His mother, Olivia Hart

I turned around, a bit startled by the noise, only to find out it was just my 45-year-old mother coming down to the kitchen as well, her silhouette barely visible since I hadn't turned on the kitchen's light. "Oh, it's you mom, you almost scared me." I said with a small smile.

"Sorry, sweetie." Mom smiled as she made her way to the fridge, her bare feet making some soft padding sounds on the floor. She was wearing a black satin robe that was tied up in the front and went to about two inches above her knees. "I woke up a bit thirsty." She said, taking the bottle of milk from me and pouring some of it into a glass that was drying in the sink.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked.

"Yep, all the arrangements to your sister's wedding have been leaving me quite tired," she replied, sitting down on a chair and motioning me to take another. "But that's not the problem, what worried me was your sister leaving the house. I just couldn't bring myself to sleep well knowing she would be out there, living her life without needing your father or myself, you know?"

"And since I was back at California, you thought that the nest would be empty?" I inquired, noticing how mom's long blonde hair reflected the light coming from the moon outside the window. "Don't worry, mom, seeing you guys again made me realize how much I missed all of you. I'm gonna move back home after Emma's wedding and try to find a job here."

The huge smile that broke out on my mother's face was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. "Oh, Jake, you don't know how happy you just made me," she put her hand on top of mine over the table and squeezed it warmly as a few tears came out of her blue eyes. "Your father will be thrilled to know."

After that, the conversation ended up on my sister's wedding again as Mom began telling me about some insecurities Emma confided in her the week before. "Emma was trying out her wedding dress, you should've seen her how beautiful she was," Mom gushed. "And yet, all she could worry about was that she wasn't going to stay pretty forever and Harry surely would get tired of her. Can you believe that girl's logic?"

I chuckled at the tale, that was just so like Emma. "Well, if she turns out anything like her former magazine model mother, then I guess she'll become an insanely beautiful woman." I stared into my mother's striking blue eyes with a playful smile as I said that.

Mom laughed heartily. "Good to know you haven't lost your way with the words, son."