Thanks son. See you tonight, hopefully."It was probably the most civil discussion we had ever held. He wasn't condescending or irritated. Surprisingly..., he hadn't sounded irritated with the idea of not getting home tonight. It made me wonder why. Maybe it was something he was just accustomed to during this time of year.Yvonne and Chloe decided to not wait for the others and helped themselves to the kitchen. I kept the fire going and played some music on the surround sound system in the great. Kind of a date thing, the way I saw it.I still had the picture she’d sent me back in the day, almost ten years gone. I’d showed it to a few guys over the years. They all told me I was crazy to think she was going to wait for me. But, so far, she had waited. She was the best. And when she showed up on her visiting days, I waved to the doubters and they universally scowled their disbelief; they couldn’t believe it. Hell, I couldn’t believe it. But then, she’d be across the table from me smiling. Main unke hath ke sahare seedhe khade lund se upar ki or muth ki lambi rekhaye maarta gaya. Maa aur aunty hairaani se dekhne lagi. Fir dono muskura uthi aur maa boli: Oh my god!Aunty: Ye kya ho gaya?Main sharmidgi ke sath apne akadte badan ko kaampne se rokne laga. Par muth ki lambi pichkariya jab tak khatam na ho gayi main pada raha. Mano ab mujhme jaan nahi. Muth ki aakhiri pichkaari nikalne ke baad maa ne mere lund ko halke se daba dali. Mano nichod ke rass nikal rahi ho.Aunty ando ko. But real life was at home--with Mom, not at school or out in the world anywhere else. Oh, we did have some friends who visited occasionally and whom we visited. We went to parties and dinners with others, and I knew how to entertain young visitors. But always what I loved most was to be with Mom, to read with her or to go to art galleries with her alone or to plays or concerts. And always we would talk. Mom was carrying on meaningful conversations with me before I could even talk, and I started.