Adjustments at home

The quietness of the house after the girls went to sleep gave you enough time to calm your mind and think about what had transpired earlier in the day.

Monica's shock and slight uncomfortableness at your touch was reflected in the conflict she was undoubtedly having: trying to reconcile what she knew (that you had been transplanted into her son) and what her body felt (warmth and closeness, a return of her long-suppressed desire for closer physical intimacy.) It helped somewhat that your conversation with Dr. Saunders and Pam, especially, gave you some measure of confidence to go along with your simple desire not to forego the pleasures of being young and able to act again. It was really simple, when you broke it down mentally: you were a young man and she was still a woman. Besides, it wasn't as if you were going to fuck her.

At least not yet.

You didn't push more than just holding her close to your body, getting her accustomed to your touch and the warmth that your body radiated. You felt her body start to relax against you, something that Pam did as well, and you gave her a kiss on her neck, causing a shiver to go through her body and you smiled again, stepping back and saying that you would run down to Walmart to pick up something and be right back. She merely nodded and watched you take your keys and head out of the house.

It was a quick jaunt to the store, though you had something else in mind, picking up a new cologne and deodorant to replace what you had seen her not really favor but put up with for her son's sake. Pam would've liked that about you, gone was the indecisiveness of the Steve Meadows, to stay was a more proactive Darrell Crews.

You came back just as your sisters came down the stairs and the four of you sat down to eat, though Monica was still more than a bit distracted by what you had started in the kitchen with the physical touching, indeed the woman looked more or less spacey (just like Pam said she might have when you last saw her and the two of you talked about how you should woo Monica.) Shawna and Jasmine talked your ears off but you just laughed and played back in kind, allowing them to steer the conversation but still enjoying being able to have sisters to share a household with.

After dinner, you had insisted on cleaning up the dishes and Monica just smiled and said she would shower and stretch out on the bed. You noticed that the couch in the living room was too small for anyone to use as a bed, meaning the only places for you and her to sleep was on the bed in the room you both shared. Fucking convenient there, your brain muttered and you just laughed as the last of the dishes were placed on the drying rack and you finished wiping down the counter. It was already past 10 when you finished closing up and turning off the lights, the sounds from upstairs told you that the girls were getting ready for bed. After saying goodnight, you turned and walked into the bedroom, pausing to see Monica sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the vanity. She looked up at you as you closed the bedroom door behind you and smiled warmly. "How's it feel to be home again, baby?"

"It's still a bit weird, there's no way I have been here before today but everything is so comfortable and warming. Does that make sense?"

She nodded and turned back to her slowly unwrapping her hair from the towel and pausing to comb it. "Up or down?"

"Down, you have great hair," you responded and she nodded, returning to brushing her hair. She wore an oversized t-shirt, one of yours you suspected, and nothing else. "How do you feel about things, though? We never talked about it in the hospital."

She finished brushing her hair and then set the brush on the table before she looked up at you. "There's nothing to talk about, nothing that would change what we have now...another chance. Poor Pam doesn't have that, we do. I know there's both you and my son in there but I've accepted that you're Darrell, my son and man in my life. Will it be weird in the next few days, months, years? Perhaps, more so because you're both full of experience but yet lacking in how to live as a young black man. Society will treat you differently, people will interact with you differently..." she picked up a phone and handed it to you. "Here's Darrell's phone. Why don't you get ready for bed and I'll show you what I mean."