Take me away 🏠

Okay, this is the second part of Home. It has nothing to do with the prompt. Enjoy!

For some reason, Daniel is surprised at how much he looks like his mother.

She has the same light brown skin, and hazel eyes. Her frizzy black hair is pulled up in a big puff. They have the same build, tall and stocky. She’s wearing black jeans, and a green long sleeved shirt. A black scarf is wrapped around her neck.

He puts his backpack on his shoulder and walks to her. She goes to the front of her car, and they stand about four feet apart. He’s almost as tall as her.

“Are you alright?” She asks gently.

Daniel nods. She looks really familiar. Why, though?

She smiles. They both have a dimple on their right cheek.

“This is really weird, I know, but I am really, really sorry.” She tells him.

And then he’s crying. 

She’s there in an instant, wrapping her arms around him. He melts into her warm embrace, burning his face in her neck. She strokes his hair, murmuring, “It’s alright.” and “don’t worry.”

After a minute, he pulls back, and smiles at her, wiping his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” He says. “I’m just really happy to finally meet you.”

She smiles back at him. “It’s alright. I’m glad to meet you too.”

They're quiet, and Daniel finds himself studying her face.

She raises an eyebrow when she notices. 

“Sorry, you just look really, really familiar.” He tells her.

She grins at that. “Yeah, I think I know who you're talking about.” 

She pulls out a phone from her back pocket. She finds what she was looking for, and passes him the phone.

It’s a picture of her, but it looks like one of the photos of an author in the back of a book. The name, Cathy May, is under it.

“No way.” Daniel says, shaking his head. “There is actually no possible way in the universe, my favorite author is my mother.”

She grins again as he hands her phone back. “Yes way.”

They are quiet again, and Daniel doesn't know what to say. 

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” She asked.

“Uh, well, I was, uh, on the phone. With my, um, boyfriend? And he heard me, then kinda freaked out, and kicked me out.” He says, not making eye contact.

He glances up to look at her. She’s leaning against the car, shaking her head.

“Jeez.” She mutters. “Blake is still an idiot.”

Daniel blinks. “Sorry, what?”

“No offense. I know he’s still your father, but that is seriously childish of him.” She tells him.

Daniel Isn't talking about that. “No, it’s-you're okay with it?”

“Yes. He shouldn't have kicked you out. I’m not going to do that, just because of the type of people you like.” She says.

Daniel takes a step forward, and hugs her again.

“If you're okay with coming with me, I’d love for you to come. You can leave anytime, I just want to make sure you're safe.” She says softly.

Would I be crazy if I say yes? He thinks. She doesn't look like a serial killer. And she’s famous. She can't really hurt me. Right? And she said I can leave anytime...

 If he agrees to this, a lot of his dreams will come true.

He’s always wanted to meet his mother. This was much more than he had hoped for. He’s always wanted to meet Cathy May, and finding out she's his mother, is amazing. He also wants to be able to live with someone who loved him, regardless of who he liked.

And Catherine seems like a good person. She said if he wanted to leave he could. But, maybe, he wouldn't have to.

“Okay,” Daniel says slowly. “Okay, lets go.”

She grins, says, “Okay. I’m going to do my best. Please tell me if I’m doing a bad job.”

She hugs him again, and they walk to her car, and get in.

It annoys Daniel sometimes that he can't talk about TJ without smiling, and since Catherine wants to hear all about him, he;s smiling for most of the ride.

He’s sitting in the passenger seat of her car. It looks like it was just cleaned, because there's hardly any dirt or anything.

He’s telling her how he met TJ.

“We were friends before. I came out to all of them last year, and he’s the only one who would still talk to me. ” He says. “We were talking, and he came out to me, and then he asked me out. I had liked him since forever, so I said yes. We’ve been dating since last February.” 

She smiles at him. “Do you love him?” 

“Yeah.”

She has pretzel sticks in her car, like she somehow knew it was his favorite.

He’s famished, and glad when she says to eat as many as he wants. 

She also said to ask as many questions as he wants, and she’ll answer honestly.

“What did you do after you had me?” He asks.

She sighs. “Cried. For about a week. I dropped out of college, which my parents weren't happy about. I was living in my apartment, but I was running low on money. I stayed locked in my room for hours, watching Netflix on my laptop. Eventually, I started typing a story on it, and it was actually pretty good. I showed it to my friend, Bell, who’s an editor, and got it published. I kept writing, and made a lot of money.”

Daniel nods, thoughtfully. “I love your books. They're amazing.”

She smiles. “Thanks. I always hoped you had read my books, even if I didn't know where you were.”

“Everyone reads them.” He says. “Even people who don't like reading.”

She laughs. “I’m glad I found you.”

“Me too.” He says. And it’s the truth.

Catherine is so much better than he hoped. She talks to him like they're the same age, and she's not seventeen years older. She reminds him of himself. So much so, he’s surprised he didn't see the resemblance sooner.

“Do you have any siblings?” He asks.

His father is an only child, so he never had cousins.

She snorted. “Sadly, yes. Four siblings. They’ll love to meet you. My twin, Zuri, loves other people's children. She has six of her own.”

Four siblings. He thinks. I don’t even have one.

“You have a twin?” He asks.

“Yep. I'm the oldest. Zuri’s second. Then it’s Antonio, then Diamond, and Marcus is the youngest.”

He nods. “Do you guys argue a lot?” For some reason, that's the main thing he hears about siblings. He wouldn't know if it’s true.

She thinks about the question. Finally, “Not as much as we used to. We grew up, I guess. I think we realized it just wasn't worth it.”

“I’d love to have a sibling.” He said wistfully. “I never have anyone to talk to.”

“Oh!” She says, and smacks the side of her head. “That's what I forgot!”

I have a sibling? “What is it?”

“Angel. She’s the same age as you. I adopted her about two years ago. She lives there too. I can't believe I forgot.” She says, shaking her head.

“Wait, so I have a stepsister?” He asks, hopeful.

Catherine nods. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“And she’ll be okay with me being there?” He says.

Another nod. “Oh, yeah. She loves people. She’ll want to talk to you, a lot.” 

“Will she be okay with my whole boyfriend thing?” He asks.

Catherine snorts. “Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about that. Nobody will judge you because of that.”

They pull into the driveway of a big, two story house. It has a nice, short grass, and a huge willow in the middle of the front yard. The driveway is huge, and there are already three cars in the driveway, and several by the curb.

“Nobody?”

“ Nobody. I think you’ll like the house.” She tells him, stopping the car. “The first floor is mostly for work, so there are people in the house. The second story should be mostly empty. Some kids are up there. My co-workers bring them. Angel will probably be watching them.”

Daniel nods. “Okay.” Is this really happening? 

“There are a lot of empty bedrooms. You can pick one, and get settled. We can pick up some clothes later. Someone can probably lend you something.”

“Okay.” I can’t believe this is happening.

“Are you okay with meeting everyone? Or do you need some time? Just a warning, some of them are super friendly.” She says.. 

Daniel shakes his head. “No, it’s okay, I’ll meet them.” This is happening.

Catherine smiles. “Let's go, then.” She opens the door.

“Wait.” He says, remembering something.. “Dad said something about me being my mother's child before I left. Do you know what he meant?”

She smiles sadly. “Yeah. I do.” She sighs. “After I had you, I kind of let a really big secret slip, and he broke up with me. He was really upset. When my parents found out, they were mad too.”

“What was it?” He asks, curiously. She cheated on him? She didn't love him? I have a different dad? 

Now, she grins. “ He found out I liked girls.” She says, getting out of the car. “Now, come on. Friday’s are pizza nights.”

Guys, don't get in a car with a stranger. For the sake of the story, lets act like that's okay, but seriously, don't do that. I hope you enjoyed.