“I am aware, Mom, thanks.”
“It needed to be said,” she replied, shrugging. “So, now what?”
“Not sure. I plan on staying here for a bit if that’s okay and then—”
“No, that’s not okay,” she said quickly, cutting him off. “Let me rephrase the question. How are you going to fix this with Drea?”
Kyle looked up, surprised. “Fix? Pretty sur
e there is no fixing this, Mom.”
“See, this is your man logic coming through again. Do you love her?”
“Mom...”
“Do you love her?”
“Yes. I love her. She’s...” he trailed off.
“It? She’s it? She’s your lobster?” she asked him, linking her hands together via circles made from her forefinger and thumb like Phoebe did on Friends.
“Yes, she’s my lobster,” he admitted.
“Oh, baby.” She reached out and grabbed his hand. “Then why the hell are you still here?”
“I told her to have a good life, remember?”
“Baby, true love is a gift, and it doesn’t come along very often. If you really love her, if she’s your lobster, then you need to go fight for her. Grand gesture, groveling, whatever it takes.”
“I’m not sure she’ll ever forgive me. I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive me.”
“I bet she’ll surprise you. Love is a very powerful thing, Kyle,” she said. She took in a deep breath before starting again. “Kyle, I loved your father with every fiber of my being. I know you were cheated out of the chance of knowing just what an amazing man he was, but he was. He was my everything. I would have stopped the world and spun it backward for him. The only thing that kept me going after his death was you. And I see so, so much of him in you. You look just like him, but beyond that. Your fierce loyalty, your independent spirit, your overprotective nature—that’s all your father. He was my lobster and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to get him back.”
“You mean Brian isn’t your lobster?” Kyle said sarcastically.
“No. Brian is a great guy, you’ll see. But he’s not your dad. Just like I’m pretty sure I’m not his late wife. But, that is one of the things that binds us—we both understand the loss of a spouse.” Kyle nodded, taking a sip of his now warm beer.
“Wait here,” she said, pushing away from the table and scurrying down the hallway. When she came back, she slid a small blue box toward him on the table. It looked like it had once been covered in velvet, but it was well-worn and showing its age.
“I’m not saying to give this to her now—that’s a cop-out move. You need to figure out your own thing. I highly suggest lots of groveling,” she said, looking down her nose at him. “But, this is my engagement ring. If she’s really your lobster, she should have it.” She flipped the little box open and Kyle saw the ring that he’d seen his mother wear until he was in high school.
“Mom, I can’t take this,” Kyle said, pushing the box back toward her.
“Kyle, you seem to have a very bad habit of telling us girls what we can and can’t do. I know you mean well, but stop. I am giving this to you. Take it. Hold on to it for when you win back your girl and finally decide on forever.”
“She likes that word, forever,” he said, recalling the words she said to him in his room. His heart had skipped a beat as she told him that, and it hurt now thinking about how he shoved it back in her face.
“Most girls do, baby,” she replied, looking at him lovingly.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. His mom was right, as always. He needed to go win her back. He needed to grovel and beg and prove that he loved her, no matter what. He just wasn’t one hundred percent sure where to start.
“I think I have a few phone calls to make,” he said, sitting back up and looking his mom in the eye.
“Yeah?” she asked.
“I think I know exactly what to do.”
“That’s my boy.”
