by Megan West
John just wasn’t exactly an emotionally charged man with much to say. Kurt had observed it from a young age and developed an admiration for his father that was quite unique. His mother, on the other hand, was quite vocal and obvious when it came to her feelings. Kurt had always found it funny how his mom and dad ended up together. They were the perfect example that opposites did indeed attract but, at their core, they shared important values and found harmony that way.
Kurt opened up his old bedroom door and was met with a shock. It was completely transformed. It was no longer the room from his teenage years. It didn’t have all his old posters on the wall or clothes lingering in the closet. None of his old trinkets were sitting atop the shelves. Even the carpet and color of the walls were different. He dropped the heavy bag to the floor and looked around. It was transformed into quite a lovely guest room. Just as he took his first step inside to look more closely, he heard the front door of the house open downstairs.
“Kurt, honey?” It was his mother calling out to him, wondering if he had already arrived. He listened intently, but there were no sounds to indicate his father was with her. He stepped out of the bedroom and walked to the top of the stairs. His mother’s eyes shined with pure joy and she immediately bounded up the stairs to pull him into a tight hug.
“Oh, Kurt,” she mumbled into his shoulder. He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around his small mother. She was very short and had a small frame which made Kurt look gigantic beside her.
“I’ve miss you so much,” she said as she pulled away from the hug. She reached up and cupped his cheeks. He could almost hear the cooing noise she wanted to make, but it never came. She finally let go and asked, “Did you see the bedroom yet?”
“What is going on in there?” He asked in surprise.
It was obvious it had been completely remodeled, but he wanted all the details. He could only assume it had been his mother’s idea to update his old bedroom. She led him over to it and confirmed it was her idea. She said she wanted a more grown-up place for her son to stay now that he would be in her house for the first time in years. She had tried to do it with what he would like in mind.
“Although,” she said rather quietly, “I can’t say I’m entirely sure I know what this son likes.”
“What do you mean by this son, mom?” Kurt draped his arm over his mother’s frail shoulders and squeezed as his eyes looked over every detail of the room.
“You’re a mature young man now, Kurt. You’ve been gone for so long, too. I don’t know how your tastes have changed.”
Something about what his mother said broke his heart. He knew she supported his every move and was happy to see him living his own life, but he rarely stopped to think about what that really entailed. It wasn’t as simple as being away from his old home and his parents; he was so far removed that they were also missing out on how he was changing over time. There were little things they didn’t know about him and he knew that made his mother sad.
“I love it, mom.” His voice was soft in the way he only ever spoke to her. Nobody else got to hear him speak like that. It was only his mother who moved him enough to speak so softly.
Once Kurt was settled into his room and everything was unpacked he headed downstairs to find his mom had already made a delicious vegetable stew and some dinner rolls. She asked all about his life on the Army base and if he had made good friends out there. She, of course, asked if he had a girlfriend. He knew she meant no harm. She just wanted to know all about her son’s life.
Once they were done eating he insisted on cleaning up the kitchen while she relaxed on the couch in the living room and watched television. It was right around the time he finished cleaning up that his father got home and greeted him. They all went to the living room and watched a short movie together before his dad went to bed.
That was when his mother turned to look at him with a look in her eye that meant something new was headed his way. It didn’t look like anything bad so he wasn’t nervous.
“Kurt, honey,” she started off before scooting closer to him on the couch. “I prepared a little something for your arrival tomorrow night. Just a little party. Oh, honey, it’s just been so long since you’ve been here!”
Chapter Two
Kurt ran his thumbs on the underside of the sport coat’s collar and looked at his reflection in the mirror. This was definitely not how he was used to dressing, but he saw nothing wrong in giving his mother the small joy of seeing her only son in the coat she had so kindly bought for him with the party in mind. After all, she was the only person in the world who would put so much thought and effort into welcoming him home.
Kurt sighed. Maybe it was time to think about visiting her more often. He had his independence, but maybe it was too much to pull away from his mother so much.
After opting to keep the sports coat open, he walked out of the bedroom and went downstairs to find his mom. She was busy in the kitchen making sure everything was ready before setting it out on the long table with a solid hunter green table cloth. It was in the formal dining room; soon to be covered in finger foods and drinks. She turned to see Kurt leaning against the archway that led from the hall to the kitchen and she smiled, eyes shining.
“Oh, Kurt honey,” she said softly as she took a step forward to survey him closer, “You look so handsome.” She looked at him with a lot of pride before turning to look at all the food and then instructed him to help her set it out. By the time they were done, the first couple of guests had arrived.
They were two old friends from high school, Jason and Tim, who had apparently remained best friends even until now. Jason filled Kurt in on how he had been the first of the two to marry.
“But, you know, Tim with his competitive spirit didn’t take that lying down.” Then he chuckled and added, with a wink, “Or, rather he did and that’s why his wife got pregnant before mine!” The two men burst into laughter. Kurt felt rather like an oaf forcefully chuckling along to such an elementary and crude joke, but he didn’t want to be rude. Just then, the front door opened and a family piled in.
Kurt side stepped the two men to greet whoever had just entered, but it wasn’t long until he recognized them.
“Aunt Madge!” Kurt called out with a boom. He held his arms wide open to hug her and then looked down at her with a smile. “I didn't expect to see you!” It was true. It had been countless years since he had spoken to his aunt Madge. She had moved out of the state during his final year of high school. That in combination with him leaving home and rarely returning meant it had been almost a whole decade since he had last seen her. This struck him even more when he saw her husband, his uncle Bob, holding the hand of a little girl that appeared to be about eight years old.
Kurt crouched down to be closer to eye level with her. She looked just like his aunt Madge. “Hi there,” he said in a gentle voice, much like the one he used with his mother. “I'm Kurt,” he smiled.
Much to his surprise the little girl broke out into a grin and stuck out her hand. He took her hand and gave it a shake.
“I'm Midge,” she barked out in a slightly high-pitched voice. “I know who you are! Mommy has shown me pictures. You're a soldier.” She looked at him with admiration and Kurt felt something he could only describe as his heart fluttering. Little Midge would be the closest he would get to having a niece and she already seemed like a delight. Plus, it was sweet to know his aunt Madge still held him in high enough esteem to dedicate time talking about him to her.
Kurt stood up and rubbed his hand over her hair to give it a playful ruffle before reaching out to finally greet his uncle Bob with a handshake. Just as he was about to comment on how odd it was that they had a child about eight years old that he was only meeting just now, the front door opened up once again. It was another aunt of his, one he wasn’t as close to and had seen much more recently.
Nonetheless he greeted her warmly before going around to give the appearance he was mingling without actually doing so. His mother w
as a fan of these kinds of events. She was very much the type to think big celebrations with family and friends were the best and warmest things in life. Kurt, of course, was much more of a loner. As much as he liked to be in control and make his own choices, he generally chose to make his mother happy with these small gatherings because he loved seeing her filled with joy. Plus, it didn’t exactly hurt to see family and old friends from years back.
As he reached for one of his favorite finger foods, his mother’s specialty triangle-shaped ham sandwiches, the door opened yet again. Kurt stopped, hand hovering over the sandwich platter.
There she was.
She stood in front of the door with the sunlight gently falling around her like a glow. Her long, auburn hair fell in waves over her shoulder and ended just below her large, but perky breasts. She looked tall even though she was wearing flat shoes and her tan looked especially pretty around her shining, hazel eyes.
It was Claradeene, who everyone always just called Claire. And she had actually come to his party. Kurt gulped. Never had he fallen for another woman the way he had fallen for Claire.
It all started senior year of high school when the two of them started to grow closer. The more they talked and spent time together, the harder he fell for her. But then she got with Tyler and completely extinguished any thoughts Kurt had of romance between them. Still, even after so many years, Kurt found himself mesmerized by the very sight of her. She was even more beautiful now. Quickly, he looked over her shoulder, but Tyler was nowhere in sight.
“Claradeene,” he said as he walked up to her with a smile he was working to control.
She grimaced. “Since when do you call me that, Kurt?”
He chuckled and shrugged. “Didn't know if you preferred the formal version of your name now.”
She scoffed. “As if I'd ever choose being called Claradeene over Claire! Come one now, I know you know better than that. It doesn't matter how many years have passed.”
“And how have they passed? Last I heard, you were engaged to Tyler.” His eyes instinctively flicked up to look over her shoulder again even though the front door had long since closed behind her. Even saying the words about her being engaged still made his stomach churn. He didn’t want to think of her actually married to the guy, but that was inevitable given how much time had elapsed since he had heard the news of their engagement.
He saw her face fall slightly, but she tried to play it off.
“We were engaged,” she mumbled. Kurt could tell the past tense was because it had been broken off and not because it had turned into a marriage. He was eager to know more, but thought it would be tactless to pry further. Despite her sadness he couldn’t help but feel something akin to excitement inside. It was knowing she was no longer tied down to Tyler that made him feel it because, after all this time, he still felt a draw to her that he had never felt with another woman. Not even his ex-girlfriend, the girl he had been in a relationship with for three years. Not even she ever elicited such a reaction from him. He had loved her, but was never in love and that was part of the reason he decided to end things.
“Oh,” he said somberly.
He knew the standard was to say he was sorry to hear that, but that would have been a blatant lie. He was only sorry she was hurting from it. He wanted to reach out and pat her on the shoulder, but then figured that would probably end up being more awkward than comforting. He cleared his throat and asked, “Are you hungry?”
Claire nodded. He made a sweeping motion with his hand toward the table covered out in drinks and finger foods, stepping in line to walk behind her as she made her way to it.
Kurt watched as she reached for a paper plate and then looked at all the options in front of her. The first thing she reached for was one of the ham sandwiches.
“Excuse me,” he said sternly, “Those are mine.”
Claire glared at him and snatched it up quickly. “They're here with all the other food so I think they're fair game.” She smirked and stuck her arm out as if she were going to reach for another ham sandwich triangle. Kurt frowned at her and narrowed his eyes, trying to look as seriously threatening as possible, but this only made her giggle.
And her giggle made his stomach clench. It was a charming sound. It was even better than he remembered it being. What else about her had only become more charming and likeable with age? That was something he really wanted to find out. He reached out to grab a paper plate of his own and swiftly took up a couple of the small ham sandwich triangles before looking over what else his mother had prepared. The two of them fixed their plates in silence and grabbed a drink, before turning to look at each other. It was somewhat awkward but there was a look in Claire’s eyes that was reeling him in and making him wonder what it meant.
“Why are you being weird? It’s making this awkward,” she said suddenly. Her tone was light, but he knew she was being serious.
Kurt gulped. This was unlike him. Despite the fact that he preferred smaller gatherings or even being alone, he was great at talking to people and entertaining. He never had trouble talking to women. But there was something about Claire that put a bit of a kink in that system and made him run like an old sputtering car.
“Just been a while,” he replied simply. He nodded toward the kitchen where he knew the breakfast table was unoccupied save for a small vase of flowers his mother had set in the middle in case someone went in there.
“Want to eat at the table in the breakfast nook?”
“Sure,” she said before turning around and heading straight toward it. Kurt watched her ample hips sway from side to side as she walked. She was wearing a simple thigh-length sundress that was loose fitting, but clung to her attractive curves. He admired her long, toned legs as she walked and the way she looked when she sat down. At first he thought it would be best if she didn’t catch him staring, but then he figured it might be okay.
He wanted to see her again after the party. He wanted to explore avenues with her he hadn’t been able to do back when he was in love with her. Setting aside, he had no clue how long ago she had actually broken up with Tyler or if she was even single. Not to mention, the fact remained that he lived far from this place now. Whatever happened between them would have to be a passing thing.
As he sat across her and chewed on his ham sandwich triangle as she chatted about her job, he wondered how she would feel about it.
And if he was honest with himself, a small part of him wanted to stay in his hometown, just so he could be with her.
Chapter Three
“Oh, honey, why don’t you wear something a bit more dressy?” Kurt’s mother asked as he walked across the hall from his bedroom to the bathroom. He groaned. He knew his mom was going to say something about his outfit, but he saw absolutely nothing wrong with it. He was going somewhere casual, after all, and he didn’t want to seem like he was trying too hard to impress someone.
His mother, on the other hand, knew exactly who he was going out with and why. That made her inclined to think he should look a bit more ‘fixed up’ for her no matter how much he pointed out he was only going out with Claire as old friends catching up.
“This is fine,” he told her casually as he ran his fingers through his hair and fixed a few strays before deciding he was ready to go pick her up. His stomach clenched at the thought of what she might be wearing and how she would look. He knew he would find her beautiful and attractive no matter what, but he was also aware of the fact that this would be the first time they would be hanging out as adults.
Kurt turned to look at is mother and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her right in the eyes. “Really.” His mother sighed and turned around to walk downstairs. He swiped his keys and wallet from the dresser in his bedroom and called out to his mom before walking out the front door.
He climbed into his rental car, something his father said was unnecessary, and pulled out of the driveway to drive over to Claire’s house.
As he pulled up in front of it a mere
ten minutes later he smiled. It looked just the way he remembered it. The little wooden swing still hung from the branches of the tree in front and the old swinging bench was still on the porch, only now it had been reupholstered and some more modern looking throw pillows rested at its corners. He remembered the times he had sat on that swing with her. His mind couldn’t help but ponder on the handful of times he had decided to make a move, only to be interrupted right at the moment.
One of those interruptions had been by Tyler just days before he got with Claire. Kurt sighed. If only he had been as courageous back then as he was now, things might have gone differently. But then he had to wonder how that would have affected his life. This was definitely not the place he wanted to stay long term, much less for the rest of his life.