My new life seemed a world away from the rural backwater that was Denton, but I felt the thin veneer of maturity melt away as the Delta Airlines flight circled to land at BWI three days before Christmas. I had promised Mom I would come back for the holiday. I had been unable to return for Thanksgiving, and had not been home since early Fall. When I spoke with Mom on the phone she always sounded as though she missed me. I knew she wouldn't dream of saying so, because she wanted me to be where I was, wanted me to make a success of my choice, but sometimes there was a catch in her voice, and she sounded so damn happy when I said I'd be coming back for the whole week it made me feel good.
This time Ali's enterprises allowed me to fly, so instead of a fourteen hour bus journey I had just over an hour in the air.
Mom was waiting for me in the arrivals lounge and hugged me so hard I couldn't breathe for a moment.
"Tommy, you look so grown up!" she said.
I shrugged, "Not so grown up, Mom." Although I knew I was different to the boy who went away. My clothes were better, my haircut had probably cost more than Mom usually spent on food for the week. I suppose I had grown up, but it was still good to be back, good to see Mom happy and excited because I was home.
I carried my bag outside and we caught a shuttle bus to the car park. I threw my bag in the trunk of our tired old Ford, took the keys off Mom and told her I'd drive. She could sit back and relax.
That night I put Sarah to bed. Since arriving home she had hardly left my side, wanting me to tell her all about New York, what I had been doing, what Ali had been doing, and I regaled her with funny stories about all the things that had happened, censoring hard all the other stuff. By eight o'clock her eyes were starting to droop, and it was obvious the excitement of the day was taking its toll.
I took her upstairs and sat on the side of her bed, reading a story. She had moved on from the big picture books, Dr. Zeus and Roald Dahl. Now she proudly handed me a real book, as she called it, and I opened it and read to her about Mr. Toad, Ratty and Mole, making up voices to make her laugh.
She did well, lasting all of ten minutes, but then her eyes closed and stayed shut. I read for a couple more minutes, then pulled the covers up to her chin and turned off her lamp. I left the bedroom door open an inch so light from the upstairs hallway fell into her room
When I came downstairs Mom was sitting on our big old sofa. She had opened a bottle of red wine and poured two glasses.
"You do drink, don't you Tommy?" she asked with a smile.
"Uh, yeah, I have been known to."
She offered me a glass, patted the other side of the sofa.
I dropped into the corner and she scooted across, tapping my leg. I knew what she wanted so lifted my left leg against the back of the sofa and she scooted over until she sat in the cradle made by my legs and pulled my arms around her. Mom was tactile, and it felt the most natural thing in the world to have her leaning back against me. It was the way she had always held me when I was young, and sometime over the years our roles had reversed, and lately it had been her that sat against me. With my arms around her I was careful to place one hand up on her shoulder, the other down around her waist.
After we got home Mom had changed, putting on what looked like a new dress. I was sure she had lost a little weight since I'd been gone, and the dress showed off her slim waist and large breasts. It was well made, fashioned of a fine linen-cotton mix, pale tan in color. Small buttons closed the dress all the way up the front. The top was lower cut than Mom usually wore and showed her deep cleavage. The hem fell to just touch her knees when she was standing. Now, leaning back against me she had raised her legs and the skirt had ridden up onto her thighs.
"Tell me about New York, Tom," she said.
I told her the things I could, and skipped over the ones I couldn't, just like I had with Sarah.
"And what about girls?" She asked. "You're such a good looking young man, you must have girls chasing after you."
"A few, maybe." I admitted.
"But you're careful, Tom, aren't you?"
I nodded and looked down at her nestled against my chest, "I'm careful, Mom."
"And how's Alison?" she asked. "Is this new apartment nice? Is sharing working out?"
"It's working really well," I said.
She hugged me tight against her, "Good. I've missed you, Tom, but I'm glad you went. And thanks for coming home this week. It means a lot to me."
I kissed the top of her head, smelled the fresh shampoo in her hair. "How could I miss Christmas at home?"
Mom poured more wine and drank hers quickly, then wriggled back so she was pressed hard against my stomach. I could see she was getting a little drunk, a little silly, and it felt like fun and I wanted her to be happy after the tough times she had been through. I slid my arms around her again, one up, one down. Mom put her hand on my upper forearm and pulled it downwards. I could feel my wrist pressing against the swell of her breasts and she sighed and stopped tugging. It was still OK, just, but I was very aware of the rise of her breast under my arm, and very aware also that I was growing hard and worried Mom must have felt it as well because she was pressed tight back against my crotch.
She either really didn't notice, or pretended not to, although she did wriggle her ass a bit further back, and I wondered if she was teasing me.
"This is great, Tommy. Give Mom a kiss."
She angled her face back and up to me and I bent and kissed her on the lips. We were not cheek kissers, never had been. But this time I felt her hand on the back of my neck and she held me against her for longer than usual.
When we broke she smiled and put her head back on my chest, "Thanks. Just what I needed."
I sat there feeling weird. Had my Mom just made a pass at me?
If it hadn't been Mom I would have been flattered. Because she had given birth to me so young she was still only 37 and had kept her figure and skin tone and could easily pass for someone ten years younger. She was on the short side, standing about five-three without shoes, and had blonde hair, curly like mine and cut only a little longer. Her face was pretty if not beautiful, and her body was the kind you just had to look at, and stay looking at. She was vivacious.
"What about you, Mom? No tall handsome man on the horizon?"
She laughed, the moment of tension, if there had been one and it had not just been me, broken. She pulled away and tipped the bottle into her glass. A tiny dribble of wine emerged. "Shit," she muttered, then covered her mouth with her hands, "Sorry, Tommy."
I laughed. "I do swear, Mom, now and then."
She got up and smiled, "Yes, you're a grown man now, aren't you?" She padded through to the kitchen and came back with another bottle, gave it and the corkscrew to me to open. I uncorked the wine and topped her glass, put a lesser amount into mine.
Mom drained half hers in a swallow and held her glass out for more.
"Are you sure, Mom?" I said.
"I want to get drunk, Tommy. It's just so great to have you home, and I feel so happy, I just want to get a bit drunk and cuddle up to you."
"Don't blame me for your bad head in the morning then," I said, and refilled her glass.
Mom sipped from her glass and leaned back on me. She lifted herself up and when she sat back it was on my lap and my swollen cock now rested between the round, firm cheeks of her ass.
I could feel her bare leg against my jeans where her dress had risen up.