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Bernie looks up from her book as the front door opens and closes softly. She listens as Elliot toes off his boots and sheds his jacket. The silence is lighter than the last time she had been here. Something was different about her son. Something good if the lack of brooding intensity is anything to go by, which it definitely is when it comes to her Elliot.
Elliot steps into her view, and she smiles. Her son radiates joy and peace. He looks at her, not all that surprised to see her, “hey Mama.”
She takes in his appearance. His clothes are wrinkled, and its obvious by the scruff on his face he hadn’t been home in a few days. “Hey, you look—” she grins, and he fidgets.
He runs his hand across his head and down the back of his neck before grinning, “yeah, it’s been a long few days.” He moves and sits down next to her on the couch, “what are you up to?”
“I came to see my son while Katie is at a work conference, but he wasn’t here.” She grins, “know anything about that?”
He chuckles softly, “he had something to take care of.” He leans back on the couch and smiles, his face lighting up, “something personal.”
She leans back too, and he lays his head on her shoulder, “I see you finally found your light, Elliot.” She feels him shift to look at her, but she doesn’t move, “how’s Olivia?”
“How?” She hears the curiosity in his voice, and she chuckles slightly as he leans back again apparently deciding not to question her any further. She can hear the happiness in his voice, “she’s good. Really good.”
“Good,” she pats his knee and stays silent knowing he will talk when he’s ready.
“We, uh we talked,” his voice wavers just slightly, “about a lot. Had plenty of time while we waited—”
“Waited for what?”
“Liv and Noah were threatened.” He sits up abruptly then, and she’s not even sure he realizes he’s done it. She can feel the anger radiating from him, and she reaches out her hand to grasp his, letting him know she’s here. He takes a deep breath, and she senses the anger dissipating as he speaks, “They’re safe now. It’s a long story.” She squeezes his hand, and he turns on the couch to look at her, and she sits up so she can pay attention, sensing the importance of whatever he’s about to say. She sees the tears pooling in his eyes, and she leans forward slightly to wipe them away. He takes her hand in his again before she can lower it back to her lap, “we talked for hours. Came to an understanding on some things. We decided—”
Bernie sits up straighter then, waiting for whatever Elliot is about to say, knowing the next few words will change a lot going forward.
“We decided to rebuild our relationship,” he pauses, and his smile is infectious, “we decided to move forward as partners, for now.”
Bernie is sure for now has some special meaning to it, but she doesn’t quite understand exactly what he means, “you mean—”
He cuts her off, too excited for her to finish, “we felt like boyfriend and girlfriend were,” he grins, “not the right words to say the least, so we decided on partners because it’s what we’ve always been even when we had thousands of miles between us. We’ve been partners for better or for worse.”
Bernie catches the wistful look on his face like he’s remembering something from long ago, and she almost wants to comment on how those words sound a lot like wedding vows, but she refrains. He’s too caught up in the memory anyway. “I’m happy for you, Elliot. For both of you.”
His face lights up again, and he pulls his phone from his pocket, “she um- she let me meet Noah properly this time.” He shows her a picture of the three of them, they’re all three squished into the frame and smiling. “He’s a great kid, Mama. He invited me to his next dance recital, and he made me promise to join them for spaghetti night this week. It’s apparently supposed to be on Thursday’s, but he wasn’t home. You’re invited too if you want. I told Liv you were home for the next few days. He loves dance, and his favorite . . .”
Bernie smiles as Elliot rambles on, telling her all the details about the boy she is sure will be her youngest grandson soon enough. Now she understands the change in her son. He had finally put away his fear and selfishness, and Olivia had let him back in and now the possibilities between the two were endless. Her son was happy, happier than she had seen him in a long time.
“Elliot?” He’s still talking, animated even, and she squeezes his hand gently, “Elliot!”
He finally takes a breath to answer her, “Yes, Mama?”
She points down at his lap where he had dropped his phone sometime during the story about Noah beating him at some video game, “your phone.”
Elliot picks up his phone and smiles at the picture lighting up his screen. She can tell it’s the same picture he had just shown her with Noah Benson scrolling across the top. He hits some button on the phone, and the screen changes and shows the smiling face of the boy he had just been animatedly telling her about.
“Hey bud!”
“Hey Elliot!” Noah waves, “mom said I could call you. I wanted to tell you thank you. Thank you for protecting me and keeping me safe from the bad guys.” Noah smiles and looks around him quickly before adding, “and thank you for protecting my mom.”
Bernie’s heart absolutely melts, and she holds her hand to her heart wishing she could wrap that sweet boy in her arms. Elliot smiles, “You’re welcome, Noah. You and your mom are very important to me, and I’ll always be here if you need me.”
Noah grins, eyes slightly misty, “I know. She does too, now.” Bernie watches the camera spin around as a door opens in the background, and Olivia’s voice breaks through, “hey Elliot!”
Bernie sees the way both of them light up when the cameras are focused on each other, and Elliot almost turns to mush beside her, “hey!”
The silence drones on as the two just stare at each other and smile. Bernie finally has enough and takes the phone from Elliot, making split second plans for their afternoon, “Olivia! I hear Noah loves spaghetti.”
“I do!” Noah pipes up from somewhere in the background.
“Yeah, he does.” Olivia smiles at her, “we missed it this week though. I hope Elliot extended our invitation for make-up spaghetti night.”
“He did.” Bernie smiles, glancing over at Elliot who was looking at her questioningly, “I was just wondering, and I do hope I’m not overstepping, if you and Noah would like to come over for spaghetti tonight. I was making it anyway. I’ll even make some homemade brownies.”
“What do you think, Noah?”
“Please Mom!” Noah’s face comes back into view as Olivia moves the camera, “can we? I want to see Elliot again and meet his mom!”
“Okay,” Olivia turns her attention back to the screen, “what can we bring?”
Bernie thinks about her answer for a second before glancing up at Elliot, “nothing but yourselves. You’ve already brought the light back to my son. Spaghetti is the least I can do. Be here at six, okay?”
Olivia wipes some tears away from her eyes, voice full of emotion, “okay, we’ll be there.”
Bernie waves and hands the phone back to Elliot, whose voice also breaks when he speaks, “see you soon, Liv!” He moves to hang up the call but quickly stops, “Liv!”
“El?”
Bernie watches the blush creep up Elliot’s neck, “can you, umm can you bring my button up shirt with you as you come? That’s the only one that matches that suit.”
Bernie’s eyebrow shoots up in amusement at the way Olivia blushes, “uh, sure. Yeah, I can bring it. Your tie too?”
“Please.” Elliot ducks down behind his phone like it would actually hide him, “you can keep the hoodie.”
Bernie hears Olivia chuckle, “I kept it for almost thirteen years; I’m pretty sure that’s mine now.”
Bernie couldn’t help the snort that escapes as she looks between her son and Olivia as Elliot stumbles over his words, “I meant—”
“It’s okay, Elliot.” Olivia fills the silence with laughter, “We’ll see you soon. Bye.”
Elliot finally looks over at her and the blush is even more evident in his cheeks, as he opens his mouth and slowly tries to explain, “it’s not what you think. We didn’t— We just—.”
Bernie threw her hands up, not doing the best job at hiding her amusement or laughter, “I’m not thinking anything. You’re both adults; it’s none of my business!”
“Mama!”
She laughs at his exasperated sigh and the fact his mouth is hanging wide open, “close your mouth Elliot before you catch flies. Go take a shower.” She points him toward the bathroom, but then decides to have a little fun, “unless you’ve already had one then go get changed.” She adds a wink for dramatic effect.
“Mama!”
“Don’t Mama me!” She laughs as he narrows his eyes, “hurry up, you have to go grocery shopping.”
“Why?”
“Because your girlf- partner and her son are coming over for spaghetti, and you have absolutely nothing sustainable in this house.” Bernie rolls her eyes good naturedly, “oh, and Elliot?”
“Yes, Mama?”
She takes her sweet time picking her book back up off the coffee table and finding her place again, “you may want to wipe the lipstick off your face before going to the store.” She somehow manages to hold in her laughter as he swipes quickly at the lipstick stains scattered across his face, failing to actually remove any of them. She turns the page in her book and looks up over the rim of her glasses, clearly amused and deadpans, “you missed a spot, dear. Just there and there.” She points out a few of the stains, and laughs again as Elliot swats her hand away before finally getting up off the couch and making his way toward his bedroom.
Bernie watches him go, and her heart swells with pride and happiness for her son. Last year she had told him, “I look at you, Elliot, and I don’t see any light. There’s just this…I don’t know what to call it.” But now, now she sees a new beginning. A light shining so bright that it can only be described as one thing . . . true love.