Hope's Chance(88)

We pulled up at my mother’s house and she opened the door to greet us. When she took one look at Chance, I could already see the curiosity in her eyes.

“Merry Christmas Honey, who is this with you? Come on inside and get warm. This weather is beautiful but so cold and dreadful as well.”

Once we were inside and had removed our coats, we sat down in front of my mom. “Mom this is Chance.” I announced.

My mother leaned over and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. So you are the guy who lives out back?” She asked.

“Yes, I am Buffy’s younger brother.” He explained.

My mother looked from me to Chance. “May I ask how much younger?”

“I am twenty one ma’am.”

After she just sat there staring at him, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Mom, Chance is my boyfriend.” I blurted out.

She smiled briefly, then got her motherly look going. “Now that I see him for myself, I was wondering how you were going to explain there was nothing more between the two of you. If this was six months ago, I would have forbid it, but you will be eighteen in less than a week. I know it seems petty but she is my only daughter.”

“Chance talked me into attending Virginia Tech. We are both starting there next semester. He is playing baseball for them.” I explained.

“Where did you attend school before?” She asked.

Chance cleared his throat. “Penn State. I had a full ride there, but after my mother died, I took some time off.”

He didn’t have to tell her about what else happened. The past was in the past and I wanted him to not have to think about that part of his life anymore.

“Wow Penn State. That is amazing. You must be extremely smart.” My mother noted.

I looked over to Chance and noticed he was blushing. “I think school is important. That is why I kept pushing for Hope to go. I think she needs to get a degree in something that she loves.”

He reached over and grabbed my hand. My first reaction was to pull away and my mother caught on immediately. “Exactly how long have the two of you been hiding this relationship, because I know your father and he would never allow this to go on in his house.”

I squeezed Chance’s hand. “Since June. We met before we knew who either one of us was. When I moved over to Dads, we had already…ugh gone out. We tried to stay away from each other, but it became difficult. Your right Mom, he doesn’t know. We only told you.” I confessed.

Chance squeezed my hand tight. “I love your daughter Ms. Ryan. I would never hurt her. I realize you might think I am too old for her, but I can assure you that Hope is very independent in her own decision making.”

“I appreciate your honesty Chance. Actually, I think you are wrong….at least about my approving. Honestly, I couldn’t have picked a better person myself. I am afraid that you seem to be the whole package dear. You have my blessing.” She admitted.

“Mom? Really?” I couldn’t hold my excitement in. I ran over and hugged her. “Thank you so much. This is the best present ever.”

“What are the living arrangements going to be?” She asked.

There were some things that my mother did not need to know. “Chance and I will be living in separate buildings.”

“I would be a bad mother if I didn’t ask.” She declared.

“Are you going to tell Dad?” I asked.

“As much as I would like to hurt your father, I think I will keep my mouth shut about this.” She ran her hands across her legs. “How about we open some presents.”

I liked that my mother changed the subject. All in all, she seemed to genuinely like Chance. I wasn’t sorry for waiting to tell her. Who knows how she would have reacted before, but today was Christmas and I was almost legally an adult.

“Chance helped me pick out your gift Mom. I hope you like it.” I said as I handed her the box.

My mother opened the neatly wrapped package and her eyes lit up. While she took her time looking at all of the separate charms, I started explaining what each one represented.

“The baby boot is to remind you of me when I was a baby. The house was to remind you that you always gave me a wonderful home. The heart signifies how much I love you. The book is to show that you have a daughter who is attending a University.”

She had tears in her eyes. “Oh Honey, I love it so much. Thank you.”

Once my mother calmed down she handed me a small package. “I wanted you to have this. Your grandmother gave it to me before she lost all of her memories. Since I didn’t have a lot of spending money, I decided it would be something perfect that you could always keep.”

I opened the box to find a diamond tennis bracelet. “Holy Crap Mom. I can’t take this.”

“Yes you can. I never get dressed up anymore anyway. Here let me put it on you.” She reached over and wrapped it around my wrist. As she was doing so, she noticed my ring that I had turned backwards. “Oh my goodness what a beautiful band. It is so small and dainty.”

She looked at the ring, but never noticed that the other side had a rock on it. “Chance gave it to me for Christmas.”

She looked up to Chance. “You did great picking it out.”

We spent the afternoon with my mother. She made us lunch and we talked about how her boyfriend was taking her to see his whole family tonight. When I asked where he was, she stated he had to work at the nursing home until four.