Off to one side

Mom was still stuck with no words so you decided to take action.

“I think everyone is done with food right, I can help you plate up dessert if you would like Mom?” you suggested, looking around the table to see mostly empty plates.

“And if one side can convince the other to change their minds on which trip we take in the meantime, that will make my life a hell of a lot easier” you grinned, trying to stand to get out of your chair.

It took slightly longer to accomplish that when you had three people all physically keeping you in place, Emma, Sarah and Rebecca each having to move their bodies which alerted the rest of the room to the fact that they had been in contact with you.

Eventually though, you were able to stand and you followed Mom into the kitchen, letting her walk ahead first so you could google her from behind.

“Max” Grace stated, just before you went out of sight.

“Hmm” you mindlessly replied, turning your eyes away from Mom’s ass.

“Could you get me a refill? And one for Rebecca as well?” Grace asked, motioning to Rebecca before she asked on her behalf to get confirmation.

You quickly doubled back and grabbed their glasses, taking a second to consider before you grabbed Mom’s and your own as well.

Emma saw that and pouted when you didn’t grab hers but while you felt the **** had the potential to give you a little confidence boost, you wanted Emma to have all of her mental capacity available to her as the back up to your plans.

Rushing back to the kitchen, you caught up with Mom who had made no moves to get the desserts ready and was instead staring off into the middle distance as she leaned against the kitchen island.

You set about pouring the glasses of wine and handed Mom hers first.

“You wanna tell me what’s on your mind?” you said, getting Mom to accept the glass without any hesitation.

“What do I…what do we tell your father?” Mom asked, the question completely hitting you out of left field.

“About what?” you shot back, sounding way more hostile than you first intended before you continued speaking in a softer tone “About the holiday?”

Mom nodded.

“What if he comes back from work and all of us aren’t here?...” Mom said, seemingly worried about him in some way.

You would have been worried that her mindset had reverted back to her old ways but the fact that she hadn’t even considered your father going on the holiday with you was already enough to keep you calm.

“Well, he never gives any warning when he comes back so I don’t think we should be expected to be waiting for him like puppets on a string on the off chance that he arrives. And we can always leave a note” you replied, giving her an explanation but something still didn’t sit right with you.

“...Is that a worry of yours?” you asked, curiosity getting the better of you.

“No. Well…maybe? I don’t know” Mom admitted, still looking confused.

“Just take a minute to think and I’ll sort out the desserts okay?” you encouraged, just having finished filling up the wine glasses.

You moved to the fridge to get the desserts you knew Mom had left to chill and started plating them up. You didn’t know how but Mom had had the time to make a whole cheesecake and with some ice cream still in the freezer, you did your best to add a perfect scoop next to each slice that you cut. You stuck with smaller slices and left some of the cheesecake behind as even though you had stopped eating early, you didn’t think anyone could handle finishing off the whole thing.

With seven plates and four glasses ready, you turned back to Mom who looked as ready as she could be to speak her mind.

“I haven’t spent time away from this house in a very long time. Like I can’t remember the last time we actually all went on a full trip. Even then, we would have gone with your father. Obviously we have had our day trips with Grace and Emma but… I guess I feel on edge about leaving the house for too long” Mom explained, some of the tension leaving her when she admitted what she was feeling.

Now that she had pointed it out, it became a lot clearer as to where this topic had come from and logic she had taken to start talking about your father. You also realised, she was completely right.

Before your trip over the weekend, you were struggling to think of when you had actually gone anywhere out of town. Granted, you had been a teenager that had little interest in anything that didn’t revolve around either Emma or hiding away in your room on your PC, but you still couldn’t believe it had been that long. It also probably explained why you were happy to let everyone else decide on the actual destination of your trip as you were happy with either option.

“I get it. I really do now that you have mentioned it. I didn’t realise it had been that long either” you answered, seeing her relax even more when she saw you were having a very similar reaction to what she had had at the table.

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about though. The point of any trip is to relax and get away from the day to day. You said the more summery trip right? Well we can grab our supplies and then just spend all day doing nothing. With maybe a little cuddling” you suggested, bringing Mom into a hug.

“I’m sure you will want to do a lot more than that” Mom teased, still drawing you in closer as she accepted the hug.

You could feel her heart beating in her chest from the contact and it was now at a steady pace, feeling her let out a long drawn breath.

“Oh without anything else to do you can bet I’ll be trying all sorts of stuff” you joked back, giving her ass a quick squeeze with one hand before you moved it back up to the small of her back.

You did pull your head back and so did she, letting you lean in to kiss her. It was quick and brief but it conveyed your feelings in this moment, telling her that you will be there to look out for her whenever she needed.

“I suppose we should head back in” Mom admitted, letting out another breath as if to prepare herself.

“Yep, we should. And you need to start thinking of reasons for a lake cabin as we have no idea what ideas the rest of them have been talking about” you replied, relaxing your arms from around Mom to then try and take as many plates and glasses as you could carry.