"Through the basement." Georgia, Jeffs's mother, objected as I turned on the lights.
"At the time It was just me, and I needed a safe place..." I sighed.
"Yes that was then, this is the present." She smiled as she walked down into the basement. "Things have changed, you have security!" She said.
"Uhh I wouldn't call them anything else." Jeff chuckled. "Fucking rent-a-cops."
"Young man!" Georgia's head snapped back, revealing an angry mother glare, to match the tone of her voice. "I raised you better than this." She shook her head in disappointment, the ultimate mother one-two punch combo. "So judgmental."
"He has trained a few of them." I chuckled. "I'd say he isn't wrong, but what makes this ok with me, is he hasn't stopped learning from them and trying to teach them." She huffed at me. "Look, we all got to be honest with each other, so we all get better if we want to survive this ice age. You torqued his head on straight, I'll see it stays on straight."
She peered into my soul, like only my mother had ever, and like I was ten, I gulped. "Ok." She chuckled, confusing both of us. "You listen to your mother still, otherwise that wouldn't have worked on you." Jeff and I grunted, confused.. "Good men no matter their age always listen to their mothers." She turned. "This means I own you now." She chuckled amused and walked upstairs.
"Well it's Tidy." She said back down at us, knowing we were both still trying to wrap our heads around how much of her last statement was a joke. She was of course, correct, I loved her son, I was a 'good man' who still listened to his mother, and I was determined to earn her permission, to court her son,
"That's what I said." Jeff chimed up excited, somewhere between a shout, and his excited tone. He chased after her, I followed, I smirked, instead of making the six or so that's what he said jokes.
"Except for the kitchen," She chuckled. "It's a lot cleaner than when you used to cook at the house." She laughed.
"He's hard to keep up with." I chuckled.
"Well, you do a better job than I did." She laughed. She walked into the living room and paused at the Saw the booby traped front door. "Glad we came in through the base meant." She wandered towards the guest room, soon to be her's. "I need to go lay down for a bit..." She looked at Jeff. "Then perhaps you can make us some chili." She held her arms wide for him, he tried not to run into her arms, but he did.
She held him, kissed his head, there was a knock from the basement door, unexpected, but it made sense since no one could get in a conventional way, and the basement door was essentially the front door.
I answered it. "For you sir." One of the guards from the gate said and handed me an envelope. "It's from the CMO."
I took the letter, inspected it. "Hmm, it says to me, from Base CMO." I lightly shook my head
"What do you think it is about?" He asked.
"I'll find out when I read it." I saw the confidential wax seal on the back, surely what this noisiness was about .
"Sir, I don't understand." He said, looking perplexed at me.
"That I don't know what is in this letter..." I paused long enough for him to think I was done. "Or the fact that I don't seem willing to gossip about it?"
His face flushed in anger. "Didn't you say a week ago, questions are the bases of understanding?"
"ahh." I smirked and nodded, recalling the second part of my statement: And knowdgle, brings wisom, and wisdom victory,". "You are only entitled to know what's in your paygrade, or what's coming in a mission." He chuckled uneasily. "Dismissed." I closed the door. checked to see what Jeff was up to, which was starting dinner, the smell of fresh-cut and cooking onions burnt the air. I sat in the recliner.
To: Whom it may concern.
Your name around the base is big man, but forgive me, my professional rigidity, prevents me from addressing a formal report, to Big man... and your actual name, appears to be unknown.
Final conclusion of the Rape kit. No evidence of vagianal or anal trauma, no reports of rape, or sexual abuse. The patient is at least two months pregnant, a blood test confirmed.
Please advise the patient.
"Bastard," I grunted as I walked to the fireplace, and used it to start the fire. I walked to her door, it was his job to 'advise the patient', was his job, or someone who knew what to tell any woman who was pregnant. I understood, how that all worked, I sighed and tapped on the door.
"Please come in," She said. SHe smiled at me, as I closed the door. "I suppose the knock on the door was the pony express." She sighed. "So it's true I am pregnant."
"How?" I glanced at her.
"Girls get pregnant, and not know, woman, get pregnant, and think they are, but us mothers, we know every time." She chuckled softly, patting the bed next to her. "Are you ready to be a big brother?" She smiled at me.
"Well, I'd like to think so." I chuckled.
"Is Jeff?"
The shoe dropped. "You know he's going to try to be the father."
"And you?" She pushed a bit hard, adding her mother's tone.
"In seven months, I'll be there, if you want me to be a father figure to your child, Mamm it'd be an honor."
"Very good." She leaned over to the nightstand pulled the pistol out of the top drawer, and ammo out of the bottom, and handed them to me like they were on fire.
"I'll find better places to keep these." I smiled. "And the forty or fifty others I have hidden."
"How do I tell him?" She asked. I pocketed the gun,
"Tell me what?" Jeff asked from the other side of the door. She sighed at him, and he came in,
"Before all this, your dad and I were 'trying'." She sighed.
"Oh." He grunted surprised. "And dad?" He more said more codly, than he thought.
"Jeff?" His mother gasped.
"Where is dad?" He clarified, puzzled. "Did you think I asked if he was..."
"So, we don't know where your father is." I said quickly, sensing the tension, diverting the tracks before the two trains could collide. "But I suspect he is somewhere, working, outside of town."
"So I am going to be a big brother." Jeff diverted back to the news, and grinned, "Never thought I'd say that."
"You know?" I asked Jeff. "The saying it takes a village to raise a kid is right, it going to take all of us to help her, but she is the expert."
She nodded and chuckled. "Yea, but somehow, I think we all are going to figure it out."
"Listen to our CO." Jeff chuckled. I pulled him in for a hug and kissed his head. "Hey." He objected squirming.
"Ohh, please, you could have brought a boy home years ago," His mom laughed. "Just don't forget your old mother lives here now too." she laughed. "But I really need to rest my eyes." We left..
"Not, you.., Bigman, I have a few more things to talk about with you." I nodded at Jeff, who was certain that old baby stories were going to be told.
"Mam." I nodded at her after Jeff had left.
"What is your name?"
I sighed, which got a glance from her. "Nick." I uttered, merely doing so made me feel sick.
"I see he found you," She smiled. "I guessing this is a war thing." She paused so I could nod. "Well Nick, just don't tell me your last and middle names, and you'll be bigman to me." She laughed.
I nodded and grunted. "Mamm."
"Well, he's been a good judge of character, and a sucker for college guys." I laughed at her revelation. "So you are just his type.".. But shh, he doesn't need to know that I know>"
"Well, he came off strong." I chuckled. "Of course he had gotten a good shot of morphine." I chuckled. "I wasn't looking for someone to love, but he is so sharp and good with words."
"Thank you." She sighed and touched my hand. "I was so worried, he was on his way to college. He was ready for that slight freedom, not this nightmare, I worried for him I feel better he had someone to watch him."
"What did happen after he ran across the bridge?" She asked.
"He must have been in some kind of struggle, He was wounded, I broke up the mob, and drove him here, attended to his wounds. It was after he saw how bad it was I got worried." I paused and thought about that day, how the sun peaked through the cracks in the plywood boarding the windows, how adorably courageous he was.
"Where were you?" she asked, I came back to reality, and my face flushed. "It looked like it was a good place."
"I had just given his morphine, he was concerned that he wasn't strong, I told him he was strong in his own ways..." She nodded at me. "After I gave it to him, he said I was hot." we both laughed. "I was not interested in dating anyone, I'm bad luck, so I actually shot him down with easy there Romeo." We laughed. "But he has a way..."
"To change your mind." She laughed, and I nodded at her. "Now I can rest." She sighed contently at me squeezed my hand and let it go. "Thank you." I stood and smiled at her.
"You've probably got like an hour before he wakes you up.. I haven't seen him this excited for a while."
"We used to have to give him Benadryl, Christmas eve." She laughed. "Or we were up and Three am, Christmas." She sighed and laid down. "I But I give him no more than 45 minutes!
"
"Can I help?" I asked into the kitchen as sat in the recliner.
"Have you learned how to cook since you asked me last?" He chuckled, it was the answer I expected, and always got. It was part of my domestication, a thing I did for his benefit.
"No." I grunted pleased, and put my feet up.
"Then why do you ask?" He asked a bit cross, I grunted at the surprise ambush.
I turned to see him leaning on the walkway past the front door from the kitchen. "Cause if I don't I feel like I am not at least offering to help."
He wiped his hand on his apron, walked to me, and patted my head. "Who's a good boy?"
"You are!" I smirked at him.
He laughed. "Only for you." He turned at walked into the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in about half an hour." I ran through his routine, cook, get the palates ready, five minutes, set the table, and call dinner, about fifteen minutes.
"Like a clock." I laughed, recalling the forty-five-minute prediction, and his mother's response. He glared at me, and disappeared, back to finish his dinner. It was his dinner until he put it in front of you. like clockwork just when he was about to go get her up, his mom popped out of the room, clean and showered, almost a completely new woman,