Chapter 5: Celebration

This continued for the remainder of the two weeks Trisha was laid up. When her bandage was finally removed, Mark offered to take her and her boys out for pizza to celebrate. Even though she was hesitant, she agreed to ask her boys and follow their lead. They, of course, were excited about a chance to go for pizza at their favorite place. The dinner banter went on as usual and Mark had to stop himself a couple of times and just watch and listen. He was impressed at how easily it seemed Trisha and her boys related. The boys were polite, but still young teen boys, so the dinner conversation would sometimes take an interesting turn. The difficulty came when the boys asked for some money to go to the game room. Mark immediately reached for his wallet when Trisha began her apologies to her boys for not having gone to the bank yet.

"Here," Mark said. "Let me, this time. After all, it is a celebration, of sorts." He almost regretted saying anything when he noticed how red Trisha became.

"Thanks, Mark, but that's okay. The boys don't really have to go play games tonight. Besides, we've had a long week."

"All the more reason why the boys need some wind-down time," Mark interrupted. "Listen, how much do you usually give them? I'll keep to your limit and nothing more. If you want, you can pay me back when you do go to the bank." The boys looked at their mother in anticipation. They knew that she rarely backed down when she said "no" and they were surprised when this "friend" contradicted their mother so openly.

"Five, each, and no more." Trisha made sure the last part was directed solely at Mark. The boys sat in amazement! The brothers talked later that night when they were alone in their room, wondering what was really going on between their mother and this man. They weren't necessarily complaining, but they decided to keep a closer eye on what might be going on.

Soon Halloween was over and it was time to think about Thanksgiving. Mark had continued to spend time with Trisha and her boys and even helped them with some homework, now and then. Despite misgivings, Mark decided to broach a subject he had been wanting to talk about. He purposely chose a time when Trisha's boys were also in the house. He thought he would have better luck getting her to agree.

"Do you guys have any plans for Thanksgiving?" he asked, while sitting with Trisha in the living room.

"Not really. The boys are with me for Thursday and Friday, but Friday night and the weekend is their dad's. We'll probably just make lasagna or pizza or something. Why?"

"My family is going to be at my house for Thanksgiving this year. I was wondering if you and your boys wanted to come and have dinner with us." Even with the boys in the dining room finishing their homework, Mark snuck his arm around Trisha's shoulders and snuggled up close to her on the sofa — hoping that this would help convince her. He wanted her to be there to meet his family; he was surprised at how desperate he was to have his family's approval.

"I don't know," she began, but quickly got interrupted by her boys entering the room.

"Don't know what?" Peter asked. Both boys noticed Mark's hand quickly leave their mother's shoulder and move to the back of the sofa.