you can't get past the body - you only see your mom when you talk to her.

Most of your conversation consisted of small talk, as if neither of you wanted to directly address the strangeness of the situation. Allison seemed to be cheerful enough - whether she was truly dealing with what had happened or was just avoiding it, you couldn't tell. But you felt weird from the first hug. One the one hand, all your senses told you that this was your mother, not your girlfriend - her face and body, the sound of her voice, even the smell of her hair. On the other hand, it would have been odd even if this was your mother. You couldn't remember the last time you had seen your mom without full makeup and stylish clothes - she was always immaculately dressed and rather formal.

So seeing her in a hospital gown with no makeup and talking so casually with you was shocking. You noted absently that she was still rather attractive, working regularly with a personal trainer (and having had a few procedures done). But you had enough trouble reconciling this with the image you normally had of your mom - so there was no hope of you seeing your girlfriend inside this person.

You put on a good face, trying to push away the weird thoughts & feelings. But it all came to the forefront when Allison mentioned her discharge. "Sounds like I'll be getting out of here in a couple hours. And I'll be going back to your place - permanently, I guess..." she said nervously. "I...I'm glad to be alive...but I'm not sure about this. I agreed to pretend to be Ms. Connors, your mom. How is that going to work?"

You were wondering the same thing but you just held her hand and said reassuringly "Don't worry, we'll make it. I'll be here for you."

She gave you Allison's sweet, alluring smile - but on your mom's face it looked vampish, like a cougar eyeing her date. "I know, I'm so lucky to still have you." She leaned forward to kiss you but you jerked away.

At the look of disappointment on her face, you muttered "I'm sorry, Allison, I can't. I mean, you look like my mom....and I'm even going to have to act like you're her from now on."

She looked hurt. "But what about 'us'?" she asked plaintively.

You turned your face. "I don't see how there can be an 'us' in that way. Basically you're my mom now. We'll have to get used to that. I'm sorry..." you said, turning and fleeing the room.

Linda and Joan were waiting outside. They immediately guessed what happened when they saw the expression on your face. Linda went in to comfort Allison while Joan talked with you. "I'm afraid I knew this would happen," she said supportively. "But you had no other choice. The sooner you both face up to your changed relationship, the better. This way you can both move on someday..."

Eventually Linda called you back into the room. Allison seemed calm, perhaps resigned, but you could tell that she hurt. You discussed the living arrangments. Joan would stay with you for the first few days but then she would need to fly back home. Linda and Tony would, of course, come over regularly to visit and help Allison adjust.

Aunt Joan cleared her throat. "There's one more thing we haven't discussed yet - and it's very important. David and Tabitha. They still don't know. I think we should only tell them that their mother had a head injury and needed surgery. That way we can explain any memory problems. They are too young to deal with this."

"What?!" you asked in horror. "Of course we have to tell them! They have every right to know that mom died."

You argue back and forth with Allison looking on helplessly, as if she's afraid to form an opinion. Tony and Linda chime in on opposite sides of the argument. It goes on for some time until Allison finally makes a decision and speaks up, settling the matter.