Page 103 of The Write Stuff

My favorite place to wake up was next to Wylie. She was warm, cuddly, and completely out of it in the morning. She was both hilarious and adorable in those minutes between opening her eyes and finally grunting her way out of bed to take a shower.

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get a chance to enjoy my favorite moments the next morning because Aggie had somehow let herself into the apartment … and Wylie’s bedroom.

“Oh, cute,” she said as she stood in the doorway and looked between us.

I blinked like an owl as I tried to wrap my head around what was happening. It wasn’t easy. “Aggie?” It was a stupid question because I recognized her with the light filtering through the windows.

“Good morning, Huxley.” She beamed at me. “I didn’t think you would be here this morning.”

I glanced at the clock on the nightstand and rubbed my hand over my cheek. I was in nothing but my boxer shorts, and my girlfriend’s mother was looking at me as if I was an alien on display at the zoo. “Morning.” I nudged Wylie to wake her up, but all she did was let loose a snore.

That was cute too, although maybe not this morning.

“Um …” What was I supposed to say here? I wasn’t in college, and this wasn’t something I had to be ashamed of. Aggie obviously didn’t expect her daughter to be chaste. Still, this was weird. “How are you?” I asked, at a loss for what else I should say.

She smirked. “I’m good. How are you?”

“Great. I’m great.” I looked at Wylie, who reminded me of an angel when she slept. Well, except for the drool. Even that didn’t bother me, though. “Really great.”

“That’s good.” Aggie moved to the side when another figure appeared next to her in the doorway. It was Mick. “He’s great,” she said to her husband.

Mick didn’t look as tickled by the situation as Aggie. “This is weird,” he announced. “Did you knock?” The question was addressed to Aggie, so I didn’t answer.

“I didn’t think I needed to,” Aggie replied. “Last time I heard, Huxley was spending the night at his house.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I replied, rolling my neck. “I just wanted to see Wylie.”

“That’s cute.” Aggie moved farther into the room and looked around. “We want to get breakfast. Are you up for breakfast?”

“Sure.”

“Okay. Wake Wylie up, get showered — don’t do it together or anything because that’s weird with your girlfriend’s mother in the same apartment — and we’ll leave in 45 minutes.”

I gaped like a fish.

She waved and then turned to leave. Mick lingered in the doorway a beat longer, shaking his head.

“This is such an odd situation,” he lamented.

“What is?” I challenged. “My former stepfather staring into the bedroom I’m sharing with his current stepdaughter?”

“Pretty much.”

“It’s definitely odd,” I confirmed.

He smiled. “I’ll take Aggie for a walk around the square downstairs so it’s not really, really weird.”

“That would be great.”

“I thought you would prefer that.”

FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, WYLIE and I met Mick and Aggie on the sidewalk. We went to the closest diner, which was just around the corner. Aggie’s smile could have put the sun to shame it was so wide.

“So, let’s talk about Eleanor’s arrival,” she said once we’d ordered and had our coffee and juice. Wylie was still waking up and had only said a few words since I’d rolled her out of bed against her will. We’d only gotten a few hours’ sleep, so it wasn’t surprising that she was dragging. “I feel that she and I should have a conversation.”

I covered my mouth with my juice glass as I considered what that might look like. “I’m not sure what I think about that,” I admitted after a few seconds. “Don’t you think that’s just going to get her going?”

“Oh, absolutely.” Aggie bobbed her head. “It’s time we had it out, though. I didn’t think she was capable of holding a grudge for almost 15 years. I thought maybe one year. She’s dedicated, though. I have to give her that.”