Chapter 11: Sunday Afternoon, 1:03PM

“I really needed this,” Mom said. She swallowed the first bite of the overflowing, disgusting pizza slice seemingly without even chewing.

Will stared across the picnic table at her, the slice in his hand forgotten.

The remainder of the slice in Mom’s hand followed just as quickly, and she sighed in contentment. “That hits the spot. Tony always makes the best pizzas—I think it’s the cheese blend he makes. And he put scotch bonnets on it for me! Looks like he gets to stay on my holiday card list this year after all.”

Alaina chewed the small bite of her slice of sausage pizza slowly. Yup, still gross to see someone eating that. “You seem hungrier than usual,” she said, nudging her boyfriend back into animation.

Mom took a gulp of water from her cup, then poured more water out of her canteen to refill it. “You can say that again. I haven’t slept since Friday, and I was really running on fumes, y’know.”

“Since Friday?” Alaina said, her expression turning concerned. “Mom! You have to take better care of yourself!”

Her mom waved dismissively with her free hand as she inhaled another bite of pizza. “It’s not like this is the first time, Lainy. Us doctors and medical professionals have to pull longer shifts sometimes, y’know. It’s not always about just putting in the time the job needs, it’s about making sure nobody dies when we can prevent it.” She finished the rest of the slice in a series of rapid bites. “And I was planning to get a few hours Friday night before somebody sent me a special delivery.”

“Oh. I—”

“Don’t worry, we can talk about that later.” Mom grabbed a third slice of pizza and took a bite. “Mmm,” she groaned closing her eyes. “And the sauce... “ She savored the pizza for a moment before taking another bite. “Anyway, I’m glad both of you made it out here,” she said, looking back and forth at the couple.

Will swallowed the last of his slice’s crust. “Good to see you again, Doctor Bishop. And I did promise I’d come back for dinner again sometime. It’s nice to have a ... change of scenery.”

Mom rolled her eyes and picked up her fourth slice. “Will, this Is lunch, not dinner. You’re not getting out of it that easily. I still expect to see you for dinner sometime.”

Will took on a shocked look. “Doctor Bishop, are you hitting on me? I’m flattered, really, but I’m still very serious about Alaina.”

Alaina’s eyes widened as she looked over at him in horror.

Mom choked for a moment, then drained her cup of water. “Very funny, wise guy.”

His face radiated innocence when next he spoke. “Oh, sorry, maybe I misunderstood.”

She elbowed her boyfriend, and he grunted.

“Be nice to your future husband, sweetie, otherwise how am I gonna get all my grandkids before I get too old to spoil them?” Mom reached for another slice, then paused.

Alaina blushed furiously. “Moom!”

“Doctor Bishop—”

“Please, Will, we’re practically family already,” Mom said with a benevolent smile. “Call me Mrs. Bishop.”

“Uh, right. Mrs. Bishop, Alaina and I have already talked about children in great detail, and we’ve decided to at least wait a few more weeks so we can finish deciding what colleges they’ll all be attending.” He calmly took a sip of water. “We’re just trying to be responsible high school students. I’m sure you understand.”

She elbowed him again.

Mom broke into a snorting laugh, squeezing her eyes shut as her head shook. “You two are too adorable,” she said, wiping her eyes after a few moments. “I take it you had a good time last night?” she asked, looking back and forth between them. “Did you have a sleepover at Will’s?”

Will’s head turned, and he gave her an awkward look.

Oh right, she wouldn’t know about that. Is that even something we should ever tell her? “No, um ... We went out to karaoke and stayed over at a friend of Will’s,” she said. Don’t ask, don’t ask, don’t ask...

“Does this friend have a name?” Mom asked, finally picking up another slice.

“Kayleigh Garner,” Alaina said, blushing. Why am I blushing! “She’s really sweet. I’ve never gone to karaoke before, but it was a lot of fun, and we’re um ... We’re kind of friends now?”

Mom tapped a finger against her lips as she stared at the remains of the slice of pizza in her hand. “Well karaoke and a sleepover with a nice friend sounds like pretty wholesome fun,” she said, glancing at Will. She reached across the table to squeeze her daughter’s hand briefly. “I’m happy you made a new friend, too, Lainy. I wasn’t going to say anything, but I’ve been a bit worried since you never seemed to show any interest in having friends since your father passed.”

Alaina froze for a moment mid-bite.

“But let’s not talk about that kind of stuff. I never did get to do a proper inquisition last week,” Mom continued, her eyes gleaming. She finished the remainder of her fifth slice of pizza. “How did you two end up getting together, anyway?” she asked, looking back and forth. “I never would’ve guessed it after how much you complained about him, y’know,” she said conspiratorially, directing a stage whisper towards her daughter.

“Um...” Alaina looked over at Will, whose face was running the gamut of expressions.

“Well,” Will said slowly. “If you’ve got an incredibly beautiful student council president and a devastatingly handsome vice president, it seems almost inevitable that sparks would fly at some point, doesn’t it?”

“I guess...” Mom said in a noncommittal tone. “So there was nothing in particular that caused those sparks to fly?”

Will squirmed a little in his seat.

“I think ... Well, for me, at least, he’s been really helpful and reliable lately,” Alaina said, giving her boyfriend a reassuring look. “So I guess that’s when I started seeing him a little differently.” She moved her left hand up and held his hand on top of the table.

“That’s cute,” Mom said with a smile. “You two certainly seem a lot closer today. Less nerves now that the whole meeting-Mom-for-the-first-time part is over?”

Alaina blushed lightly. That’s right, last time I was kinda just pretending to be his girlfriend. “Yeah ... Something like that,” she said bashfully.

“Well, I’m sure it’s been reassuring to have someone there to be helpful and reliable while you were dealing with getting your Class,” Mom said. She took a bite of her sixth slice of pizza.

Will’s hand tensed in hers, and she patted it reassuringly. Come on, Will. It’s not like she knows all the weird stuff we’ve been through.

“How’s that been going, by the way, Lainy?” her mom asked, giving her a Mom look. “Everything all right?”

Alaina grinned. “Yeah, I think I’ve mostly figured it out,” she said. “Actually, are you home tonight? I do have a couple things I want to ask you about.” And ... I guess I’m finally going to tell you about my real Class. You’ll still treat me the same. I know you will.

Mom chewed, staring off across the courtyard. “I was planning on it,” she said after a moment, her head swinging back to look at them. “You cooking anything for dinner, or should I pick something up on my way home? Oh, and Will, you’re invited if you feel like making good on that promise.”

“Sure, I’ll be there,” Will said.

“Will’s trying out my new dish!” Alaina said, beaming. She took a bigger bite of pizza. This pizza really is great, even if it’s not that fresh anymore. Maybe I should try making pizza sometime?

“Oh? And what’s that, sweetie?”

“I’m going to try to make this lobster mac and cheese I had last Monday when we went out. It was amazing.” I’m afraid of what will happen if I succeed. I don’t think I can stop myself from making it all the time...

“Wow, that sounds pretty tasty,” Mom said, eyeing the three remaining slices in her pizza box. She picked up her eighth slice and took a big bite.

“Um...” Alaina said, trying not to stare too much. “Are you really going to be able to eat again after this?”

Mom rolled her eyes. “Lainy, I could eat two of these without breaking a sweat right now.”

Alaina felt her stomach churn.

The slice of pizza Will was holding fell from his hands onto the cardboard lid in front of him. “Wow, I sure am full all of a sudden.”

“Don’t hold back on my account, Will,” Mom said, the rest of the slice disappearing into her mouth. “A growing boy needs to eat plenty to keep his strength up!”

Alaina looked down at the slice in her hand—her third—feeling considerably less interested in finishing it than she had a moment ago. She forced herself to take another bite anyway.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Will said, “but how are you even enjoying a pizza with that many toppings, anyway?”

“Want a bite?” Mom held out her half eaten slice. “Say ahh!”

He cringed. “Um, that’s very generous of you, Mrs. Bishop, but I’m...”

Mom leaned across the table and forced the pizza against his mouth.

He took a bite, his mouth stretching wide to accommodate the height of the slice, and started to chew, glancing at his girlfriend in overt distress.

Alaina looked on in disgust.

Her boyfriend swallowed, then chugged from his cup. “I suppose it’s not as bad as I thought, but—”

“See?” Mom crowed victoriously. “And if your palate was even half as refined as mine, you’d be able to see what a masterpiece this is.”

Will coughed. “Oof, it’s a lot spicier than I thought. Really didn’t hit—” He grabbed at his cup again.

“Here, you can just drink out of this,” Mom said, passing over the canteen.

Will set the cup down and accepted the container, then started guzzling.

“The spiciness is the best part! Gotta have that extra kick to it to really let you know you’re alive.” Mom finished the slice and licked her lips.

Will filled his cup and took a big gulp, swishing the water around in his mouth. He swallowed and took a giant bite of pizza.

“There we go, got your appetite back! Lainy, you sure you don’t want to try—”

“Nope!” Alaina shook her head definitively and took another bite of her own, normal pizza. Not happening.

“So that’s a scotch bonnet,” Will said after another minute, a few drops of sweat beading down his face.

“Good, right?” Mom gave him an encouraging smile.

“Y-yeah, for sure,” Will said, taking another bite of his pepperoni pizza slice.

They sat In silence for a couple minutes.

“Whew, that really did the trick,” Alaina’s mom said, closing her now-empty pizza box. “Thanks for bringing me that little pick-me-up!”

“Where does it even go?” Alaina mused.

Mom gasped and showed a hurt expression. “You really do think I’m getting fat, don’t you?” She looked down herself. “I guess maybe I’ve been letting myself go a little bit lately...”

Alaina blew a raspberry at her. “Uh huh. Sure, Mom.”

Mom looked up and winked. “Okay, enough teasing,” she said, her expression turning more serious. “I wanted to see you both, but I’ll admit I had another reason I wanted you both to come by.”

Alaina and Will looked at each other.

“Lainy, I got your message Friday, but it was pretty brief, y’know. And you really thought I could just get a random EMT in one end of the city to drive to a hospital at the other end?”

“Well...” Alaina pursed her lips. “You’re Doctor Bishop, right? I figured you’ve got some pull, and as long as I gave you enough info, I thought you could do it? And you did, didn’t you?”

Mom sighed. “I did, sweetie, but it was pretty lucky. I happened to know the dispatcher who was directing the ambulance, I happened to be able to get through to the hospital they should’ve gone to, and I happened to have a spare room since one of my patients just got discharged. I really hope you don’t think you can make a habit of this type of thing.”

Alaina shook her head. “I won’t, I promise. I just ... I wanted to make sure she didn’t die or anything. I mean, we talked about it before, but I didn’t hate her that much. And when she started having a seizure like that...”

Will took a sip of his water.

Mom gave her a hard look for a moment before relaxing. “I get it, sweetie. I just wanted to make sure you understood, okay?”