Inspired by true events.
*
My phone vibrated beside the mounting pile of invoices on the desk before me and caused me to start. I was snowed under at work and staying late trying to catch up before the short Christmas break. Thinking the message was from my wife I was pleased for the distraction and retrieved my cell.
The text read. "Hi Honey. There's something wrong with my washing machine. Would you be a dear and look at it for me? Mom." I smiled at her signing ownership of the text message and was about to reply when a follow up came through. "When you get a chance that is! Mom."
I noted the hour and figuring my wife Meagan would already be holding off dinner to allow for my overtime, a quick stop by my mother's house on the way home wouldn't delay me long and shot off a reply that I'd be there within the half hour.
It would kill two birds with the one stone. On my lunch break I'd spent the time doing my long delayed gift buying. Meagan had taken care of the majority of the presents for the extended family which meant I really only had to deal with Mom and my wife. Meg's gifts had taken the longest to decide upon. A classy silver banded watch had caught my eye and whilst browsing the women's department, Christmas themed lingerie seemed irresistible to my comic and romantic senses. A light hearted gift to compliment the expensive watch and a nod to the season.
Mom's had been simple. Meagan had suggested a new juicer as she'd taken note of my mother's desire to obtain one every time she visited our house. It was located and paid for in a matter of minutes and on the way back to the car, just as the lingerie had caught my eye for my wife, so did another item of clothing that screamed 'Mom' to me.
The store was a woollen clothing shop. Full of scarves and hand knitted beanies, it was the sweater on display in the front window that I just had to buy. When I was a child, Mom and Dad would annually find and don the most gaudy of Christmas sweaters to wear on the holiday. It was a tradition that faded away as I aged and lost the spirit but with this being the first Christmas without my father, I thought it would be a nice reminder for her of the happy days of our past.
The sweater itself was a frozen lake theme with snowmen on skates. Red, white and green, it was as colorful as it was busy and was perfect for the supplemental (novelty) gift. When the little old lady behind the counter offered to wrap it, I should have taken more notice. The size and color of the box she placed it in was almost identical to that which contained my wife's lingerie. A coincidence that would change my life forever.
* * * * *
Upon arriving at Mom's I opened the trunk of my car and discovered the contents had shifted during the drive. The bag from the lingerie store had toppled, the box which I only then noted the similarity however, still partially inside. I scooped up the other box and leaving the juicer in the car, headed towards the rear of my childhood home.
"Mom?" I called as I entered the kitchen, the smell of her dinner still permeating the room and causing me to remember my own hunger.
"In here honey!" Came the reply from the living room and as I approached she met me half way.
Her eyes went to the present in my hands and after kissing me on the cheek she mentioned that Christmas wasn't for two days.
"I know but this is an extra something I want you to wear on the day," I enthused.
"I'm still coming to yours for lunch? Won't we do presents then?" She pondered.
"Of course. After lunch. But this, I want to see you wearing when I come pick you up!" I handed her the box, not thinking at the time the relative lightness of the package.
"Can I open it now?" She asked, a quizzical look appearing on her face.
"No. Wait for the day. I want it to be a surprise." I rubbed her arm affectionately as I looked away towards the laundry. "So. What's the deal with this washing machine?"
My handy man credentials were limited to turning it off and on again and jiggling pipes and wires. After coming up short as to what had malfunctioned I suggested she call a repair man and offered to take any clothes she needed washing home to do in our machine.
"Oh no, that's too much to ask," she half heartedly managed. "I can just hand wash them for now."
We both looked at the sizeable basket of laundry and I smiled, taking possession of the dirty clothes. "Mom. It's no big deal. Meg will do them in the morning, you can drop by tomorrow afternoon to pick them up."
"Well if you're sure," she conceded and added a couple of towels to the collection.
* * * * *
"Ah, I don't think so!"
Meagan's reaction to me presenting my mother's dirty laundry to her wasn't unexpected I supposed.
"She's your mother and I'm going into work early in the morning. You do it!" Her words weren't used with any malice and she smiled as she watched me over her wine glass. I turned on my heel and headed towards the laundry with Meagan yelling advice out behind me. "Separate the colors! Oh and the delicates."
What did she think I was I? A rookie, I wondered as I placed the laundry basket down on the bench top. So all I had to do was put on a couple of loads and throw some stuff in the dryer before bed. The items I'd need to hang dry would be ready for when Mom arrived to pick them up the next day. Simple. Once I lifted off the towels she had added at the last moment I was immediately confronted with my mother's panties. And they weren't what I'd been expecting.
What had I been expecting? Well nothing really. I hadn't put any thought into it at all up until then. It wasn't something a son did think about was it? His mom's panties. The pink transparency struck me as out of place, out of character. I lifted the delicate material up and saw a matching bra beneath. Cup-less, my initial thought was you would see her nipples through the fibres and then unprompted my mind imagined what would be visible through the panties.
