I nodded in response, and Bethany and I retreated into her room. She closed the door and turned to face me.
"I think your mom might be a bit upset." I observed.
Bethany shook her head.
"No. If she were, you'd know it." she replied. "She almost seemed amused at catching us. I think she knows that you have my best interests in mind. My mother is very protective of me, and if she thought you were taking advantage of me, she'd have tossed you out the door stark naked. I think she wants you to be the guy for me, and in all honesty, I do too.
"You stood up for me, and to my mother that means a lot. It's all about honor and integrity with her. Scots and Irish are all about their clans and honorable bloodlines. To my mother, chivalry means EVERYTHING. She likes you Jack, and whatever she wants to talk to you about, is in all likelihood about us and not you. Remember, she essentially gave her blessing for you to stay over and fuck me. She's not mad, trust me."
I sighed, and put my clothes back on; taking a deep breath and leaving the relative safety of the bedroom for the unknown of the kitchen, where Kylie was busily pulling eggs and cheese from the refrigerator to begin preparing breakfast.
"Um, good morning." I managed to greet her awkwardly.
"Good morning, Jack." she replied, "Sleep well?"
"Yes, actually." I answered. "We watched some TV and fell asleep, and I don't think I woke up at all during the night."
She was dancing around the topic of my having stayed the night. She knew full well that we'd had sex of some sort, or we wouldn't have been naked in the hallway.
"I don't mind your staying over," she continued, as she dried her hands off and faced me, "but I want to be certain you're not just taking advantage of my daughter. I'm not overprotective of her mind you - she is eighteen - but she is still living in my house, so I do have concerns and therefor, some rules."
I nodded and motioned to the kitchen table, indicating I'd like to have a serious talk with her. She was definitely cool; the kind of chick that would make an awesome mother in law if it ever got to that point, and I felt really comfortable talking to her.
"I'm not taking advantage of her." I explained, as we both sat down facing each other. "Beth helped me a lot, to get me caught up with my schoolwork after the accident, and I'm grateful for that. If not for her, I would have lost a whole year and had to have stayed back. I owe her a lot, Kylie. She didn't have to do that.
"We spent a lot of time together, and we became good friends. I wasn't interested in her because I was dating someone else, but I guess that someone else got jealous anyway, and did something awful to her."
"What DID happen last night?" Kylie inquired.
"You want the details?" I asked in a shocked voice.
"I meant BEFORE you came over here, you mo!" she retorted. "Something upset my daughter a lot, and you seemed to latch onto her at that point. I want to be sure it's not just temporary. I don't want her getting hurt."
"I can understand that." I agreed. "And you're right, that was when my feelings for her changed. I just don't think it's my place to tell you something that was so hurtful to her. I will tell you this, though, it was at that point that I realized she wasn't just a nice person on the inside, but she really is on the outside too. I know that sounds backwards, but Beth thinks less of herself for things that aren't even wrong with her. It would help her confidence a lot to drop that weight and get into shape. She helped me get back on track and I want to do the same for her.
"First thing, is she needs to stop eating all that junk like it's a drug. I want to coach her on getting exercise, and even starting to work out with some light weight training to tone her up. I know she can be just as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside, if she'd give herself a chance. I see how striking you are, and you can tell pretty much how a girl will turn out by looking at her mother. Even a high school twig will turn into a midlife log, if her mom weighs four hundred pounds. So she's a little heavy now, but it will pass."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then it doesn't. She's still the same person, but I think once she sees the pounds coming off and starts getting more confident in her appearance, her entire outlook will change; particularly if a makeover helps her get even with Amy and her friends."
We were suddenly interrupted by Bethany knocking on the wall.
"Knock, knock." she called out. "Is it safe to come in?"
"Who's there?" I called back, forgetting I was having a serious conversation with her mother.
"Euro." Kylie responded.
I turned back to her in surprise, not expecting her to have chimed in.
"Euro who?" I asked, unsure where this was going.
"Euro-kay with me." she replied, as Bethany joined us. "So tell me more about this plan of yours."
"I know Beth has the potential to look like a younger version of you." I explained. "I saw some pics in the hallway; is that really you?"
"Mom does modeling and commercials." Bethany said, with a tinge of pride in her voice.
"I recognize you now!" I exclaimed. "I actually bought Opus toothpaste because of you. Wow, please don't take this the wrong way, but with the makeup and heels and stuff, you're smoking."
I turned to Bethany.
"Why didn't you tell me your mom was on TV?"
Kylie smiled at the somewhat backhanded compliment.
"Thank you." she said with a smile. "You know Jack, if you got a stylish haircut, you might snag some work in the industry as well."
"That's actually part of the plan." I responded. "Just before the prom, I'm going to get a nice haircut and some contacts, and have Beth made over too, to go along with the new sleek look she's going to have. What will top it all off though, is a custom made prom dress that highlights her new look. Say, you're in the fashion industry, do you know someone who could make a killer dress for her? I mean, something that's tits."
"Yes, but those dresses can run thousands of dollars, Jack." she replied. "I mean, it's for my daughter so I could pull some strings, but what did you have in mind?"
"I'm not exactly sure," I admitted, "but I'll need a designer who can work with a changing idea as she tones up. Don't worry about calling in any favors. I want top of the line and I'll pay for it."