The following story is a for the 2019 Valentine's Day contest. If you enjoy please vote! Warning before going into this story, it is not about a mother-son relationship and will make sense by the end. This is not normally a topic I write about but the idea struck me and felt the need to get this written. Again Please Vote and Enjoy!
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Ray rushed to finish the dishes in the kitchen sink. He was drying them and putting them in the cabinet rather than letting them sit in the rack to dry. Soon his daughter Molly would be home from college for the first time in two years. He did not want her to see what a mess the house had become since her last visit home. The week before he even paid a cleaning service to come in making sure everything was nice. They were there all day dusting and scrubbing the mess that had become of his house.
Being a widow had put Ray into a deep depression as it would anyone. Hence, the mess in the house. All Ray did was work and sleep. His enthusiasm for anything else had just vanished. Being alone in the big farmhouse that him his late wife owned, had not made his new life easy. Every item or room had some memory of her or Molly.
Cynthia, his late wife had two battles with cancer. The first time was shortly after they had been married. She won that one and then went into remission. Unfortunately, during Molly's freshman year of college Cynthia's cancer came back tenfold. Cynthia only lasted six weeks from diagnosis. Her cancer had spread faster than anyone expected. Both Ray and Molly barely had time to figure out what was happening and she was gone.
It had been hard on Ray but especially hard for Molly. Cynthia had Molly while in college after a fling. The father had taken off as soon as he heard about Cynthia being pregnant. Technically speaking, Molly was Ray's stepdaughter but he officially adopted her when Cynthia and he got married. Molly had been eight when that happened. He was the only dad that she ever had and likewise she was the only daughter that he had.
Molly had just finished her third year in college. They had been so out of touch Ray didn't even know what her major was anymore. She had only been home once since Cynthia's death. Things between Ray and her were strained during her last visit. He had been asking her about school but they got into a small argument about classes or grades, he was foggy on the details. Ray had not thought it was big deal but Molly had blown up at him. She took off screaming that he wasn't her dad so why did he care. That had been a holiday vacation and she went back to school without a word.
After that, she called him on holidays or birthdays but little else. Anything she said to him in these calls, was minimal and vague. She spent the last few summers with her grandmother out in California. Having her gone had been even harder for him than losing his wife. It was like that last part of Cynthia had left him. Molly and he had been joined at the hip since he and Cynthia met. He had promised Cyn that Molly would be looked after but that had not been easy.
Ray had been taken back when Molly called just before her finals. She asked him if her room was still there and if he minded her coming home for the summer. Obviously, that had made his day. Hell, it made his decade. He told her, of course, it was there and he couldn't wait to see her. That had been a few weeks ago.
The ring of the doorbell interrupted Ray wiping the last dish. He tossed it up in the cupboard and hustled to the door as fast as he could go. Molly obviously didn't have her key anymore. Ray added that to the list of things he needed to do while Molly was here.
Ray was surprised by the sight when he opened the door. A girl much shorter than him was at the door with a suitcase. He was 5' 9" but this girl was about 5" even. She wore a tight black T-shirt with a band name on it he had heard of but didn't know, a pair of tight jeans with ripped knees, and a pair of black Converse sneakers. Her hair was bright pink and cut about neck length. A few silver metal barrettes held the right side of her hair out of her face. The left side hung in front blocking her eye on that side.
It took Ray a few seconds until he looked at the girl's visible bright blue eye to reveal her identity to him. There was no mistaking that this was Molly. Her mom had the same eyes, and she also now had her mom's height and similar figure too.
"Molly?" Ray asked looking her up and down.
"Hi Ray," she said passing him her suitcase. "Can you help? I got this and another one in the car, as well as a basket of laundry."
Ray noted that she didn't call him dad. He had been her dad even before she married Cynthia. She must be still mad at him about something he realized. Give it a few days he said to himself, that will change.
"No problem Buttercup," he said using his old nickname for her. Her favorite show growing up had been Powerpuff Girls. Cynthia and he always joked she was like the character Buttercup. She was stubborn, tough, and had a little bit of attitude. "I will put this on your bed and come grab something else."
"Thanks, Ray," she told him and walked back to her car in the driveway.
Ray ran the suitcase upstairs, then came back and helped get the rest. Once they got everything in the house, he opened his arms and attempted to give her a hug. She hugged him but it felt out of politeness.
"It is good to see you, Honey," he told her as they released.
"You too," she said with a melancholy look in her eyes.
"I really like the hair," Ray told her. "Reminds me of something I did as a teenager."
"Thanks," Molly said and she smiled for just a second. "You dyed your hair?"
"I did back in high school. Greenday was playing a concert so a bunch of us bleached our hair and went with bright green hair."
"Really? I can't imagine that Nana was happy about that," she said fighting chuckles.
Nana was what Molly called his mom. She was in a facility for people with Alzheimer's. His mom had adored Molly too. Ray had been an only child so she thought Molly might be the closest thing to a grandchild she would get.
"I was grounded until it washed out," He told her. "Manic panic lasts forever. In the end, I shaved my head so my punishment would end."
Molly finally giggled and he figured it was at the concept of him both with green hair and bald. Both seemed ludicrous to him now but what did he know then. His hair was one of his best traits. He had no grays or thinning on his head.
"Did you buzz it or actually shave it?" She asked.
"I Bic'd it," Ray exclaimed. "When I buzzed it my brown hair still didn't show. The roots were still green so I thought I would outsmart Nana."
"How did that work out for you?" She chuckled.
"Nana hated me bald even more. Some guy in the news with a bald head had been reported for robbing a bank. She kept saying I looked like him. But she did give in about the punishment."
"I bet it didn't make her happy you outsmarted her," Molly remarked.
"Eh, it wasn't so bad. She got over it," Ray said walking towards the kitchen. "Coffee?"
"I'd love some!" she chirped. "Black, two sugars."
"Woh, that's new," he joked as he poured her a cup from the batch he had made shortly before she arrived.
"Yeah, I know. But dorms can be a bitch to keep milk from going bad. You learn to live without."
"Well, I grabbed your favorite vanilla creamer in case you change your mind."
The two of them chatted for a little while over coffee. Ray told her about what little had gone on since she had been home last. He explained how had the back patio porch fixed and repainted. She told him a little about school but didn't give too many details.
Soon the afternoon turned to early evening. Ray felt like they were starting to repair what they had before Cynthia passed. He wasn't sure what the problem had been or he would have apologized. His fear was that he might say sorry for the wrong thing and the argument would be back again.
"So we are having your favorite for dinner," he explained to her.
"Mac and cheese?" she asked clapping her hands.
"Yeah, I got fresh extra sharp white cheddar yesterday," he told her getting up and putting the cups in the sink. "You go unpack and get comfortable, while I work on it."
"Sounds good," she said and went upstairs.
Ray prepared their meal. He shredded the cheese, boiled the pasta and did everything he used to do when Molly had been a kid. While he hadn't made this in years, the muscle memory of it all came right back to him.
"Is the washer empty?!" Molly called from upstairs.
"Yeah, it should be!" he shouted back. "Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes!"
Ray could hear her come downstairs with laundry and loading the machine while he made the final touches. It wasn't much longer before he was done. He bowled their food and brought it out into the living room. Her bowl sat on the living room table waiting for her.
"Eating in the living room?" she asked halfway to the kitchen.
"Yeah, I got your bowl right here," Ray told her while patting the spot next to him on the couch. "Thought we could eat like we used to do when you were a kid. Your mom isn't here to scold us."
Molly smiled and flopped on the couch next to Ray. She grabbed her bowl. Her outfit had changed into her old oversized sleep shirt and sweatpants from high school.
With a mouth half full of food she said, "Yeeeah... Moooommm... would have flipped a shit. Remember that time I spilled that kool-aid on the old couch. I swear she was still mad about that when she died."
"You have no idea Buttercup," he said flipping through channels. "I paid for that mistake for months. Remember, Mom, made me sleep in the spare room."
They joked about old times and browsed the TV for something to watch. After a few minutes, they settled on a movie Molly had loved as a kid. Neither of them could remember the last time they saw it. Ray made comments as it began about how there were way more adult jokes in this kids movie than he remembered. Molly agreed with him and took the bowls out to the kitchen when they finished eating.
A little way into the movie, Ray got up to use the bathroom. When he returned Molly had moved closer to his side of the couch. He didn't really think anything of it at the time. She was stretched out a bit more with feet up on the couch. He took his seat again and Molly looked up at him.
"Dad," she said with a slightly tired look on her face. "Can I snuggle up against you like I used when I was little?"
