Brown eyes would be nice!

Jim stretched and looked up from his bed as the room came into focus. It was still rather early in the morning, the clock by the side of the bed said it was only about 7 a.m., but it was still time for him to hear rustling of footsteps from below. He smiled as he slowly climbed out of bed and walked over to the dresser where he had placed his backpack and paused as the sight of his old room made him feel a bit unsettled. There was a moment of confusion that passed over him, as if this was actually not his old room, but he immediately dismissed that thought. All around him, including the full-size bed behind him, had been with him since they had bought and moved into the house decades ago at this point. To be anywhere else? That wasn't possible.

Jim walked to the bathroom and after taking a quick shower, he walked back into the room and got dressed in track pants and a sweater, pausing for a moment to make sure he wiped his hair as best as he could, and then hopped down the stairs to the kitchen. "Morning, mom," he called as he entered, spotting the older woman by the stove.

"Morning, Jim! I got your favorite on the table." As he sat down to eat, she finished fixing herself a plate and the two sat down. For the next few moments, they caught up on the happenings around them, her with the gardens downtown and fixing up the house, him with mentioning the practice back in the city. He knew she didn't really care for the technical details so he just highlighted how things were going and the people he worked with. A part of him knew that she wanted him to stay a bit closer to home and had begrudgingly allowed him to move off to med school and set up practice in the city (more clients, he had to admit), but he had always made it a point to come home and visit her.

After she got up to tidy up, Jim got up from the table and walked back to the bedroom, pausing to look at the pictures aligning the wall as he walked up the stairs. There were various pictures of the two of them, from trips to the beach as a kid to family picnics with the extended family (he remembered grandparents and aunts and uncles, though there was still a lingering thought in the back of his head that he never saw any of these people before.) High school, prom photos, even a picture of him standing and beaming proudly at a wedding photo. He paused at that one, trying his best to remember who exactly he was standing there next to. Clearly that should be someone he remembered clearly, right? Jim didn't bother, though, simply turning down the hallway and heading back into his room. Sitting on the table, as he walked over and laid down on the bed, was the questionnaire and the next question.

6.) IF YOU WERE A GIRL...WHAT COLOR WOULD YOUR EYES BE?

Jim thought about that and slowly got back up and walked down the hallway to the stairs. In each of the pictures, he paid attention to the eyes, including looking between his mother's eyes and his grandparents on her side (his father's side was missing, though he wasn't sure why this was exactly a problem...) For a few moments more, it seemed that the rest of the relatives all had brown eyes. With that, he simply shrugged his shoulders. I would have brown eyes, like my family. A slight blurring of his vision caused him to blink but it was over quickly and he smiled, turning back to the room and getting ready for the day.

****

The town was pretty nice and, just as he remembered it, more than a few people stopped to talk with them. Neighbors he remembered playing with, including the Taylors and the Johansens, all seemed to be more than happy to chat with him and he found himself talking with them as much as his mom did, including some of the older women who were (like mom) more than a bit of a gossipy bunch. Some of the talk, though, centered around Tabitha and her mom, the older woman was not doing too well after all in the hospital, and Jim had a slight grimace, wondering why she hadn't sent him any messages. June caught on to the look on his face and immediately gave him a warm handsqueeze before she turned back and changed the subject to other things.

"Jim?" He looked up at the person calling him and smiled as he recognized his friend's mother, Mrs. Gatoway, walking up and greeting them. "I didn't recognize you almost!" He reached down and gave her a warm hug and she looked at him. "How are you doing?"

Jim smiled. "I'm doing good, just came back to check up on mom before I head back to work." He looked around. "Where's Tim?"

She laughed. "Tim's back at the house, figured not to get out of bed since it was so cold this morning. Bet he'll feel like an ass now!" Despite the slight dig at his friend, Jim laughed along with the other women. "Did you have some time? He'd love to see you!"

Jim looked at his mom and smiled. "Tomorrow I can swing by? Mom and I got some stuff to do." With that, the two of them bid their goodbyes and turned. As they headed back to his car, June leaned in.

"You know, we can't have to do anything right now..."

Jim laughed again and shrugged. "Figured I'd save us from having our ears talked off there."

June laughed at that. "Too true."

As they settled in that evening, Jim took a few moments to look at the phone before turning his attention back to the questionnaire.

7.) IF YOU WERE A GIRL...WOULD YOU LIKE MAKEUP?