Chapter Twenty-Four

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Barrett

W hen I decided to pick mini golf for our date, I never once thought my mom would be here. As far as I know, she's never played the game in her damn life. Yet here we are, I'm like a teenager who just got caught fucking his high school girlfriend. This doesn't feel good at all.

"Mom..."

She's glaring at me as if I've offended her in some way, which is crazy, considering I'm just living my life. I haven't lived in her home for years, and I've been successfully keeping my bills paid and myself fed for the same number of years not harming anyone. "You act like this out in public?"

My eyebrows go to my hairline. I'm doing half of what I normally do in public right now. I don't appreciate the tone she's using, and if I didn't think it would attract more attention to us, I'd tell her the same. Instead, I go for the smart-ass answer that I can try to lessen the blow of with a smirk. "I act even worse, but it's really none of your business. I'm having fun with my girlfriend."

Her body recoils as if I've slapped her. Her cheeks heat as if she's embarrassed by what I've done, when it really shouldn't matter to her. "I'm your mother, of course it's my business."

This is going to be one of the hardest conversations I've ever had to have, not just because it's with her, but because it's so damn uncomfortable. I never thought I'd be a twenty-something trying to explain to my mother how me being intimate with my girlfriend really doesn't concern her. Not to mention it being in front of said girlfriend. "I'm a grown man, and my actions should not affect you. Would you like to meet my girlfriend?" I tuck my arm around Gabby's waist. She looks up at me, and I give her a slight nod. We turn to face my mom together.

"I told you previously how I felt about this, Barrett." She tsk's, shaking her head as if she can't believe what I've done. I don't appreciate it, and I don't like it.

Anger and disappointment courses through my veins. I never expected her to dig in her heels like this. "And I told you that I love Gabby. However you feel about our age difference isn't going to change that. You can get to know her, and be a part of our lives, or you can be miserable. Your choice. There's nothing for us to be ashamed of here. We're two healthy adults having an evening that doesn't involve you."

Gabby gasps. "Barrett, I'm sure for her it's not cut and dry." She tries to mend fences between my mom and I, possibly seeing it another way that I don't. But annoyance runs through my veins. My mom hasn't told me what to do since I was a teenager, and I don't want her to do it now.

"It's not." My mom shakes her head. "I'm not sure I'll ever be able to not think of you as my baby."

"I'm not your baby. I'm a grown man looking to make my own decisions and maybe start my own family one day. You don't have to agree with this, but I ask that you respect it." I'm nervous, my hands and insides shaking as I look at the woman who raised me. I've never spoken against her before, not once, but this? It's important to me in ways I never imagined when she and I first had this conversation. "C'mon, I've never asked you for anything..."

"And neither have I," she argues. "I've given you every bit of me."

"Which I didn't ask for, but I'm drawing a line in the sand here, Mom. I love her, I love you, don't make me choose."

She sniffs heavily, running her tongue over her lips, in a way she's done my whole life when she's upset I hate that I've done this to her. "You're going to have to give me time."

Gabby walks forward. "Please come by the store, have coffee with me. Let me introduce myself to you in a way that you don't have to watch me and Barrett together. Believe it or not, I understand."

We're all waiting, dying to see what my mom will say. I know if she refuses this it changes my relationship with her forever. The voice inside my head is screaming, please, please, please do this, please grab onto this olive branch Gabby is giving you.

"Okay..." She sighs. "I will. Sometime this week."

"Great. Whenever you come in, I'll make the time to sit down and have some coffee and a snack with you."

"Marie, are you coming?" one of the people in my mom's group yells, getting her attention.

"I'll be right there."

I take a moment to go over to her and hug her tightly. "I love you, Mom. Nothing is going to change that," I whisper. "But you have to let me live my life. You've taught me how to be a good person, you've taught me how to treat a woman, now let me do it."

When we pull back, she wants to say more, I can see it plain as day, but she doesn't. Instead she nods. "Okay, I'll do my best, but I can't pretend to be something I'm not."

"I never asked you to, I'm just asking you to give us a chance, give Gabby a chance." I look over at her. "She means a lot to me, and so do you. But I'm not kidding, I have to start living my life. It's got to be for me, and not for you."

She nods. "I'll keep my word, but I can't make any promises."

With those words, she turns and leaves, and while I hate it, there's really nothing I can do about it. Gabby walks over, holding her arms out for me. "I'm sorry she said that to you. I'm sorry that she's not willing to accept me."

"No." I pull her in so that I can kiss her forehead. "I'm sorry that she doesn't see how amazing you are. You are everything to me, and the fact that she can't see that..."

"You can't fault her." Gabby cups my cheek in her palm. "You're her son, and things are changing for her, and you. Your relationship isn't the same as it used to be. It's kind of like when you're no longer in high school and you don't have to ask them to stay out late anymore, you're paying for your own gas and car insurance. It's just weird, and you have to become comfortable with one another again. I have no doubt that you two will get there, and I hope I'll be able to still be a part of your life."

I tighten my arms around her. "You're always going to be a part of my life. I'm never letting you go."