Background Exposition

You never met your birth mom. You'd been told she died very early on. You didn't have much attachment to her and by the time you were old enough to start remembering things, your father had married Sophie. From early on, the two of you clicked. Your dad was always at work—often working over the evenings and weekends—so it was usually just the two of you.

You knew it bothered Sophie. She'd been promised a life of love and luxury from your father, but was essentially just a babysitter for you. There was no intimacy between them and they even slept in the same bed. You knew, to some extent, that your father was not a great man. He was most likely cheating on Sophie.

And that made you angry. Sophie was your everything. You were too shy as a kid to make friends, so you spent a lot of your time with "mommy" all throughout your early childhood. You remembered one day in particular; Sophie was in your room quietly crying as she folded your laundry. You had to have been seven or eight at the time...

You came up behind her and hugged her. It caught her off-guard and earned a stifled cry from you. "Sweetie, what are you doing?"

"One day, when I'm big, I'm gonna marry you and make you happy." You said, still pressed against her back. She set down the clothes and turned around, pulling you into a deep hug.

"Aw, sweetie... That's so kind of you. But some day, you'll find a woman that will make you happy and you'll want to start a family with her." She brushed your hair with her hand, still holding tightly to you.

"I don't care. You'll always be the first one in my life. I want to give you the life dad won't. I love you, mommy." You looked up at her with a serious glance. You meant it.

And, much to Tegan's chagrin, you never faltered on it. Once you began dating and brought her home, Sophie made sure to show Tegan where your priorities stood. When Tegan wanted to go somewhere, Sophie would object and you would go where your mother wanted to go.

Even when you moved away for college, she would come up and stay in the city with you for a few weeks at a time. She would monopolize any time you weren't working or studying. Tegan would ask when you were going to hang out with her and, true to her own fiery nature, Sophie would step in and shut her down: "Your inability to plan does not mean my son neesd to move his schedule around to accommodate you."

The wedding planning had been hectic and you'd been **** to concede on things, but the mother-son dance was, for all intents and purposes, far more beautiful and elaborate than your own dance with Tegan. It's what mommy wanted, after all.

Tegan often complained about how close you were. But you were always quick to shut her down. "She's my everything, Tegan. Whenever I was having trouble in school, she would help. Whenever Jake would beat me up, she would be the first one in the corner at the school, fighting to get him expelled. She took care of me and sacrificed so much for my happiness. My shitty dad was horrible to her and I just want her to have a good life."

"Well, why hasn't she remarried?" Tegan would shoot back, often with her hands on her hips.

"That's her decision and I don't blame her. The last time she tried marriage, she got saddled with a kid she didn't ask for and was abandoned by her husband. So, I'll do what it takes to make her happy." You would usually end it there. Tegan, for all her early bluster, was ultimately still too passive to do anything about it.