“Can we come and watch?” Bette asked, brightening.

“What??” he asked.

“Your mom T and I. We’ll come out and watch. We can all have brunch in the inn near the motor club after,” she said. “What do you think?”

“We-el-l … mom likes that place,” he answered hesitatingly.

“Exactly!” Bette answered triumphantly. “We’ll follow you both out there…take a nice drive out in the country, and then we can all enjoy a delicious meal. Afterwards, we can walk around the grounds, maybe?”

“Umm… when are you going to tell her, though?” TJ asked.

Bette sighed. “Well … I’ll talk to Dan and Matthew first. I want to get to the bottom of this. And before we get ahead of ourselves, I want to call your instructor, also, and ask him about your progress. I’ll talk to mom T after. After that, we’ll let you know if you can go ahead with your plan to drive with Angie on Sunday. And the only way you can drive your sister around is to have the instructor in the car next to you, alright?”

She paused, and then said in a less friendly tone, “And TJ?”

“Yes, mom?”

“Don’t pull anything like this ever again, do you understand?”

He swallowed. “Yes, ma’am.”

In the ensuing silence, as Bette was thinking about how to broach the topic with Tina, TJ cut into her thoughts, “Mom?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Am I grounded or something?” he asked, haltingly.

She sighed. “Mom T and I have to talk about that.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t talk to you, first, mom,” he repeated quietly.

“That’s right, baby,” Bette answered softly. “You just need to remember that your mom and I still need to guide you, and keep you safe. I know that you’re brave and courageous …”

He bit his lip, and cut in, “I just wanted to prove something to myself. And to Angie, mom.”

“I know, honey. But you need to talk about things like these with me and your mom, first, alright?” Bette smiled. “And believe me, you don’t need to prove anything to your sister. Or to your moms. We already know that you are amazing, ok son?”

TJ heard a commotion behind him. “Ok, mom. I gotta get back to them. I guess Angie and I may head back to the duplex together … maybe in a couple of hours.”

“Don’t miss your curfew, Thomas,” Bette answered, in a softer version of her strict mom voice.

“I won’t mom,” TJ answered. “And mom?”

“Yes, honey?”

“I love you.”

He heard a sniffle. And then, “I love you, too, Thomas, junior.”

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