Chapter 12: Adventures

          Finley couldn’t have been more proud of Quinn. He hadn’t even attended his first day of high school yet, but he’d already found some extra credit work to be done. While she admired him, he assured her that he wasn’t all that great. “I just don’t want my brain to go to mush over the weekend.”

          Of course, she also had pride in her girls as well. They did what they could around the house to help her out.

          Finley supposed she just had a responsible family. Didn’t know how this came to be, as she had stumbled awkwardly through motherhood. Maybe that was the reason though. They couldn’t count on Manu for sure, and could she really say that she was always there for them? She shook her head and smiled. She’d been going through this debate since Eddie was a baby. Maybe all parents spent their lives wondering whether or not they were doing a good job.

          With there being no bassinettes in her home, Finley had every day to herself. She could even take an afternoon and evening off without feeling guilty. Quinn wrapped himself up in learning most of the time, and Frankie could easily entertain herself. Sasha was the only one who was still quite dependent, and Finley thought that the girl could benefit from brief separations every now and then.

          After finishing a few household chores, Finley decided to try her luck with that intriguing tree again. First though, she struck up a conversation with it about the condition of its roots. She’d hate for somebody to come barging in her trunk without at least saying hello first.

          When she ventured inside, she once again heard the sound of running water. Finley followed this until her sneaker squished into the edge of what she hoped was a very small stream. From outside, the light carried in, so she could see a few feet in front of her. She decided to follow the water upstream, thinking that it would be smarter to find its source.

          Finley walked decidedly too long for her own comfort. The further she went, the darker it got. Finally though, she reached the beginning of the stream. Before she could examine it or look around, the light was somehow snuffed out all at once. The sudden loss of her vision startled her. Not knowing what else to do, she followed the water back, keeping one soggy shoe submerged in it. It wasn’t until she was standing directly in front of the entrance that there was finally some light to see again.

          “Did that really happen?” she breathed once she was out in the neighborhood again. The sunlight stung her eyes, but she didn’t dare close them and be subjected to more darkness. It would take her a few minutes to shake off the experience enough to function properly. “What kind of tree are you?” she asked before leaving. Finley had to tell someone about this, but who in their right mind would believe her?

          That early afternoon, Finley treated herself to a date with her newest love interest. She allowed herself to be swept away by Don, almost forgetting about her insane venture earlier that day.

“Are you sure you even want to go in?” she purred after a particularly long greeting kiss. “I’d be fine if you just wanted to go back to your place.”

That made his entire body tighten up. “No, we’re here. It’d be dumb to come all the way out here and not get a drink.”

          The doors opened, spilling modern jazz into the street. It caught Finley’s attention and she looked up. Seeing Eddie coming towards her made her quick jump back from Don. Sure, she and her son were both adults. And they both knew perfectly well what happened in an adult’s bedroom. That didn’t mean she wanted him to see her all over Don though.

          “Hey you,” Eddie said and strolled over to give her a hug.

“I didn’t think you’d be here. What’re the chances?”

“It’s the only club in town,” he shrugged. “Sup Don?”

Don nodded. “Not much.” The way he stared at the mother and son standing together, Finley knew he was trying to calculate her age. He’d exclaimed multiple times that she didn’t look old enough to have an adult kid. She wasn’t sure if this was simple flattery, or if he was the first person to catch on to her special living conditions.

          Eddie decided to join them on their date, much to Finley’s chagrin. She was happy enough to see her son, but she’d been looking forward to a nice distraction. A little fun in her new settling routine. And Eddie and Don enjoyed each other’s company a little too much. At times, she felt as though she were the third wheel.

          After a couple drinks, Finley’s inhibition was lowered enough for her to test the waters by talking about her special tree. The two men cracked up when she got to the part about there being a stream inside the trunk of a tree. They thought she was telling a joke and waited for the punch line when she finished. To make things less awkward, Finley laughed along with them.

          Eddie and Don moved to the bar while she excused herself to the bathroom. So caught up in exchanging stories about being bachelors on the prowl, they forgot all about Finley. In fact, she barely talked to Don at all on the rest of their date.

          Finley sat at the bar and ordered a tastier juice for herself. She smelled Don’s breath before she felt him sluggishly put a kiss on the exposed skin of her shoulder. “I gotta get going Babe. See you later.” You’d think that he would have made towards the exit after declaring their date over, but he didn’t do that right away. Once Finley received her strawberry drink, she pretended that she didn’t see Don blatantly checking out another woman. She also pretended she didn’t hear the women besides her gossiping about her being just another one of his conquests.

          After finishing her glass, Finley planned to get started on the walk home. Before she could get up, someone took the seat next to her and struck up a conversation. She barely recognized the man she’d met so long ago, before she had any of her kids. “His name is Bob, right?” she silently asked herself.

          He quickly turned their chat into a flirt fest. Finley had fun with this for a while, eventually letting him buy her one more juice. At a certain point in the night, while he more aggressively pursued a romantic encounter with her, Finley made the conscience decision to go home.

          Instead of spending the night with a man and a bed, Finley spent it working on her garden. She found that she was perfectly content with this.

          And the next morning, she didn’t have to deal with explaining to her kids that she and Don had another sleepover (Frankie was always jealous that she couldn’t have her friends spend the night ever). Or, worse yet, trying to make excuses for them running into a stranger sneaking out of her bedroom. Nope, not that morning. She simply enjoyed a light jog while her babies fed themselves before school.