“No, sweetheart. I’m not,” her mother said.
“I’ll be there in fifteen.”
“I love you, Joey.”
“I love you too, Mom. Listen, whatever it is we’ll get through it together, right? The way we always do?”
“Of course.” Her mother sniffed. “Together.”
“Or not at all.” Joey smiled at the familiar slogan. Unlike many girls, she’d always known her mother was her best friend. With no family to speak of, they had one another’s back through thick and thin. It cultured a unique relationship between them. They disconnected and she slid from the bed. A quick shower and a tooth brushing later, she donned a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and sank down on the edge of the bed, beside her still sleeping man. “Moose.”
“Hmm?”
“Something’s going on with my mom. I need to go check on her.”
His eyes popped open. “She sick?”
“No nothing like that. I’m not sure what is yet, but she sounded—off.”
“Want me to take you?”
“No, stay and sleep. You seem tired.”
“Long-ass week.” He scrubbed his face with his hand.
Joey gazed at him and smirked. With his tousled hair and bleary eyes he looked years younger. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“Okay. If anything goes down…”
“I know, I’ll call you.” She rolled her eyes and stole a kiss. For her man, suspicion was a lifestyle.
After the drive over, Joey unlocked the door to her childhood home and stepped inside. For once, the familiar scent of lilac and cleaning products brought no comfort. When her mom was agitated, she cleaned the house from top to bottom. Joey frowned as she closed and locked the door behind her. “Mom?” She scanned the open floor living room and kitchen, surprised her mother wasn’t knee-deep in baked goods.
“In my room.” The muffled voice drifted up from the off-white hall with beige and brown stripes running down the center.
Joey toed off her slip-ons in the entryway and walked toward the hallway. Each step felt heavier than the one before. None of this fit with the woman she’d grown up with. Her mind struggled to come up with different secrets, but in her heart she knew this had to be related to the events leading up to her birth. It was the one topic they never had an open conversation about. Her stomach rumbled and her airway constricted. She’d never been sure she wanted to hear the details.
When she reached the doorway at the far end of the hall, she paused in the doorway.
Pictures littered her mother’s bed. A large cardboard box rested beside her.
“Mom?”
“Come and sit beside me, sweetheart.” Her mother patted the space beside her on the white-and-blue flower-themed comforter.
The off-white walls littered with pictures of the two of them seemed to close in. Her heart rate kicked up a notch as she strolled the short distance to the bed and sank down.
“This has been a long time coming, I know. If it’d been left up to me, we would never have this discussion.”
“So, why are we having it?” Joey asked, wanting to beg her to stop. The absolute devastation in her mother’s eyes frightened the shit out of her. Whatever she had to say would change the way things were. Joey didn’t want that.
“Because it’s been taken out of my hands, and I refuse to let you be blindsided. I owe you more than that.”
“You’re starting to scare me,” Joey whispered.
Her mom turned to face her and took her hands. “I always led you to believe I wasn’t sure who your father was and that’s a lie.”
Joey moved to snatch her hands back, but her mother held tight. “Why would you do that?”