Chapter 2

And a couple days later when I arrived at her Apartment, my worries were confirmed- and compounded. Driving up into her building’s parking lot, I opened the door of my truck into the sweltering 90% humidity/105 heat index and saw my mom waiting for me by the front door of the 4 story beige concrete building. She looked nothing less than gorgeous.

Seems she’d lost a good 20 pounds. Her figure was tighter and more athletic, though still juicy and voluptuous as ever. She also appeared much tanner. I guess living out on the beach does that to you, but still, how bronzed she’d gotten took me aback.

“Howdy, stranger!” Mom yelled, walking towards me with open arms.

“Howdy there…” I replied, stepping down from my truck, with a goofy smile.

She hugged me and my whole body tingled at the touch of her soft skin and the wonderful sensation of her large breasts smooshing into my chest.

“Hmm, you’re looking okay, but you could probably stand to lose a couple pounds.” Mom said, inspecting me after we broke apart from our hug. She was always the brutally honest type.

“Seems like you’ve lost a few yourself. You look fantastic, wow.” I said, feeling awkward about saying that to my mom and even more awkward about openly scanning her luscious body from head to toe.

“Aw, you sweet thing. I’ve been running on the beach nearly every day and cutting back on the ice cream. Crazy how easy it is to get into shape when you live in a place like this.”

She raised her arms up to the air and spun around, showing off her new figure, which was apparent even underneath her loose floral patterned sundress.

“Damn, mom. She really look hot…” I said, unable to hold that adjective back. A moment of awkward silence ensued after I realized I’d just called my mom “hot” to her face. She smiled coyly, sort of looked to the ground, and blushed a bit. We must have stood for almost a minute without saying anything until a flock of pelicans flew by.

“That’s one of my favorite things about living here on the Island. Watching the pelicans.” Mom said, looking to the sky and watching the birds fly together, about six of them, in a perfectly straight line. “Speaking of feathered creatures, I’m making chicken tonight and thinking of doing tacos. You up for that?”

“Sounds good.” I replied. I was happy those pelicans had flown by, or else we might have been standing outside for hours in awkwardness.

“Well alright. Grab your stuff and let’s go.”

“I really appreciate you letting me stay here, mom.”

“Don’t mention it, shug. Although don’t lull yourself into thinking this is a free ride. I’ve got a heap of stuff around the house that needs fixing. And I fully expect you to be opening jars and carrying shopping bags.”

“Not a problem, ma’am.” I said, tipping my cowboy hat to her. We both laughed and I gathered my bags and followed her inside, into the building’s frosty air con and waiting elevator car.

Mom lived on the top floor in an immaculate apartment. It had shiny hardwood floors, freshly painted white walls decked out in family photos (though none w/dad) and local artwork featuring sand dunes, palm trees, and cacti. A 50 inch plasma screen TV hung on the wall of the living room in front of a big U-shaped leather couch, and to the right of the living room was a spacious walk-in kitchen with a big island in the middle and all sorts of high tech cooking gadgets and appliances. The place was just like my mom, first class.

“You know where everything is. Just make yourself at home.” Mom cried out from the kitchen as I dragged my bags into the guest room.

I could be very at home here, I thought to myself. The house I’d shared with my ex was pretty decent, but nothing like this. Mom really had done well for herself. Looking out the guest room window, which had a spectacular view of the Gulf of Mexico, I saw swaying palm trees, seagulls swooping down into the water, and anglers hoisting reels. Being only late morning, the sun was still glittering and sparkling off the water, the way it only does early in the day. The water was calm, too, and tranquil, nary a wave. I really could get used to living here, I thought again.

Staring out at the Gulf, I started to feel calm and tranquil myself. The water to me was like a metaphor for life, sometimes it’s wavy and stormy and sometimes it’s peaceful, like now. Best to enjoy the times it’s calm. I decided to make the most of my stay here and to enjoy it as much as possible and not beat myself up anymore over my recent misfortunes.