A Big Elaborate Familial Scheme

While driving the SUV, Thomas had something else to think about. A big concoction that always had a lingering threat to unravel if not managed properly. He turned his head for a quick second to look at Emma with her long lithe legs sitting in the shotgun seat of the vehicle before putting his eyes back on the icy road.

That woman, Emma, that he was sitting next to in the car?

Yeah, that was his mother.

How was this all possible?

Well, for starters, Christopher, his older friend in the back, was always ribbing him about how painfully single he was. Chris himself is ironically single now, but wasn't at the time. While initially funny, Thomas began to grow tired of the insults perpetuated by Chris and decided to do something that will shut him up. One day, at their semi-regular evening outings, he brought Emma along and introduced her as his girlfriend. Yes, it was lame, but Thomas' mom was the only one available on short notice, and was relatively easy to convince. Emma hadn't gone out in a long time and thought it would be fun idea to go with her son.

The elementary school where Thomas and Emma met? The high school where they had fallen in love? That was part of the elaborate backstory constructed by them when talking to Chris. They had explained that they met as a student and teacher first in elementary and were inseparable as a pair. Then the teacher switched jobs when the student entered high school. They happened to find each other again recently.

It was a gripping story and Chris bought it, even with the age difference between Thomas and Emma.

Grace's phone emitted an Instagram ping that permeated the silence in the car.

Grace was Thomas' aunt. Since she and Chris were friends, that means Grace frequently accompanied Thomas and Christopher's evening outings as well. When Thomas introduced Emma, Grace wondered why Thomas would suggest themselves as a couple but never pursued it, reasoning that it's more people that could help her with the camera when she needed it. Thomas regarded Grace's bubble gum chewing and social media involvement as just a phase for her, and a pretty hot one at that. Perhaps it was a mid-life crisis, but earlier in life for his Aunt. From following her on Instagram, seeing all of Grace's poses in skimpy clothing would regularly put a stiff boner between his pants. Since Grace was single, Thomas wonders at the possibility of doing something with Grace on the holiday trip, but quickly discounts it due to being related to each other.

Snow continued to fall on the windshield more while Thomas and Emma watch outside as more trees passed by. Thomas was not only filled with dread with confronting his past but also at having to balance being a couple when Chris was there to not being a couple when Chris wasn't. Thomas silently smarted from Emma's choice of bringing Chris and Grace here.

"Why did she think this was a good idea?" Thomas thought.

Whatever Thomas was thinking clearly did not have an effect on Emma. Beyond her previous reasons for inviting them, Emma concluded that to keep impressing Chris, she and Thomas would have to keep up the image as a couple for a little longer, but tone it down for the locals that knew them. Feeling the opposite of Thomas, she felt excited and ready to do all the items in her itinerary.