The Mechanic.

Chapter 23

   Jon unlocked the door to his parents' house and stepped in. The house was dark and quiet so he assumed everybody had gone to sleep even though it was just ten thirty which was early in his household for everybody to be asleep.

Before he went into his bedroom, he decided to go in and check on his mother. He couldn't help being worried about her even though she seemed to be doing okay and holding it all together. The reason he hadn't gotten serious about getting his own place was Jude would be going back to San Francisco where he worked soon and he wasn't entirely comfortable with leaving her all by herself in this big house.

He expected her to be asleep, so he didn't bother knocking before he entered. He stopped when he entered the room and saw his mother. She was holding a picture of his father and sobbing quietly. She hadn't even heard him enter the room.

"Mom," he said, going to sit beside her. She turned to him with bloodshot eyes that were full of tears. When she saw him, another heavy sob escaped her lips and Jon put an arm around her and put her head on his shoulder. He didn't say anything further as there was no need to say anything. He let her cry until she was satisfied.

When she sat back up, she said, "I'm so sorry, baby. I never wanted you to see me like this."

Jon turned to her. "And why not, mother?"

"Because I'm your mother. I'm supposed to be strong for you guys."

Jon's heart constricted. Was that what she thought? He lifted a hand to touch her cheek. "Oh, mother. Is that really what you think? That might have been true when we were children. But we're all grown men now, we can handle it. We know that life gets really shitty sometimes and we feel the need to express these emotions. You can cry whenever you want to, and you can call me to hold you and be there for you. Let me take care of you, okay?"

Whatever it was that he had said made his mother start crying a fresh batch of tears. She grabbed handfuls of his shirt and sobbed into his shoulder. "What did I ever do to deserve such amazing sons?"

"You are an amazing mother. That's what you did," Jon said as he stroked her hair.

"Thank you so much, darling," she said and held up the picture of his father. "I miss him so much, sometimes I feel like I'm missing a part of myself."

"I know exactly what you mean," he said softly. After that, they didn't say much else.

After about twenty minutes, she picked her head off his shoulder and turned to him. "Yeah, you remember we were talking about Ella and her son coming over for dinner this weekend?"

Jon nodded. "I remember."

"Wouldn't it be nice if we met her family as well?" his mother said and his heart cut. She wanted Emma's parents inside their house? Where they slept and ate? But he couldn't say that to his mother because she would reprimand him for being rude.

"That's a splendid idea," he lied through his teeth.

When he made sure that she was tucked in and asleep, he padded quietly out of her room and shut the door. As he walked to his room, he plucked his phone out of his pocket and called Emma.

"Hey babe," she answered, sounding slightly distracted.

"Hey. Guess what?"

"What is that?"

"My mom wants you to invite your parents over for dinner with us," before he could even complete his sentence, she was already protesting.

"Oh no. Nope, nope. No way in hell, Jonathan," she said vehemently.