Chapter 49: Delivery
*I believe in you, now it’s your turn. – Natalia Harhaj*
Dean and JD texted and spoke often. Each would send pictures and memes back and forth. At one point, he got caught sending a selfie of him at practice.
“Who the hell are you texting?” Craig asked.
“My girlfriend.” JD said it without thinking and thought that it was the right answer.
“Is she hot?” One of the freshmen asked and Deon pushed the kid into the pool.
“Is she hot?” Deon asked with a grin.
JD scrolled up to the picture that Dean had just sent from her own practice.
"Damn!" Craig said as he tried to take the phone from him.
"Get your hands off my phone before I tell your girlfriend your checking out mine." JD warned.
"Asshole." Craig muttered as coach ordered them all into the pool.
JD got a message from Dean Friday afternoon asking if she could come to Sunday dinner for a few minutes. He told her that they were welcome to come for however long they wanted. It would be at their apartment this time and prepare for a fabulous dessert.
They bantered back and forth about his improving cooking skills. The Wednesday night class was now focusing on holiday meals. Especially holiday meals that were good for you and didn’t make you gag. The oatmeal apple caramel crisp was so good, he insisted on making it for Sunday. They were even getting healthy ice cream to go with it.
JD: You’re going to be begging me to cook for you
Dean: Uh yeah. That means I don’t have to cook
JD: haha
Dean: WAIT! Would I have to cook? That could be a deal breaker
JD: Just for you, I’ll even clean
Dean: <thinking>
JD: Rinse. Load. Forget
Dean: That’s cheating!
JD: I don’t want no dishpan hands!
Dean: You’re goofy
Dean: Uncle O is in a better mood
JD: So is mom
He sent her a picture of the flowers that Reese had sent Helen. The huge bouquet that she received on Monday. And the others that she had received every day since. The first one still sat at work. The smaller ones came home with her.
Every day, when he got home from practice, he snapped a picture of the newest bouquet and sent it to Dean. Their small apartment was quickly filling up with vases and flowers. Darby came by a few times a week with new flowers for the big pink mermaid vase.
Over the next few days, JD saw a change in Helen. She had quit crying. But when he asked, Helen admitted that she had not talked to Reese. They had texted some and had a date on the last Monday of the month.
They didn’t text much. She had asked for space. Reese was giving it to her. But he also wanted her to know that he was still there. Every morning, he sent good morning to her.
Every night he told her how many more sleeps there were until their date. It reminded her of when her kids were little. JD even pulled out the wooden advent calendar and was assisting in her countdown.
When she had finally sent him a message about the internship, Reese had arranged for Helen and JD to go to Pier and Beam to celebrate.
Something had definitely changed in her. More than just the new job at TRAAC. They couldn’t decide if it was a promotion, demotion or lateral move. But she would finally be doing what she always wanted.
Helen loved numbers. They made sense to her. And she could make them do whatever she wanted. None of her kids inherited her love of numbers.
They did, however, inherit her love of checkers and chess. They were in the middle of a checkers game between the brothers when Dean arrived. She was carrying a sealed large photo envelope when Bunny opened the door.
“Are those mom’s pictures?” JD asked from the coffee table.
“Yeah.” Dean said handing the envelope to Helen.
Helen took them and set it on a shelf. “You missed lunch, but JD insisted that we wait for you for dessert.”
“I’ll serve once I beat Jaxon.”
“Are we playing again?” Jaxon asked moving his piece. “King me.”
“Damn it.” JD kinged his brother. Then he moved his own King and cleared out all but two of his brother’s pieces. “Trip me.”
“How did I miss that?” Jaxon asked looking at the board.
“I don’t know.” The younger brother grinned as he stood up. “But thank you.”
“You’ve been playing with mom too much! Wait, that sounded wrong.” Jaxon blushed as the others laughed at him.
JD laughed as he walked into the small kitchen, pulling Dean with him. After getting the ice cream out, he pulled her into a hug. She locked her hands behind his back and rested her head on his chest.
“Uncle Owen is no longer completely miserable. I’ve never seen him so excited for Thanksgiving to be over.”
“Mom asked him out Monday after Thanksgiving.” He grinned down at her.
“Yeah?” She moved so that she was looking up at him with her chin on her chest.
Looking at each other, they moved in unison until their lips touched. With a little pressure, she opened her mouth for him. His tongue coaxed hers into a gentle dance. He lifted his head and looked down at her dazed face.
“Please tell me that was not your first kiss.” He whispered.
She bit her bottom lip.
“How do you have a sex toy but have never been kissed?”
“It just does the outside. The clit.” She whispered back blushing.
“But you’ve never been kissed.”
“You’ve met my uncle.”
“Does he know that we’re going out Saturday?” he asked, and she nodded. “Does he know it’s a date?”
“Not exactly. I like you. I don’t want him to scare you off.”
“He’s chasing my mom. How far can I go?” he kissed her lips again lightly. “You can scoop the ice cream and drizzle the caramel.”
They put the dessert together and everyone loved it. No one could believe that it was healthy. Afterwards, Helen took the bowls to the kitchen. She rinsed the dishes and added them to the dishwasher.
“Mom, have you looked at these pictures yet?” Bunny asked getting the envelope from the shelf.
“No. I don’t know if I want to.” Helen answered from the kitchen.
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