The mystery bloke

The three of us walked home in a peculiar atmosphere.

I was doing my best to act as happy as I could. But if I'm honest I had to admit it was all a bluff. I was nervous and felt scared of the change that was about to come. It was inevitable that things would no longer stay the same after tonight. Mom was acting all cheerful, and I wanted to be there for her, but I wasn't sure I could muster the will or courage to give my mom to some random guy that I'd never met and allow him to become my new dad. Just having that thought sent a chill through my bones. I quickly shook this negative spiral of thoughts out of my head and put on the most cheerful mask I could.

Ms. Lourdes was awfully quiet. She wasn't even talking about the job and answered most questions with just yes or no. She looked really preoccupied in her mind. I wondered if something happened. Or could it be that she was just as worried as I about mom's new boyfriend? After all, she lost contact with my mom when she got married the first time. Unfortunately, I did not know how that happened. My earliest memories are from the period she was taking care of me and Frank. I had rather fond memories of aunt Bernie from that period. I remember I cried when mom told me aunt Bernie wouldn't be visiting every day anymore. I did not really understand it and thought we had done something wrong. I had been so bad that aunt Bernie ended up building down her visits gradually.

Anna on the other hand seemed to be acting a little too overconfident, and even accidentally gave our shopping date from this morning away. Luckily Ms. Lourdes was so out of it that she just reacted with a simple “Mhm”. We got lucky she was so preoccupied that she probably did not register what Anna had said. I elbowed Anna after that, and I noticed by the "whoops" look in her eyes, that I made her realize what she had done.

This strange atmosphere continued until we got to Femme Fatale. We all went straight to the apartment where Mom, Sam, and Frank seemed to be having some sort of an argument, but it immediately turned completely silent as we entered the room.

Frank seemed a bit angry, and Sam seemed a bit worried about the situation. I noticed they took a glance my way and had trouble looking me in the eyes.

“Did something happen? Did I do something wrong?” I asked.

“No, nothing,” Frank said. “I'm just not too pleased with mom's game. I'm sorry, I did not know she kept you in the dark. I thought the two of you had that talk.”

“If I had known, I would have told you,” Sam said. Shaking her head at mom.

“But as things would have it, mom won the game!” Mom interjected with a big smile on her face. “It is time to introduce you, honey.”

I looked around the room. Nobody else seemed to be present. “Are they here yet?”

Mom started laughing like she was having the time of her life.

“Over here Claire.” Ms. Lourdes said to help me.

I looked in her direction but I didn't see anyone.

“Good God Claire, you can be dense sometimes.” Anna gave me a shoulder pat while she said that with a laugh in her voice. No, this couldn't be happening. Anna was making fun of me because she realized it all a lot before me. I had to be quick to make sense of this situation. I could not let her beat me by a mile ahead.

“You guys are so cruel!” Sam said. “Don't worry sis, I had the exact same reaction. If not worse.”

Frank said.

Oh no, I was being as dense as Frank. As Frank! Wait, that would mean. My head turned to mom, and then to Ms. Lourdes. I could see Ms. Lourdes with a faint blush, her nervousness, all made sense now. It was another facepalm moment. How could I not have seen the obvious?

I thought of all the memories I had of seeing the two of them together. To be honest, imagining them together felt only natural to me. I started to remember again how sad I was when mom announced that Ms. Lourdes would not be coming to visit us every day anymore. I looked her in the eyes. She looked at me, a little ashamed. “Don't be like that,” I said. “I am happy for the both of you.” I gave Ms. Lourdes a big hug, and mom hugged me from behind. I was now enveloped in a hug by the two women that had raised me.

“I guess I should call you aunt Bernie again,” I said with a smile. This unexpected development had been such a relief to me.

“But this is not all the news.” mom then said. She looked at aunt Bernie and said “I wanted to ask you to move in with me, Bernie.”

Aunt Bernie's face then turned really serious and then she said “I am sorry, but I cannot do that.”

Mom looked shocked at her answer.

“I'm sorry Lisa, but I have a few announcements to make too, and I want you to consider those before we make any plans for the future.”

Now everyone looked at aunt Bernie. Mom looked at her with big eyes, trying to figure out what was happening.

“I am quitting my job as headmistress and head of the CYA soon. Polly offered me a job and I think I am going to take it.”

Mom looked a bit dejected and said “Then why can't you move in with me!”

“Because if I take this job, I want you to marry me, and help me. I would need you next to me for the political part of the job. So I am saying no to moving in with you because I want you to move in with me. The kids are old enough now, they could use some more space.”

They were having this discussion with us present? Mom, looked like she had trouble registering what aunt Bernie was saying. Part of me wanted to help her, but another part thought that mom was getting what she deserved for playing that game with me.

“But what about Femme Fatale? It's all Louis left me.”

“Nothing will stop you to keep an eye on things here. He left you two wonderful kids too. And I am sure Frank here planned to keep it running until the end of times.”

“You can count on me, mom. I'll keep dad's legacy alive.”

Mom seemed really conflicted so I stepped forward and said “Maybe it is time to start a new chapter. This sad one has been going on for a long time now. I want to see how you look when you are truly happy.”

Mom burst out crying. Aunt Bernie immediately stepped in almost immediately and hugged her.

“What do you say, Lisa, let's turn over a new leaf together.”

Mom looked up into aunt Bernie's eyes and asked “Can I? Can I really?”

Aunt Bernie nodded, and then the two of them kissed.

Anna was looking at the spectacle with sparkly eyes and I noticed she was filming with her phone. “I-It's pure sweet and delicious yuri! We completed another Y-File Claire!”

“That we sure did,” I answered her. Even though I was unaware of the Y-file and I was still not sure how I felt about Anna filming this whole scene...

“MOM! Please! Not in front of us!” Frank then shouted.

Mom burst out giggling at that. Even though she had just been crying, she looked happier than I had ever seen her. That melancholy that used to hide under her playfulness had finally completely dissipated.

“Since this is a special moment for your family, allow me to cook tonight. That way you all can talk” Sam then said. She then nudged Frank and whispered something to him.

“C-Congratulations mom, aunt Bernie.” He said. Sam looked at him approvingly before making her way to the kitchen.

“They seem to get along a lot better, compared to what I heard.” Aunt Bernie noted. Mom looked proud and said, “They do, don't they.”

Mom was boasting about her other secret game...Again it became clear Claire wasn't getting a chance to cook... I could hardly say something to go against Sam's kind offer.

We sat down at the table, and the atmosphere had become really homey. It reminded me of my childhood years to see the whole family together at the dinner table. The only big difference was that now, I had Anna next to me and mom was genuinely smiling. The fact that mom was getting married to aunt Bernie would need some time to sink in properly though.

During dinner, I remembered Gazette's words and said “Mom, Eline said you owe her a romantic dinner at Femme Fatale for helping you out yesterday. What did she do for you?”

Aunt Bernie and mom started laughing.

Anna looked at me with big eyes. “What?”

“Claire, please tell me you are just acting dense right now.”

It all started to click now. “Oh!”

“Just tell her to call me for a reservation honey.” Mom said.