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In the three months Alex has been away at rodeo camp, Katherine has had less phone conversations with her son than she would’ve liked. She and George had agreed that he needed space - hell, that was part of the reason why they’d let him attend the camp. Well, that and the fact that it was on scholarship. A summer away would be good for him; that doesn’t mean Katherine liked her only contact with her fourth son for three months being a bi-weekly phone call that lasted twenty minutes on average before the reception went haywire. That’s middle of nowhere Montana for you.
As she sits in the air-conditioning of the airport lobby, she nervously rummages in her purse. Today is when Alex’s flight is due back. In - she checks her phone - approximately ten minutes, she’ll see her son again. Buying him plane tickets from Colorado to Montana and back again was expensive, but quite frankly, she and George couldn’t afford the time it would take to roadtrip him across state lines. She opens up their text messages, smiling at the last picture he’d sent her; a thumbs up around a bottle of lemonade, with the message reading, ‘Love you, Mom! About to board the plane. We can meet by the baggage area! See you in six hours.’
In the few phone calls she’s had with him - and from what she’s gathered from George, who’s also spoken to their son a couple of times - Alex seemed to be taking the breakup with Jackie well. That was good. Katherine loved the kids, but their hormonal relationship issues were taxing on the whole family. Alex and Jackie’s breakup had occurred over phone around a day after the girl departed back to New York - Katherine frowns, remembering the way her fourth son had silently pushed himself away from the dinner table after announcing the news and spent the rest of the night in the stable. The next morning, it had been straight to the airport for rodeo camp.
It was for the better, anyway. Katherine wanted to be supportive of her god daughter and she knew that Jackie’s whole life had changed so drastically over the course of a single year that she wouldn’t blame the girl for not wanting to date. Frankly, it wasn’t the first thing on her god daughter’s mind anyway, between Princeton and grief - Katherine privately thought that it also wasn’t a great idea to date anyone you had to live under the same roof with, but she and George had played through this conversation a hundred times in the privacy of their bedroom, and it had always ended with a long sigh and mutual forehead rubbing. Teenagers were complicated, and weird. Especially teenagers like theirs.
If she never had to walk in again on Cole and Jackie giggling and gazing meaningfully at each other over a tub of ice cream, well, she would die happy. Announcing the news of Jackie’s return to Alex had gone better than she thought - she’d broached the subject on their second to last phone call, and he’d taken it well. Not that she expected he would’ve taken it badly, but he’d sounded genuinely okay. That only makes her more worried for how he’ll feel about Cole and Jackie’s newfound closeness. Is it newfound? Katherine thinks back to the wedding - to Cole’s (in hindsight) targeted speech, and rubs her temples, hearing the airport intercom blast. She and George never run out of things to talk about, do they, between the kids and the bankruptcy? Another thing to add to the list.
She checks her phone again. Any minute now, Alex should be here. Katherine’s chest feels tight - from the very moment that Will got married, she’s been aware that all of her boys are growing up so fast. Danny’s acceptance into Juilliard had only worsened the feeling, and at this moment, the image of one of her babies exiting the plane all alone makes her feel a little like crying.
She stands, and prepares to head to the baggage claim - she knows Alex’s old suitcase like the back of her hand - before something catches her eye. It’s Alex, a few feet away, and he hasn’t noticed her yet. He’s locked into conversation with another boy - maybe a friend from rodeo camp? Alex looks different. She knows her son, and she knows how teenage boys grow - in the three months he’s been away, he’s gotten a little taller, and his hair is long enough that it’s undoubtedly encroaching mullet territory. George will love it.
His rodeo friend (she’ll pry a name from her son during the ride back to Silver Falls) is laughing at something Alex said. He’s got big curls of black hair, and a friendly smile. Katherine feels her own lips curl up. Between this unnamed boy and Kiley, Katherine’s glad that her shyest son appears to be surrounded by such happy people.
The boys stop their conversation to exchange books, and Katherine watches her son flip his open to the front cover. This far away, she can’t tell what books they are, but knowing Alex, some type of fantasy. He’s always loved the genre. The first book he ever carried around as a chubby cheeked elementary schooler had been The Hobbit, and it had seemed to incite a lifelong passion. It’s cute.
There must be something written there, in the fold of the book - he examines it for a while, and she watches an intense smile creep up his face. She feels a little taken aback at just how happy he looks; her son’s quiet. Alex only smiles like that when he’s really happy, and very comfortable with another person. She recalls his first grade picture day - someone had told him that his teeth had looked odd in his picture, and he’d come home crying. It hadn’t escaped her notice that every picture day since had seen him returning with closed mouth smiles. This other rodeo boy, she thought, must’ve grown close with him in the past three months. It’s good to have such good friends.
Then, as Katherine prepares to walk over to them, Alex, still smiling that intense smile, leans up and kisses the other boy across the mouth. She feels frozen still, watching the two of them knock foreheads, smiling. Her brain scrambles. Katherine liked to think that she had a solid read on all of her kids, and who they are. She hadn’t been surprised when Nathan had come out to her and George as gay as a shaking eleven year old, though she’d never told her son that. No - they’d smiled and hugged him and made an effort to learn about those things, much to Nathan’s pleased embarrassment.
A mother just knows these things, she’d confided in her husband later that night, and he’d acquiesced. Katherine feels that rationale fall away, and she figures that, anyway, it was a stupid line of thought. She wonders if Alex will be comfortable enough to say anything to her - she’s completely prepared to turn around, head to the baggage area, and allow Alex to tell her at his own pace when his friend pulls away from the boy's kiss, and points towards her. Too late.
Katherine gives an awkward wave at the boy, watching as Alex turns around. The look on her son’s face isn’t panicked - that makes her feel a little better, that he’s not scared of her reaction - but it is uncomfortable. Fair enough. Aware of her son’s eyes on her, she takes out her phone, and types out a quick message.
‘You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, Alex. I love you. Meet you at the baggage claim area.’ With that, she tucks her phone into her pocket, watches as Alex receives the message, and walks away.
By the time she gets to the baggage area, Alex is somehow, already there. Fast walker. He’s holding his luggage in his balled hands, shifting from foot to foot. To her surprise, friendly boy is there too. One of his arms is thrown over Alex’s shoulders. Now that she’s close enough to them, she sees that friendly rodeo boy’s book is a copy of Dune. She wonders if Alex’s is the same. As she approaches, Alex seems to straighten up. He and rodeo boy make intense eye contact, several times in a row, and Katherine thinks that all of the hormonal teenage couples in the house just make her more appreciative of being an adult. She’s seen enough meaningful eye contact to last her a lifetime.
Seeing that he doesn’t want to make the first move, Katherine does. She extends her hand out, and friendly rodeo boy shakes it, his smile growing. “Hi, I’m Katherine Walter, Alex’s mom. Are you from the rodeo camp?” She asks, drawing her hand away, and friendly rodeo boy nods.
“I’m Malakai, ma’am. Yeah, I went to rodeo camp with Alex.” He says, and Katherine nods. Alex seems to be on the verge of saying something - at last, he does. “Malakai’s my boyfriend,” he says shortly, quietly, “...and I just wanted to let you know.” Her boy finishes awkwardly, and Katherine watches, endeared, as her son’s fingers trace a pattern on Malakai’s arm. They seem sweet.
“Well, Malakai, it’s nice to meet you. Do you need a ride from the airport?” Katherine asks, and the boy smiles, shaking his head. “No. Thanks for the offer, but I live in the city. My mom should be here -” he checks his phone, and his eyebrows shoot up. He presses a kiss to Alex’s head, squeezing him into a hug, and hefts his own luggage over his shoulders. “- now, actually. She called me two times, and I missed both calls. Yikes.” He glances at Alex, back to Katherine, and presses another kiss to the other boy’s face. “We’re good to Zoom tonight, right babe? I should be through the first few chapters by then,” Alex nods, face soft, and Malakai turns to Katherine, giving her a nervous little salute. “Nice meeting you, ma’am.”
Katherine returns the gesture, and the two of them, mother and son, watch him hurry off to the entrance. When he vanishes from sight, Katherine looks over to Alex. His face is still soft, and in his hands, the book - a copy of The Once and Future King looks well loved. Sticky notes poke out from the sides, scribbled with unfamiliar handwriting. She’s got the urge to draw him into a hug. She does, and Alex wraps his arms around her, breathing deeply. She says to her son, aware of the quiet air between the two of them despite the noise of Denver International Airport, “He seems like a nice boy, Alex. I’m glad you were comfortable enough to tell me.”
Alex lets out a deep breath. “I love you, Mom. He is. He’s…” he sounds bashful, and Katherine is, at that moment, so, so happy for her son, “...he’s great.”
Katherine’s got the feeling that Alex won’t be bothered by Cole and Jackie, not at all. She’s got the feeling that everything’s going to be okay.