Geek on the Side!

Vanessa and Kevin's mom

HOLY CRAP KEVIN'S MOM CAN COOK!!! Blueberry pancakes, eggs over easy, bacon, toast, jam, and a glass of fresh orange juice! Uuuugh this food's gonna make me fat, but I don't care! Sooo goood!!!

"Wow, you were hungry!" She said to me as she took a bite out of her pancake.

"I should not be eating this much," I said as I scarfed down my toast, which was cut into a pointy tip. "But heck with it."

"Why not?" She asked.

"Well, I'm an online model," I said, half truthing again. "Soooo, my figure is kinda important to me."

"Gotcha," she said as she poured me some more juice. "So, how is it you ended up in here?"

I explained to her that I was feeling antsy last night, so I ended up coming to Amberville without meaning to. I also told her about how Kevin had been helping me with the stalker, and about my birthday dinner last night.

"Happy birthday, first of all," she said, smiling. "Wow, thirty? I figured you were around twenty three!"

And just like that I now like Kevin's mom very, very much!

"Heh, I get that a lot," I said, blushing a bit. "But yeah, I'm thirty now."

"So what are your plans for this big year for you?" She asked.

"I'm trying to get into cosplay," I said. "It looks like loads of fun!"

"A lot of my students are into that!" Said Kevin's mom. "And I know Kevin's friend is into that, too!"

"Yeah, it's wild," I said, chuckling a bit.

"Can I ask?" She began. "My husband, did he apologize for-"

"Yeah, he did," I replied. "Soon as he saw me, even."

"It was eating him all day," she said, looking down at her juice. "Liliana, she did a world of damage to those two."

"Mr. Derriwinkle told me about it," I said, feeling down too. "That was heinous."

"You don't know the half of it," she said, frowning. "When I came back to Amberville, five years after Liliana up and left, Doug and Daisy were a mess. Doug was throwing himself at his work, and Daisy was shutting herself off from the world with her video games."

"Damn..." I said, shocked.

"Doug once said something to me that's been stuck in my head for decades," she said, tears in her eyes. "As Daisy and I were bonding one day, she let out a short giggle. Doug would later tell me that THAT was the first time Daisy had laughed since Liliana left."

What the actual hell? A kid who doesn't laugh for five years? Jesus...

"I guess what I'm trying to say is," Kevin's mom continued as she dried her eyes. "Liliana hurt us all. That's why, when we saw you yesterday, we didn't react as well as we could have. You look so much like her..."

"That really sucks," I said, feeling tears in my eyes. "I'm so sorry, for everything."

"But honestly? You only LOOK like her," she said, smiling. "Your personalities couldn't be more different!"

"Really?" I asked, drying my own tears.

"You're a nice girl, considerate of others, kind, and helpful," she said. "Liliana was..."

She turned her head towards the hallway, as if ensuring Kevin's dad wouldn't hear her.

"She was a mean ass bitch," she whispered to me, and I almost chocked on my food! I did NOT expect someone as sweet as her to be able to use such language!

By the time we were done eating and talking, it was seven AM. That's when Kevin's dad came out of the bedroom, all groggy looking, struggling to put on his tie.

"Back to bed with you, mister!" Kevin's mom commanded. "You're too hung over to drive, let alone spend the day at work!"

"I'm fine," He said. He did NOT look fine.

"Douglas Derriwinkle, don't even THINK about pulling that baloney on me!" Kevin's mom yelled. Almost immediately, Kevin's dad turned around and went back to bed. Then she turned to me and said "Men; when they're sick, they're either dying or only going through a light inconvenience."

"Oh, I know," I said, sighing.

"Got a man in your life?" She asked. "Or a woman?"

"Well, I'm pan, so I'm also open to that rainbow in between," I said. "And nah, I'm single."

"No shame in that," Kevin's mom shrugged. "I didn't get married to Doug till I was thirty seven, after all."

"I'd rather not ever get married," I said without thinking. "I'd rather be single forever than wind up like my parents."

Oops, overshared.

"Oh, wow," she said. "Uh, would you like me to pretend I didn't hear that?"

"Actually?" I began. I think it's time I got this off my chest. "It's fine. My parents kind of suck, honestly. Mom cheats on Dad all the time, and Dad cheats on Mom; I sometimes wonder why they're still married. I'm honestly scared of thinking that my parent's marriage is a normal marriage, you know? Like, this is how most marriages are."

"As far as I know, no way," she said, shocked and horrified. "Mutual cheating, that's not normal. Do they know the other's cheating?"

"Nah, I'm quite good at covering for them both," I said. "Been doing it since I was a kid."

"What?" She asked, looking horrified.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "Sometimes I lie to my dad about what Mom's been doing, or why the living room was such a mess, and so on. If Mom had sex with the gardener and the dude neglected his job, I was the one who told Dad that the gardener got sick that day and had to go home early. Likewise, when Dad spent a lot of money for hotel rooms, I was the one taking the fall and telling Mom I took his credit card to spend an afternoon sleeping with my boyfriend."

That's when Kevin's dad came back, wearing casual clothing. He had this LOOK to him, you know? Like a cross between anger and pity.

"No way I'd let one of my kids grow up like that," he growled.

"Yeah, well, you're not like my parents," I said, shrugging. "I can tell Kevin and Daisy mean a lot to you; my parents didn't even call me yesterday."

"What?" Kevin's mom said, gasping. "But it was your birthday!"

"It's cool," I said. "Even I forgot it was my birthday, till I looked at my phone. And besides, my dad is a very busy person, even when he's not screwing his secretaries or interns."

Kevin's dad had this disgusted look to him.

"Yeah, I've got interns too," he said, sneering. "I catch any of my employees having relations with them, they're getting fired on the spot."

"Ah well," I said, chuckling a bit, but dying inside. There's a question that's killing me, and I have to let it out. "Hey, if it was Kevin's birthday, or Daisy's, you'd call them, right?"

"If we couldn't visit them, you bet we would," he said without hesitating. "And that goes for Paige, too. She's as much a part of our family as Daisy is."

Wow, is this what a healthy family dynamic is like?