Page 72 of Kissing Chaos
With a bit of luck, I manage to doze back off. When I wake again, it is to incessant pounding on the front door andSadie barking. Except the knocking is not on Noah’s door. It’s on mine, next door.
“Shit,” I mumble as I stumble out of the covers.
Sadie is already at the door, complaining loudly in her own way and stomping her nails against the hardwoods.
“Quiet, girl. Sit.”
She sits, but the wiggle butt ensues, whines and whimpers filling the air in her excitement for me to open the door. Curled in on myself as I try to keep the pain to a minimum, I unlock and open the door, peaking out. Sure enough, my mother is pounding on the door to my loft. Reece must have given her the address.
“Mom, you’re banging on the wrong door,” I whisper-yell.
She turns abruptly, startled by my voice. “Oh, Jett,” she says as she quickly closes the short distance between us and wraps me into a hug. “Sorry, I thought that was your place.”
“Technically.” I blush. “I’m staying at Noah’s.”
Mom’s eyes light up, and I can see two thousand questions brewing, but she keeps them to herself and ushers me back through the door.
“Come on, get back inside and I’ll fix you up,” she says as she nearly pushes me back through the door and closes it behind us. It’s then that I notice the bags with her.
“You didn’t need to drive down here, Mom. It’s like a half-hour drive one way. I’m fine,” I lie, wishing desperately that I was curled back up under the fluffy comforter in Noah’s room.
“Hush, you. Go put on one of your shows and curl up.” She waves me off with her hands, guiding me toward the couch. “I’ll get you some ginger ale and animal crackers before I start getting the hot water bottle prepared.”
Mom takes care of what she says, and I return to bed, not interested in turning on the television. When my mother waltzesin with my water jug filled to the brim with ice and ginger ale, a bowl of animal crackers, and both ibuprofen and acetaminophen options, I can’t take the questions swirling around in my head anymore.
“What made you come, Mom?”
“I know things are a little strained between us, but you’re still my baby.” She leans forward and rests her hand on my multi-blanket covered knee. “Reece also filled me in on your romance. He must not have realized that you wouldn’t be at your own home when he sent me the address earlier.”
“Yeah, that part is really new.” I feel myself wanting to shy away at the admission but force myself to own it. There is nothing wrong with doing what makes me happy. “Reece doesn’t know about the sharing of lofts yet.”
“I brought lavender candles and bubble bath. Can I interest you in that?”
“Probably after I pop something for the pain.” The level of exhaustion that I feel is top notch. No way this is just from my period. As I try to think on what could have me this exhausted, I realize that it’s most likely a combination of the crazy changes over the last few months as well as the fact that we stayed up until almost one in the morning watching a west coast hockey game.
Mom slips down the hall to the bathroom and starts running bath water.
“You don’t need to pamper me, Mom. I can do this part myself,” I holler after her, but she keeps at it.
“Let your mama take care of her baby, why don’t you?”
Instead of arguing as she slips back into the bedroom, I ask shyly, “Did you make a way for me to fall asleep without slipping down?”
“I sure did. Go enjoy it. We can talk about your boyfriend and the address change after you get a nap in.”
As I sink into the bubble bath, the lavender candle’s aroma surrounding me in the small bathroom, I silently thank my mother for her nosy, excessive need to take care of me even when I make it absolutely impossible for her to do so. Sadie settles on the rug beside the bath, and I rest my head on the headrest of towels that Mom folded for me.
I don’t know how much I doze, but the water has cooled when I come to. There are clean clothes and one of Noah’s sweatshirts resting on the counter with a pair of purple fuzzy socks on top. As I move through the motions of drying off and redressing, a small part of me dreads the thought of drying my hair. Instead of dealing with it, I towel dry and pull it into a knot on top of my head.
About the time that I realize Sadie isn’t with me, I notice two voices talking down the hall. Picking up my pace, I nearly run to the kitchen and sling myself into Noah’s already open arms.
“Hey, gorgeous. How ya’ feelin’?” he asks. His hand immediately starts its trek up and down my spine in a soothing motion as he drops a kiss on my forehead.
“Better thanks to Mama’s intervention. What are you doing home?” When I look up, he smirks at me before looking at my mom. Her gentle smile has me looking back and forth between mother and boyfriend. “What’s going on with you two? This is kind of creepy, to be honest.”
Noah chuckles before pulling an envelope from his back pocket. “I left work early so I could pick up this,” he says while placing the envelope into my hand.
Glancing up at him through my lashes, I suddenly feel bashful. “What is it?”
