Just man up.

Ellen messages her son to come sit out back with her. Robb had been off all day. Mark wanted to catch up on some study he wanted to do about his work and she did not feel like reading so this was a good opportunity to talk to Robb. She goes over and pulls the cover off the deck couch and lights the bug begone candles. She then gets comfortable.

Ellen is enjoying the stars and thanking that this house was away from most of the light aura of the town so decent view of the night sky when she hears someone come outside.

"Hey, mom?"

"Over hear, Robb," Ellen calls out to him.

When he gets close, she pats beside herself for him to sit. Ellen pulls Robb into a hug after he sits then she leans back and holds his hand.

"I am glad to have you home. I know getting time like this is going to be hard now that you are 18 but I am sorry that I missed your high school years," Ellen feels a few tears as she talks to Robb.

"It is ok, mom. I know we did not have the money to afford everything. That is why I am confused at how we can afford this house," Robb states with a bit of questioning.

"I will tell you but you might have preferred not to know. We got this house super cheap. Your room is the biggest besides the master bedroom. There was ten deaths in your room. It is not known if was suicides or bad **** but a group of friends partying. The mom checked the next day and it broke her heart and she made it to her bedroom and called 911 before she had a heart attack."

Ellen looks at her son who looks like he doesn't know if to believe her or not and continues, "The father tried to sell the house after he lost four family members and had two young daughters to raise. The house was too painful but things seemed to happen to people so this house got a reputation of being cursed. The owner sold it to us for what was left on the mortgage. He had kept the house in good repair and your father is taking classes to save money."

"Umm.... So people died and we got the house cheap because it is cursed?" Robb asks while trying to keep his worry out of his voice. Quest Master makes him wonder if it could be what happened.

"No, the house is not cursed. There was other deaths linked to what the kids had used and the mother had a weak heart that she took medicine for," Ellen informs Robb, "The accidents that happened when people toured the home were the general accidents that happen when people are worried about bad things. Run into door while looking over shoulder. Trip over step because looking around and not seeing the stairs. Silly things. Did get us a great house that we are still figuring out how to keep long term."

"Oh, so it is one of those that bad things happened which perpetuated other bad things because people looked for them," Robb's voice is full of relief. He feels better to know that the program is not something to do with the house.

"I told your dad that you would be ok. Are you ok?"

"It is weird but people die and where does not really matter," Robb contemplates, "Getting a huge house for cheaper than a smaller one is great if can afford it."

"That is enough about the house. I want to know what today has been about. Tell me what has flustered you all day," Ellen intones with her Mother voice that Robb still knows means there is no avoiding what she wants.

"I joked with Demon about being my chauffeur today and it went a little too far and made me feel bad," Robb starts while trying to figure out phrasing of everything without mentioning the supernatural program, " Then Angel was teasing me. She seems to enjoy trying to get me to umm..."

Robb pauses for a moment and does not really want to reveal what he knows about Angel from high school. Ellen gives him a moment as she sees him struggling to figure out how to say whatever it is.

"Is this about her minion thingy? Jane told me that Angel seemed to change during the the lockdown and ended up hearing her one time on the phone talking about her minions being at a meeting or something," Ellen brings up to Robb.

"Umm... I did not know people knew about that other than whoever these minions are. I only know about them because heard her refer to people like that. I feel like she wants me to be one," Robb says sadly, "I just want my friend back and not who she is. She was like my sister my age where Demon was my escort and Ness was mini-Mom."

Ellen laughs at how Robb views his sisters, "Mini-Mom? Really? Because she babysit you? She was your babysitter for punishment. That was part of her getting an allowance. She hated it when asked but she always babied on you when she did and thought we could not see her. Ness will be a great mom if she decides to do so."

Robb looks at his mom in shock, "What do you she thought could not be seen?"

"We had nanny cam in place to make sure she did not take out her anger on you."

"She was that mad at you both? I do not know why she was always fighting with you and dad," Robb asks.

Ellen thought for a moment before speaking, "She hated how young her parents were and thought we could not be serious parents. That does lead into something about Angel though."

Ellen repositions herself and has Robb scoot down the couch a bit where she can look at him, "I was very manipulative when I was younger. It took a lot of self awareness and control to reduce that."

"I was doted on by my parents as the only child and learned how to use them early on. Your dad was with me since I can remember. I learned how to twist him around my finger also. I paid a price for that I never felt was a bad thing with the love of both sets of your grandparents. Ness and Mona are blessings but also a good reminder of how much I enjoyed the power I had over the people I was always around."

"Mona being born and seeing your dad struggle is what changed me. I wanted us to be happy but your dad pushed himself so hard to provide as much as he could plus finish high school. I started to work on myself while being a mom to two lovely daughters. Your dad just worked. He graduated at 17 and went into the military."

"We made it work. It was not easy for us but easier than most since our parents helped a ton. You were not even a possibility to us. This is what set your father's career. He got to be a recruiter and I still manipulated him at times but mostly about making sure he took care of himself. That is why Mona moving for school actually turned out to be a good thing. Your dad was tired of dealing with young people for the last five years of his career. I worked my magic to get him to do something else and he felt reality would work as not many young people but still selling contracts. I just convinced him to find another career and retire."

"I can't say I never manipulate but I try to avoid it unless I feel someone needs a nudge. I am not sure about Angel but I think she will either get hurt her enough or something will happen to change her. I hope the later happens and it doesn't involve someone else getting hurt. Try to stay her friend but that is why us and her parents understand why you are not romantically involved. We always thought that would happen before her attitude shift."

Robb just sits there and watches his mom after everything she just said. He wonders how what she did compares to the very little Robb knows about Angel. He knew his mom was good at getting what she wanted. Robb starts chuckling. He feels lucky now to have been separate from his mom at the moment as it will be hard for her to easily influence him now. Angel has taught him to be on guard of following what others want.

"Are you ok?" Ellen asks her chuckling son.

"I am just feeling lucky. Demon hates Angel so I discuss with her. I think Demon knows but I want to be there for Angel if something happens. I just refuse to be whatever she is trying to make me. Knowing you will not pressure me makes it so much better.'

"You are young and from what Mona told me, you have not even dated," Ellen says with the question hanging there.

"I did ask but was always told no and you already know why Angel is not a possible choice," Robb sighs.

Ellen teases, "She does look different with the new look she showed off tonight."

Robb groans and puts his head in his hands, "She came to the door without a bra when I let her know about dinner."

Ellen stops a laugh as her son probably had not meant to tell her that and asks, "Is that the reason you rushed into the kitchen?"

"Yeah," Robb mutters.

Ellen scoots over and hugs him, "Maybe you will find some MILF tomorrow at the gym to teach you everything."

Robb jerks away from his mom's hug at that statement. He looks at her in fear that is why she wanted him to go. He slumps down after he sees that his mom is teasing him. It has been years since she had got him with such a teasing thing.

"I am glad you are joking but should you say such a thing to your son?" Robb tries to deflect his mom so she moves to something else.

"I am teasing a bit but there are a few ladies that are not married. They are very nice and would probably be happy to teach you. I will point out the Cougar Club," Ellen informs her son.

"Cougar club? I am not interested in that. One of the guys I knew came home from college all beat up. He said he got picked up by a lady and one of the defensive lineman beat him up for being with her. Too scary for me," Robb shudders at the thought, "I do not mind older but not that much older. I would not want to be with someone my mom's age."

Ellen silently laughs and shakes her head as Robb is analyzing things and does not even realize what he said. She sits and watches his hands and face go through whatever process it is for him to get to a conclusion.

Robb jumps after a few moments when he recognizes that he had zoned out, "Sorry."

"It is ok, baby. I would never be able to tease your sisters this way but I knew you would end up trying to figure out what would happen if even tried," Ellen smiles at her youngest child knowingly, "Just want to warn you though that you might have a woman your mom's age taking you through a workout tomorrow."

"Huh? What? Why? I thought I was going with you, right?" Robb questions with a very confused look.

"I want company for going and cooling off. The group I exercise with has rules when we bring someone in. There is a list of who takes new people to show around and go through a basic workout. There is generally three women of the group that are listed for that day and one of them decides to take the new person."

"Women? Is this a women's gym or mostly women?" Robb says and looks very uncomfortable while squirming.

"No, it is just that our group has a set time when most of us are at the gym. After the lockdown, the group changed how they did things about the time I joined. Some of the women just wanted a different experience and this is it. You can always get staff if you want but everyone on the list have been doing this for a couple of years now," Ellen states, "The group asked the gym to help teach them something simple to show off when they bring in a guest. The gym is happy as it does mean potential gym memberships. If I understand why they started was interacting with people who they are unlikely to interact with any other time."

"So it is people just wanting to meet people after lockdown? Why can I not just stay with you?" Robb whines.

Ellen knows that this is not what Robb likes. He is very much one who hates uncertainty and new people solo is hard. She also thinks he needs this. Mona would have been good as well because she needs to work out more but Robb needs to interact with people he does not know in person. He does well online but Ellen is not sure he will ever meet someone romantically that way.

"It is not so bad," Ellen comforts Robb with a hug, "I am doing a rotation with two of my friends tomorrow. I will get you someone from the gym if you really do not feel comfortable."

"Can I just hide? Like in the gym?" Robb pleads with his hands pressed together in a begging please gesture.

"Just man up!" Ellen uses a deep voice.

"I am just kidding," in her normal voice, Ellen shakes her head at his antics, "You are going but I do not want you to have a panic attack. Just try and if you feel overwhelmed then there is an ice cream place you can see from the gym. Ok?"

"Ok," Robb replies defeated.

"This is meant to meet new people. You do not ever interact with them again. Can you do this for me? Just give it a chance?" Ellen asks her son with sincerity.

"Ok, I will try. I just have trouble talking with new people. I will really try," Robb feels bad for his mom with how he has been acting as he agrees.

"Let's just enjoy the sky for a bit. We talked way more seriously than I was trying to. Thank you for agreeing to tomorrow," Ellen smiles at her son as she gets comfortable to motion him to cuddle, "I will tell you in plenty of time to get ready before we leave. Don't stay up too late."

Robb nods as he tries to adjust to the position. Being taller than his mom makes for learning how to give her cuddles. Robb is happy though as this is what he missed the most. His mom or sister were always cuddling with him. Robb never feels more relaxed than when he is cuddling and he could not do it with Angel.

Once the mom and son are situated, it does not take long before Robb starts to doze. Ellen doesn't bother her son for a little bit but when he jerks and tries to settle down to actually sleep is when she wakes him gently.

"Go on to your bedroom. Don't want you to get a crick in your neck," Ellen says as she sits Robb up.

Robb slowly stands then offers to help his mom up. They cover the couch and move back inside.

"Good night, mom," Robb yawns.

"Sleep well, honey," Ellen kisses him on the cheek and rubs his head and heads towards the master bedroom.

Robb heads to his room to see Demon is already in his bed looking through movies on her laptop.