Amara feels she has at last found someone who makes her happy and less alone when she meets Trevor at a concert. However, Amara learns that Trevor and her mother, Fiona, have a common past when Trevor asks to see her mother.
My reality at 29 was taking care of my cat and running a busy business. Throughout the day, patrons would place their favorite orders and finicky ones would gripe about portion sizes or lack of ice in their beverages. And I spent the nights playing with my cat, Jasper.
This was my life up until the weekend I decided to make a change and took a leave of absence from work to attend a concert with my pals.
Trevor and I met there.
I was single for a few years before to meeting Trevor, so I’ve wanted to meet someone for a very long time.
In typical mom-speak, my mother Fiona would add, “You’re not getting younger, Amara.”
I would laugh and roll my eyes at her, of course, but I agreed with everything she said.
She would say, “I’m not saying get married,” for the whole of her prepared speech. “I just hope that when you return home, you don’t feel alone. You know, Jasper is only capable of so much.
We clicked right away when I met Trevor; he was the person I had always longed to meet. He had a sense of humor that was equal to mine and would make me giggle uncontrollably. Jasper adored him as well.
My mother used to say, “It’s the way they make you laugh, that speaks volumes of who they are.”
Once more, she was correct.
However, after only a few weeks of dating, Trevor surprised me.
His eyes were serious as he replied, “I really want to meet your mom.”
I wavered. It felt too soon, even though I liked where Trevor’s relationship was going. I wasn’t ready to bring him home to meet my mother, much less my brother, at that point.
“Isn’t our pace a little too quick?” I responded, attempting to hide my worry behind a smile.
Why I felt nervous about the whole situation was beyond me. Even though Trevor was kind, charming, and always gave me the best care possible, there was something unsettling about bringing him to my boyhood home.
“No, not at all,” he smiled in response, dismissing my worry. “I just want to learn more about you and your family.”
I observed him engaging in play with Jasper, who was the center of attention.
It was logical. Trevor appeared to be here to stay. There was only one way to find out if he was the one for me, whether I was moving too fast or not. I had to allow him to see my mom.
Trevor wanted to meet my mom, I told her over the phone. She was thrilled at the thought, and wanted to invite him home for dinner right away, which surprised me.
“It will be flawless,” she pledged.
I took my time getting dressed on Saturday before Trevor and I left for my mother’s place. In an attempt to create an impression of a woman he wanted to impress, he bombarded me with questions about her.
“Do you think we could get along?” As we got out of the car, he hesitantly requested while clutching a bottle of wine and a bouquet.
I was excited since this was the moment I had been waiting for. Nobody knew me better than my mother, so she could tell right away if Trevor and I were a good fit. If not, Mom would most likely whisper it to me during the post-dinner dishwashing.
We waited for Mom to let us in by standing at the door.
I was thinking she would make a nice introduction and snicker at how hard Trevor had worked. Rather, there was a shock of familiarity and incredulity.
Trevor, is that you, please? My mother’s voice rose as she gasped.
Conversely, Trevor appeared stunned. His jaw had dropped, and his eyes were wide.
“Mrs. Thompson?,” he blurted out, his words hardly coming out. “You are the one!”
As a bystander on my own porch, I watched their reunion take place.
“You know Trevor, Mom?” I enquired.
“Oh, Amara,” Mom said, her voice brimming with sentiment. “I do, of course,”
Mom started the story by pouring each of us a glass of wine.
“At a children’s home years ago, right before you were born, I volunteered. When I was accumulating my hours as a counselor, it was a component of my community service. One of the children in the first house I was put was named Trevor. Because he was older than the other kids, we had a unique bond.
“You know I helped you pass out the dinner plates, don’t I?” Trevor thought back.
“You did, indeed!” Mom cried out, amazed that Trevor had remembered. But then I had to move away from home with my sister because I was hired for a long-term position. Trevor and I lost contact at that point. Over the years, you and that Christmas play in the yellow bounce house have never left my thoughts.
Trevor grinned.
He remarked, “I’ve always wondered why you never returned.” “You had such a maternal instinct about you, even though you were much younger than most of the volunteers; I would have jumped at the chance to come with you!”
As I was setting the table, my mother questioned Trevor about his life up to that point.
He said, “I was adopted shortly after.” Excellent parents. I was sent to boarding school, which was an interesting experience. It presented me with numerous chances.
My mother clung to Trevor’s comments, and I knew that seeing him succeeding so well in his work as a software developer gave her true happiness.
Trevor loved his mom’s homemade dinner so much that he decided to wash the dishes afterward. Mom’s food was a hit.
Trevor talked about my mom later when we were driving back to my apartment, as if he had been waiting his whole life to see her again.
“But Amara, it was just a bonus,” he remarked. The fact that Fiona Thompson became your mother. All I truly wanted to know was more about who you are and what matters to you.
The night served as a reminder of both how erratic life can be and how interconnected we are all.
Mom loves Trevor so much that she’s already hoping our kids will inherit his eyes. However, Trevor and I have made the decision to move slowly and see where things end up. We discovered something unusual: Trevor fit right in with his new family and they seemed to have a common past.