Lisa gets there

Aiden crossed the room and pulled the door open. Lisa stood there with her small suitcase at her side, and broke into a broad smile the moment she saw him.

“There you are,” Lisa said, stepping forward and pulling Aiden into her arms. He only stiffened for a second before relaxing into the familiar warmth of her hug. “I’ve missed you, baby.”

“Missed you too,” he said politely, wrapping his arms around her for a squeeze before he let go.

Lisa’s hand lingered on his shoulder a moment longer, happily inspecting him, before she turned toward the kitchen. Natalie had stepped away from the stove to meet her halfway. The two women wrapped each other in a tight embrace.

“It’s so good to see you,” Lisa said against her hair.

“You too,” Natalie replied, hugging her before stepping back. She glanced at the stove, then toward Aiden. “Can you stir that and check the water? It should be boiling by now,” she directed.

Aiden nodded, grabbing the spoon she held out and heading over to the pan.

Natalie bent to grab Lisa’s suitcase handle. “I’ll take this to my room for you.”

“Nonsense,” Lisa said quickly, resting a hand over hers. “I can manage. Just come with me.”

Natalie let go with a little smile and fell in beside her, making their way down the hall. Behind them, Aiden stirred the pan like he’d been told. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” he called out, joking, and heard his mom respond before they made it to Natalie’s room.

“You’ve even got him cooking?” Lisa’s laugh floated back, teasingly.

Natalie’s reply was muffled, and then the bedroom took them out of earshot.

In the room, Lisa parked her suitcase by the dresser and straightened up to face Natalie. “So,” she said, lowering her voice, “how are things really going? When I talked to him on the phone, he just… I don’t know, he just sounded off. It’s possible he was tired, but he didn’t quite sound like himself. Like he was overly stressed or something.”

Natalie leaned a shoulder against the doorframe, folding her arms loosely. “It seems like he’s been fine here. Honestly. He’s been good the last few days. Helping out, joking around… I think, maybe you just caught him on a bad day.”

Lisa tilted her head, unconvinced. “Maybe. He didn’t say anything to you? You know me. I worry about him.”

Natalie gave her a reassuring smile. “If he said something, I’d tell you. Really, he hasn’t mentioned anything wrong to me. He’s settling in.”

It was true, he hadn’t said anything. But that didn’t stop Natalie from remembering the brief looks, or the tension that seemed to hang between them since that night. And what was she supposed to say anyway? It’s been weird since I watched him masturbate? No biggie…

Lisa gave her arm a squeeze, and **** a smile. “Okay. I’ll take your word for it.”

“Come on,” Natalie said, stepping back toward the door. “Before dinner’s a lost cause.”

They walked back down the hall together and into the kitchen where Aiden still stood at the stove. Natalie felt a faint flush warm her cheeks, seeing him and the echo of what had flashed through her head while talking with Lisa, rushing through her mind’s eye. She **** it down, going back to making small talk with Lisa, as she pulled out a chair.

Dinner came together quickly after that. Plating the whole grain pasta and chicken onto plates, Aiden carried them to the table. The three of them ate as small talk filled the conversation, while Lisa asked about classes and work, then caught Natalie up on a few things she’d missed. Aiden kept mostly quiet, only answering when prompted.

Halfway through the meal, he interrupted the conversation during a lull. “Hey, just a reminder, I’ve got plans tonight. I’ll probably be out pretty late,” he said, shrugging and glancing at Lisa. “Sorry, Mom. I made them before I knew you were coming.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lisa replied, waving her hand dismissively. “I’ve got you both the whole weekend.” Then Lisa set her fork down with a sudden gasp, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Natalie. “Oh! You’ll never guess who came into the ER the other night.”

Natalie raised a brow, already intrigued, just based on how excited Lisa was. “Who?”

“Tracy from yoga!” Lisa leaned in, dropping her voice conspiratorially. “And I wasn’t even her nurse, but you know how it goes. Stuff like this doesn’t stay quiet, and the whole hospital ends up hearing about it in no time. But… I saw the X-rays myself.”

Natalie covered her mouth, already laughing from where the story sounded like it was headed. “Oh no.”

“Oh yes,” Lisa said, nodding excitedly. “She had to have a-” she lowered her voice even more, “-candle holder extracted from her ass.”

Natalie’s laughter broke out, completely unrestrained, and dropping her head into her hand. “You’re lying.”

“I swear to God! And the excuse she gave about how it got there…” Lisa shook her head, still laughing. “Let’s just say it was not a convincing story.”

Across the table, Aiden pushed his chair back, shaking his head with a crooked grin. “Yeah, I think that’s my cue to go get ready.”

Lisa swatted at him playfully. “Fine, fine. Go. Leave the grown-up talk to us.”

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