympathies at the problems I faced, recommended I try to find out the truth in a much less morally corrupt way, and offered a round of karaoke to help cheer me up. Needing to 'cleanse' the song mom and Spruce sang, it was the one I picked for Candy and I to sing. She hadn't heard it before, but with my lead she kept up perfectly fine. Mostly we had fun laughing at ourselves. The biggest round of giggles came when my voice cracked big time. Guess I still wasn't fully out of that stage, huh?
Candy demanded she pick a song next, which was totally fine with me. It's not like I had anything else to do now that my plans of following mom had been halted halfway through. Besides, as the songs kept on coming and Candy and I kept on singing, I found that this was some of the most fun I had been having in weeks. Mimosa's and mine awkward air when hanging out with our friends had made relaxing difficult. Now I didn't have to think about any of that. Candy was someone outside all of the situations bogging me down who could sweep me out of them with ease. That thought sunk into my head more with every second that passed. I had always considered her a friend. However, in that moment there was something that forced me to take a closer look at her. I had said to Mimosa that I thought Candy was pretty, but only then it began to register just how much I truly enjoyed glancing her way. The lightest scattering of freckles she had dusted over her nose and cheeks was adorable. Her eyes were as big as her smile. I would have reached out to touch her soft hair that draped over her shoulders if that wouldn't have been creepy, awkward, and obtrusive. When Candy put her arm around me as we swayed back and forth to the music I really didn't want her to let go.
Our voices eventually grew tired, and I just figured that would be the end of our time together for our day. That is, until Candy gently tugged on my sleeve.
"You wanna go someplace else?" she suggested.
"You don't have stuff you have to do?" I asked a little too optimistically.
"Nope. All my friends are busy, so I was just desperately walking around trying to find something to entertain me. Then I found you." Candy flashed me a big smile.
"Well, I'm glad my presence is delightful enough to stave off your boredom." I accepted the subtle compliment grandly.
"You're a little weird, Coal," she giggled, "But, I like that."
She said those words, and there was pulling sensation in my chest. It was wholly unfamiliar, yet pleasant in its own sort of way.
"I think hanging out will get you out of any more potential trouble with your mom too. When she asks what you and I did, you can actually tell her truthfully of stuff we did do. You won't clam up and stutter hopelessly again." Candy pointed out.
"I'm not normally that bad. I'm usually very good at sneaking around." I felt the need to correct.
Candy didn't quite believe me, so as we left the cafe to enjoy a nice walk I got to tell tale after tale of my various sleuthing acts done over the years. The two of us wandered about until the heat beat us down once more. A cheap matinee at the movies cooled us off. Candy and I then spent the afternoon checking out various shops, buying ice cream, dipping our feet in the river, catching the end of an acrobatics show being performed at the park, and generally just talking and enjoying ourselves until we concluded our time together after doing some dancing at an all-ages club. Candy was requested home for dinner by her father, and I started my long trek back to where I parked the car. A minute into that walk I realized my chest was hurting somewhat. It was the kind of tightening where your body's cooling down after having run a long distance. I hadn't even been aware that my heart had been racing.
There was no denying that I was in a pretty good mood when I returned home. Unfortunately, the upbeat attitude didn't last long. No one was in sight as I walked through the door, but seconds after I closed it mom's head poked out of her bedroom door. She signaled silently for me to enter, which was never a good sign. Her expression and body language were stiff.
"How was your time with Candy?" she asked with too much fake, forced interest for me to be anything other than terrified.
"It was great," I said, relieved Candy's idea did give me something honest to talk about, "I won her a plushie from the claw machine, we took a walk, watched a movie, got some ice cream, and so on. All the good stuff."
Mom studied me hard. I think she was actually thrown off a bit from how genuinely the answer came out. It was clear she was expecting me to stutter and grow nervous like I did before. Well, I mean, I certainly was growing nervous anyway. Mom didn't wait long to reveal why I was standing there under her judgment.
"That's good that you had a great time," mom said with a good helping of sarcasm, "I was having a great time with Spruce too. Then I saw you stalking and spying on us."
"I wasn't-" I tried to deny instantly.
"Don't even start," mom cut me off sharply, "Your red stuck out in the cafe like a sore thumb. I didn't call you out the second I spotted you because I hoped you weren't actually doing what you were doing, but you proved me a fool."
I had nothing to say. What could I possibly say? I was sort of curious why mom hadn't called me out at the cafe then if she knew was I was doing, but I suppose it was pretty obvious the answer to that was that she probably didn't want to make a fuss in front of a bunch of people. Spruce hadn't given me an inclination that he had caught on too, so mom most likely didn't want him to find out about my actions either.
"Why, Coal?" mom demanded the explanation.
"I...I just wanted to know how you two were really getting along. Azure and I saw you before, and you seemed to be really into each other. I-"
"When did you and Azure see Spruce and I?" mom interrupted, raising her brow in angry disapproval.
"W-when you were at that fancy resort building..."
"Coal!" mom exclaimed furiously, "Just how often have you been creeping on the two of us?!"
"Azure and I just happened to be walking past! A-and then we got curious..." I gave the pitiful excuse, "Today was the only other time."
"Why on earth is it so important that you know what our relationship is like?" mom wondered sharply, "If I was interested in having another relationship with a man, why couldn't you simply trust me to tell you when the time was right?"
"I...well, I...I guess I'm just selfish. The thought of you being in another relationship seriously bothers me, and I was hoping I could put my worries to rest by proving to myself that there wasn't anything between you and Spruce," I revealed miserably before choosing to put it all out there, "I've been worried that Spruce might be two-timing you too."
A bewildered and puzzled look spread across mom's face, and some of her anger lessened as she stared at me curiously.
"Two-timing me? What do you mean?"
"I swear this instance what we saw was nothing more than coincidence!" I professed first before I dove into the story, "Midas, Mary, and I were hanging out the day after my date with Mimosa, as you know. We walked out of the comic shop to find Spruce kissing, and I mean really kissing, this woman across the street in the park. We were able to see that the woman was wearing a wedding ring. B-but Spruce isn't married, and from how I had seen you two acting...what else could I think but that he was cheating big time?"
Mom's glance on me was totally different now. There was a blank glaze in her eye before she sighed deeply.
"The woman. Was she a Solid light blue?" she asked.
"Um, yeah."
"That's Coast. Spruce's fiancee."
"F-fiancee?"
There was dead silence in the room.
"I think you mistook her 'wedding ring' for an engagement ring." mom told me.
"W-wha...but, but if Spruce had gotten engaged, I feel like I should have heard something about it."
"Forgive the poor man for wanting to keep his private life private," mom rebuked ever so lightly, "Besides, he's been incredibly nervous about the whole thing as well. He naturally doesn't want this marriage to end up in another divorce. Coast wants things done quietly too. Her previous husband was incredibly controlling and he's a little vindictive, so with her still struggling to maintain equal custody of their children she doesn't want her wedding to be another source of stress. That's why she asked me to help Spruce check out potential wedding venues and the services they offer, because she had other things to take care of."
"That's why you two were at that place that day then," I spoke the revelation more for myself than anything else, "She trusts you that much?"
"Yes," mom said defiantly and with a bit more anger returning, "She's sane enough to know that two people of opposite genders can be just platonic friends, unlike some people."
"I'm sorry, but you looked all coupley," I pouted at the jibe, "You were linked on Spruce's arm, you were touching each other's shoulders, and you were dancing and everything."
"I was feeling woozy because of the heat. You know how badly it can affect me due to my white skin. Spruce was helping to keep me steady- that day and today. Don't even get me started on us occasionally touching the other's shoulder. You're constantly doing similar stuff with Holly, Mary, and the rest of your female friends, aren't you? And I seriously just told you Spruce and I were testing out the services the venues offered. We were checking out the dance floor, and since they had some nice music playing we decided to waltz for a minute. Where's the harm in that?"
"There is none." I was forced to say softly.
More silence followed. Mom eventually sighed again, and I glanced at her timidly from under lowered lashes. She was clearly trying to decide what path to take with me. I knew I wasn't going to wriggle my way out of getting punished, but the severity of mom's anger was what was up for debate. I didn't know what to make of the almost amused, exasperated smile she gave me.
"You know, your intuition wasn't too terribly wrong." she said sheepishly, scratching at her neck.
"What do you mean?"
"There was a little something between Spruce and I...a few years ago."
"You didn't sleep together, did you?" I asked immediately with extreme dread.
"No!" mom laughed before having a mildly embarrassed smile grace her lips, "Although, I can't say there weren't a few times where I kinda, sorta wanted to."
"Mom."
"What? Coal, you have no idea what it's been like. Amaranth and I knew each other for twenty-six years. You haven't even been alive that long. Even Wisp hasn't been alive that long! To think that Amaranth would always be right there next to me and then to have him just disappear and never come back...it's been hard. To just keep existing, to keep being there for the rest of you, to take almost full control of this house and all the work and all the bills, it's been the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life," mom spoke before becoming slightly choked up, "And it's been so lonely. These past six years there's been nothing but this great emptiness digging away at my insides like an intense hunger. Spruce helped to ease that ache somewhat."
"So, what? You went on a few dates or something?" I guessed.
"Basically. We didn't call them dates though. We simply hung out while steadily pushing our boundaries. The 'romance', if you can call it that, ended the same day it reached its climax. Spruce was actually set to attend his ex-wife's new wedding, so I went over to his house to help him practicing dancing. The man's terrible at it. I was feeling tired. That's when I leaned against him, and a few seconds later we were kissing. The kiss wasn't done yet when the both of us realized the spark we were trying to trigger wasn't there. There was a basic sort of connection between us, but it wasn't anything like what we'd had before."
Mom linked her fingers together as she spoke, and by the end of it she was fiddling with her wedding ring. She took a deep breath, quelled the tears that were forming in her eyes, and looked up at me with a tender gaze and smile.
"This isn't coming off," she said in regards to the ring, "Ever. I've...contemplated taking it off. I've wondered if I was ready to start a new relationship. Amaranth told me many times that if something happened that I should move on if that was what I wanted. Spruce showed me that that will never happen. If anything, a new relationship will only make the loneliness worse. Amaranth was it for me. Another man will do nothing but remind me of the empty hole in my chest. They could do nothing but show me how much I miss the man who truly has my heart. The ring is stuck on my finger because I'm as married to him today as I ever was when he was here."
Mom gently placed her hand against my check.
"Honestly, the only man to helps to ease my loneliness is you. You have the same round and pudgy face I had when I was your age," she chuckled sweetly, "But you're so much like your father it almost scares me. The older you get the more I feel like he's back once more."
"You can rely on me more then. I'm not a little kid anymore. You don't have to worry about taking care of me. If you need help with those house or chores or watching over Ceri and Glade, I can do that." I encouraged.
"It's not your burden to carry. It's mine." mom spoke seriously.
Her mood then changed in a flash it left me utterly confused. Mom laughed loudly and shook her head.
"What am I talking about?" she asked herself, "You're in big trouble! Doing chores and babysitting your sisters is all you're going to be doing until I say otherwise."
"But I'll still get my allowance, right?" I questioned optimistically.
Mom raised her brow at me again.
"Hanging out with Candy today has made me utterly broke once more."
"How about we discuss it while you help me make dinner?" mom bargained, "Tell me all the details of your not-a-date date, and we'll see."
"Fair enough." I grinned, and mom led me out of the room with an arm around my shoulder.
Aw man, I really miss Am. I wonder if you'll ever bring him back...
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