Chapter 17
Georgie
“Come on! You haven’t told me anything all day. Where are we going?”
“You’re horrible with surprises, has anyone ever told you that?” He looks over and cocks his eyebrow.
“I don’t really have a lot of expertise in the surprise department. Everything from my life up until this point has been cut and dry. You’ll do this to help out the community, you’ll marry when you’re this age. See, not a lot of surprise.” I shrug my shoulders as he looks over from the driver’s seat. The twitch in his jaw lets me know he’s trying to reel in his temper. He gets this way whenever I talk about life in the compound.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“You just blind side me sometimes. The way you lived, it makes me want to fuck someone up. To drive down to that prison they’re all at and pound on every last one of them that made you feel worthless. Especially that piece of shit you called a mom.” He grinds the steering wheel beneath his fists.
“Second mom really. Although Gwen was never a mom to me. Can I be honest with you for a second?”
“You can always be honest with me.”
“Sometimes… sometimes I miss my real mom. She wasn’t one of the bad ones. She used to sneak me places so we could be by ourselves and I was free to be a child. She’d even sneak me some toys, which were illegal in the compound. Somehow she figured out how to make me secret cakes on my birthdays.”
“She sounds great, other than the fact that she let everyone treat you like shit.”
“In my heart, I know she was a prisoner in the lifestyle like I was. She never seemed to fit in and my father and Gwen were always on her to do better.”
“Have you ever thought about visiting her in prison? If what you’re saying is true she could be an innocent bystander.”
“I think about it every day. When I was a teenager she used to tell me stories of her family and of course she used to talk to me about Ashlyn. Someday I’ll get the courage to go and see her. You know, she sent me a letter the other day.”
“You didn’t say anything about it? What’d she write?”
“She wrote there was a lot she had to explain to me but she had to do it face-to-face. I don’t know how that’s possible, maybe she’s up for parole or something?”
“I’ll look into it for you baby.”
“Thanks, I just don’t ever want to be near my father or Gwen ever again. I think that’s my main reservation in going to see her.” He places his hand over my own and pulls it onto his thigh.
“Let’s talk about something else. We’re almost at our final destination and I want you to have a great time tonight.”
“How’s training going?”
“Fantastic.” He lifts my hand bringing it up to his lips.
We pull up to a house that I’ve seen before when Ash had to stop by and run the baby in. I’ve never been in because I had no reason to, why the hell did he bring me here? Surprise my butt.
“Your mom’s the surprise? Really Jayden? A little warning would have been nice.”
“Sunshine, would you have agreed to come here willingly? I’ve been hinting about bringing you to my mom’s for a few weeks now. Every time you get a look of pure horror on your face so I figured it’d be best for your anxiety to just show up.”
“Last night we…”
“Made mouth love to each other’s genitals, played a little sucky fucky, I was a cunning linguist and you Lewinski’d…” I slam my hand to his mouth.
“She’ll know and think I’m some common two-dollar whore!”
“They aren’t that common.”
“Shut it! Take me home!” I can’t meet her less than 24 hours after the things her son did to me… and I did to him.
“Too late.” He opens his door and jumps out. “Hey ma dukes!” He yells and I look to find her standing on her front porch watching us curiously.
“Crap on a cracker.” Jayden opens my door and I reluctantly step out. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Mrs. Cage from Ash. I’ve never met somebody’s parents before and our relationship is new, well I guess it isn’t new. We’ve been seeing each other for a while now. I can do this and decide to have a positive attitude. She doesn’t need to meet me when I’m a Debbie Downer.
Standing next to Jayden, he grabs my hand and walks me towards the house. Or he wanted to, but my legs decided not to work.
“I didn’t think you’d act this weird about it. Do you want me to take you home?”
“I don’t want to go home, but, my legs won’t work.” I point to them trying to show him the problem.
“Consider your blunder solved Cupcake.” He bends down and picks me up bridal style. How embarrassing!
“Put me down.”
“I’m at your service. Don’t ever say we don’t make a great team.” He flashes me a cocky grin.
When we get to where his mom’s standing I find her laughing. I guess having a son as crazy as Jayden, you have to take everything in stride. I’m sure nothing surprises her anymore.
“Mom, this is Sunshine. Sunshine, this is the best mom in the whole wide world.” He bends down and kisses his mom on the cheek.
“Always the charmer. Can you put the poor girl down so I can properly greet her?” His mom asks laughing.
He fakes me out and pretends to drop me causing me to squeal.
“Jayden Carlisle put that poor girl down right now.”
Once I’m on my feet she pulls me in for a hug. It’s a really nice hug. One that makes you feel warm and fuzzy and really gets you on that last final squeeze.
“It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Cage.”
“Oh, none of that. It’s Judy, sweetie.”
“Judy.” I confirm.
She throws her arm around me and leads me through the front doorway. It’s gorgeous and homey. Very country bumpkin for Massachusetts from what I’ve seen. Beautiful woodwork and cute little knick knacks adorn the walls.
“I’m just finishing up dinner. Jay sweetie, bring her to the dining room. The food will be out shortly.”
“Sure thing mom.” He grabs my hand and leads me away.
We get to a hallway filled with pictures of all four Cage boys. Of course, I need to investigate. There are lots of pictures of all them from infancy to now. There are a few that I can’t tell which twin is which. Holy cow they looked scary alike growing up.
“Which one are you in this one?” I look over at Jay and point to the picture.
“I’m on the right. Luckily for you now, we have different hair and when he’s wearing short sleeves, the tattoos are a dead giveaway.”
“And your beard. What’s this one? Prom?”
He looks down like he doesn’t want to explain the picture. He looks no older than 17 and rocking a tux.
“Is it Josh?”
“No, that’s me. But it’s not prom. Long story short, my mom overheard me saying how I was gonna bag a chick when I was younger. She made me go down to the girls house and apologize to both her and the girls mom for speaking in a derogatory way about her body. After that she put me in the school choir to keep me out of trouble. I fucking hated it, but it turned out that I could actually sing. Plus the choir chicks were hot. Mom didn’t know and chorus didn’t end up cramping my style.”
“So that was a recital? You are something else.”
“Don’t I know it.”
When we walk through the doorway to the dining room I’m startled when I see someone sitting at the table. She must know it when I take a sharp intake of air and clutch my hand to my chest.
“Sorry dear, I’m not mobile these days. I get somewhere and I have to keep my ass there.” She smiles.
“Granny!” Jayden rushes around the table and kisses her on the cheek. Could he seriously be any sweeter to these women?
“Now I have to introduce you to my new number one lady. Don’t fret though, you come in a close second. Granny, this is Georgie.”
“It’s nice to meet you dear. I’ve heard so much about you.” She smiles at me.
“I’ve heard a lot about you too. It’s great to meet you.”
After that the night passes in no time. It’s amazing how fast a dinner can go by when you actually care and want to hear about what people are saying. At the compound our meals were eaten in silence. No conversation or asking how our days were. These moments make me realize how much I missed out on in life. I’m so freaking happy to be here.
As we walk out the door with our arms loaded with Tupperware filled with food, we shout our goodbyes. It isn’t until five minutes into the ride home that I say something.
“Thank you.” I whisper.
“For what?”
“For… being you. Thank you for feeling comfortable enough to introduce me to the most important people in your life. It means a lot.”
He brings my hand to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. “You don’t have to thank me. My family is yours now baby.”
And I cry. Big gulping sobs of emotion are released and maybe a little snot. I can’t help it, sometimes he is so freaking sweet.
“Now let’s get home and get down to business woman!”
“You always know just what to say.” We laugh as we make our way home.