Blended TML Ch 35

It sure is a party.

Loud music, spilling drinks, a sweaty crowd. Plenty of young, thin women in bikinis to make Mary feel bloated and ancient.

Piper ambles beside her, wearing an artificial look of vacant positivity. Mary’s not proud of it, but the truth is she’s never paid any attention to Piper because married life with a bunch of kids means a lot of triage. Piper has always been the wheel that did not squeak. Until Bella moved in, she was the lowest-maintenance person in the entire family.

But there’s a lot to Piper. Everyone’s always known she’s smart, but there’s more. Like Riley and Kayla, Piper had to live through her parents’ divorce. Patty was young when that happened, but Piper was definitely old enough to know what was going on.

Her other mom is out of the picture and absolutely does not get talked about.

Piper looks like a college girl in a slightly half-assed meme outfit to have some fun, but Mary knows better now. That face is a mask. Last night showed Mary that Piper is not afraid to swing at a pitch.

Riley, meanwhile, is afraid of everything that isn’t a soccer ball. She’s always been weird, but her lack of a normal social life is obviously making her weirder. What was she doing trying to cook while naked the other day? Something has to be done.

They get a tiny patio table at the lakeside restaurant, and Piper immediately has her phone out. Mary obligingly leans in with her for a selfie.

“Don’t show that to anyone. Ever,” Mary says halfheartedly as a server approaches. “Can’t hear myself think here.”

“Why would you want to think?” Piper asks.

“Someone in this family has to.”

“Doesn’t always have to be you.”

A server approaches, her smile indicating her approval. “Love that look. What can I get you?”

“Margaritas,” Piper says immediately.

“Shrimp cocktail app. And some water, please.”

“Frozen?” the server asks Piper.

“Yeah. Big ones. Salt. Garnishes. Go nuts.”

“Got you.”

Mary looks distant. “For a minute on socials there were these pictures everywhere of the most dumbest possible bloody marys. They’d stick a bratwurst and half a salad and a Snickers bar in it. Some of them looked really tasty. Savory ones, you know? I don’t know. It’s really aging me.”

“What is? Food porn?”

“No, I can like…” Mary puts her hand out, fingers spread. “I can remember these eras of the internet. Dial-up. DSL. Cable. Whatever the hell we have now. Uh, you know? Myspace. Something Awful. Homestarrunner or whatever it was called with the boxing glove guy. The whole Covid era. The era where I was on Twitter. Weird. Weird shit, and it feels like ancient history. I look back at that the way that I looked back at people in the 50s when I was a kid. It’s a messed up feeling. It’s not freaking me out; it’s just weird. It’s definitely not pleasant.”

“Was the old timey internet cool?”

“It was so cool, Piper. I wasn’t even that nerdy, but it ruled. Look at it now, though.” Mary sighs deeply. “I want that margarita.”

“Hell yeah. Operation cheer up, great success,” Piper says.

Mary laughs.