A Simple Life: Ch. 111-124

Author's Note: This section is all drama and no smut. You've been warned.

Chapter 111

I am woken by a kiss to my tummy. As I am groggily surfacing Winona, who was fully beneath the blankets, crawls up my body. I open my eyes just in time to see her peek up from out of the covers like a sleepy eyed groundhog emerging to look for its shadow.

"Good morning beautiful." She says, her voice a bit dry and croaky still.

"Mmm." I smile and stretch. "Good morning!"

She slides up over me and kisses me sweetly. Closing her eyes she rests her head on my shoulder and nuzzles my neck. "Mmmm. What a night."

"What a w-way to wake up."

"Mmmm." She sighs. "What time is it?"

I turn my head and peer around the wide awake and purring puffball that sat looking at me expectantly beside my pillow. "Almost 9." I say as I give Brutus' little forehead a scratch.

With a kiss to my neck she whispers. "Pops'll be here soon. I should get moving." She groans and snuggles closer. "But I don't wanna!"

I giggle and pet her soft hair. "Got time for a quick chubby? My treat?"

"Hell...yes!" She blinks her eyes open and rubs them. "That would be awesome."

We roll out of bed and go about getting ready for the day. There was such a feeling of romance and togetherness in the air and physically I was also feeling the aftereffects of the night before. It was all so wonderful. The morning sun had risen and my dreams melted away but still I found myself in heaven. No drug in the world could touch this bliss of true love.

Half an hour later Winona is rolling open one of the bay doors just as her dad's vehicle is coming up the drive. Just before the SUV cruises by to park at the side I catch a half glower, half smirk on Amos' face when he sees me step out into the sunshine. He was neither surprised or upset by the fact that I had obviously spent the night with his daughter, but neither was he thrilled about it. It was probably a Dad thing. As I hear the engine turn off, the door slam, and his crunching footsteps approach Winona steps up beside me so that we might face any parental wrath as a unified front.

Amos rounds the corner with coffee and muffins in his hands and stops when he sees us there shoulder to shoulder. He gives us each a long hard look. For a moment all goes quiet except for song of the morning birds and the hiss of the distant waves. At my side Winona stood proud. She pushes her glasses higher up her nose and stares him eye to eye. Not only ready to have it out but, I think, secretly hoping to. Her dad senses that too and chooses not to say a word. That is until he hears the mew of the only one of us he truly missed.

"My lion!" He bellows as he barges right through us, sending us staggering left and right, to get to the tiny kitten who was trundling his way. The pair of them come together like long lost lovers in some sappy old romance. Setting down the box and cups right there on the floor of the garage Amos scoops up his fuzzy buddy and lifts him high in the air. "There he is." He bring Brutus to his cheek where the kitty licks and purrs and greets his giant pal. "Awww, missed you too pal."

Winona and I look at each other with poorly hidden cringes as all either of us could think about was what that same kitty mouth that was currently nuzzling and licking her dad's cheeks and lips had been doing the night before.

"Glch!" Winona shudders as I cover my giggle. "We gotta go."

"Go?" He looks to us.

"I won't be long. Quick breakfast and I'll be back."

"Better be." He warns. "We're taking customers soon and..."

"I know. I know." She says. "Hour and a half, tops." Before he could protest she grabs my hand and tugs me along behind her. "Come on Sprout."

"Hey!" Amos calls. We stop and look back to see him looking at me. "Cher and I were wondering if you might want to come by for dinner tonight."

"If she thinks she's going to scare him off...!" Winona starts.

Amos raises a hand. "We come in peace." He says. "Besides. Your mom learned the hard way that Avery don't scare easy." With a warm smile he adds. "The boy's got grit."

"He's not a...!"

"Man." Amos corrects himself. "Sorry. The man's got grit. How about it Avery?"

"Oh! Um." I look from daughter to father. "I-I-I wish I could. B-but I work t-tonight."

"No problem." He nods. "Another time."

"Yes. Yes!" I say. "I w-would like that. V-Very much."

"Me too." He says. "Now get! I need my daughter back in an hour and a half. No more!"

"Yes S-Sir!"

"Don't call me...!"

"Amos!" I correct myself, and we both laugh as he and Brutus go one way and Winona and I go the other. With my bike in the back of her truck Winona drives us into town. "I l-like your dad." I say as I watch her drive for no other reason than just to watch her.

"Yeah. He likes you too." She says. "He's going to hold you to that promise you know. They're going to want you over for dinner soon."

"Gladly!" I say. "C-Can't wait."

She chuckles. "Brave boy."

I found it humorous that Winona felt that her folks were so tough and mean. Compared to my family Amos was a saint and even Cher wasn't so bad. And with thoughts of my family came... "Grandpa!"

"Huh?"

"M-My Grandpa might be back." I say. "He said he was coming in this morning. W-We could see if he's around."

"Grandpa!" Her head snaps to look at me then down at her sweater and overalls combo. Suddenly she was the one with a stutter. "I-I-I can't meet Grandpa looking like this! All I did was run a brush through my hair! I don't even have make up on!"

I giggle, absolutely tickled both by her adorable nervousness and the fact that she called him 'Grandpa'. She knew me too well. There was only one person in the world whose opinion about her I actually valued, and it was his. Although at this point even Grandpa's opinion would do little to sway the feelings that had already anchored inside of me. "He d-doesn't care about that stuff. He's kinda...scruffy lookin himself. He he he."

"Uh, yeah, sure." She says, torn between very much wanting to meet him but also wanting to make a good first impression. "Yeah. If you think now's a good time."

"Maybe he'll join us for breakfast." I say. Seeing her trepidation, mild as it was, I add something that I knew would put her at ease. "Did I ever t-tell you that he played FoF?"

"What? No way!"

I nod. "Yeah. Just a c-couple time wayyy back. I think like in the 70's or something."

"Shit. A first edition OG! That's sooo cool!" I could sense her confidence swelling again. There was nothing like tapping into her geeky addiction for watching her bloom. "They had these crazy race-classes back then. What did he play?"

"I d-don't know." I smile. "He only just t-tried it. He w-worked a lot back then."

"Hard to find a campaign. Somethings never change." Her nervousness transformed back into enthusiasm Winona is as cheery as ever as she makes her way to the docks.

As for me I am on top of the world. The two most important people in my life were about to meet. I could not wait for Grandpa to see what a wonderful woman Winona was. I couldn't wait for Winona to see what an amazing man Grandpa was. In my heart I knew that there was no chance that they didn't get on. They were both bold and free spirits with great senses of humor, but mostly because I knew in my heart that they both loved me enough to make it work. My spirits are high when we stop at a light on the street that sloped down to the docks and I see the big, bruising hull of the Anna Bella there among the sleek and slender lady's of the sea around her. I take in a breath, about to cheer, when my eyes catch a familiar shade of green in the parking lot at the end of the street. As my gaze settles on the old station wagon my heart shrivels and my spirit falls. What was Mom doing here?

The truck in motion again snaps me out of my funk. "He's n-not h-h-here." I say too late as we were already halfway into the turn. "L-Let's just g-go to Ch-Chubs."

"No way." Winona smiles and gives a nod ahead. "You said it was the huge one, yeah? The old trawler. Isn't that it? Down near the end?"

"Um...yeah." I whisper as we glide down the street making straight for the parking spot directly beside my mother's car. "That's her."

***

Chapter 112

Winona rolls into the spot and is quick to unbuckle as I sit there looking down at my mom's car. Even though it was such a short drive Mom rarely came down here to visit her dad. Why did she have to be here today of all days? I wanted so bad for this moment to just be for Winona and Grandpa. I consider delaying the introductions but the more I turned it over in my mind the more I realized that this was probably a stroke of good luck in disguise. Mom was always on her best behavior around her father. And at this time of day at least I knew that she'd be sober.

"Something wrong Sprout?" Winona asks when she sees me still with my belt on. "You okay?"

"That's m-my mom's car." I say softly. "I d-d-didn't think she would b-be here."

"Great!" Winona slaps my knee. "Two birds, one stone."

"Yeah." I look over at her. "Hey. If M-Mom says anything f-funny...um, she doesn't m-mean it, okay?"

She gives me a curious look. "That's an odd thing to say."

"I know. J-Just...she's got, um, issues." I sigh. "She means well but...I d-dunno. Like mother, like son I g-guess. Don't judge her too harshly?"

"Alright. Not my place to judge in the first place." She says as she rubs my leg. "Is everything okay Avery?"

"Yeah. Everything is f-fine." I say. "I just w-wasn't expecting to see her." Unbuckling my seat belt I take a deep breath and nod. "Alright. Let's do this."

Winona's eyes narrow as she searches my face with concern. After I give her an assuring smile she nods back. "Lead the way."

I slip out the door and meet Winona at the front corner of the truck. Taking her hand in mine I lead her out onto the docks. With the sun shining and the free sea air in our faces my mood lifts again as we make our way closer to the Bella. Along the way I point out the different yachts and pleasure craft and tell her little tidbits about their various owners until at last we are closing in on Grandpa's big home. Unsurprisingly, since I knew he already had company, the gangway was already down.

"Woahhh." Winona marvels at the old trawler turned houseboat. "This is your Grandpa's place?"

"Yep!" I say proudly.

"This thing is awesome! You can actually drive this big beast?"

"Excuse me?" I lift my chin indignantly. "Bella is a L-Lady, thank you very much. No things nor beasts here."

We share a chuckle as I lead her up the gangway onto deck. I am barely on board when a sound I'd heard less than a half dozen times in my whole life stops me in my tracks. It was my Grandpa's voice raised in anger.

"Avery is getting Bella!" He says, his raspy voice cracking with emotion. "I've made my decision, Joni, and that's..." His point is cut off by a fit of coughing.

"And what about the rest of us, Dad?" My mom snarks back. "This damn tub's the only thing of value you've got left to..."

"Shhh!" He hushes her as he hears the clunk of Winona stepping off of the gangway. "Is someone there?" He calls. "Hello?"

My cheeks burning with an embarrassed blush at hearing what I wasn't supposed to hear and hoping with all my heart that Winona hadn't heard my family's dirty laundry I clear my throat and say. "It's m-m-me." Winona steps in beside me and quietly slips her hand into mine. She gives it a supportive squeeze. Yeah. She heard them alright. How embarrassing! "I-It's me." I say again a bit louder.

Up from below deck comes my mom looking quite nice today in a casual outfit of beige slacks and blouse with a brown denim jacket. She was a petite, like me, had blond hair, like me, and bright blue eyes, just like me. Add to this her similar fine boned features and slender physique and there wasn't a person in the world who could have mistaken us as anything but mother and son. The thing that stood out today though was her red nose and bleary pink eyes. She'd been crying. Oh God! Grandpa just broke the news! Why hadn't I figured that out sooner!? How could I be so foolish?

"Avery." She huffs as she rushes to me and pulls me into a hard hug. "Dad just told me."

I hug my mom unsure of what to do or say that would make her feel better. Winona steps to the side to give us a moment together.

Slower up the stairs comes Grandpa looking scruffy as ever and a bit sheepish as he realized that I'd probably heard some of the argument not meant for my ears. As he always did though he brightens the moment that he sees my face. Even more so today when he sees who I'd brought with me.

"I think I might know who this is." He walks across the deck with a big grin and his hand extended.

"Hello Sir." Winona says with utmost manners as she hurries forward to take his hand. Little did she know that the hand had been a ruse. As I knew he would Grandpa pulls Winona into a hug of her own. I continue to try to comfort my mom but seeing the two of them hug was the most beautiful thing ever!

Mom steps back from me with a sniffle and wipes her nose with a tissue as she turns to see our guest for the first time. "Oh!" She swallows and sniffles again. "This must be the new friend I heard about." When their hug ends mom offers her hand to give Winona a shake. "Sorry. You're not catching me at my best. This is not a great time I'm afraid."

"It's cool." Winona says, straightening her glasses from the embrace. "We never meant to intrude."

"It's m-my fault." I apologize. "W-We were passing by. W-We c-can come back later."

"Later would be good." Mom says to Winona. "Family business you understand." She takes my hand, holding it in such a way that signaled that while Winona could leave I had to stay.

"Nonsense." Grandpa says with a wave. "We were talking in circles anyway. My door is always open to friends of Avery." He looks to me, a twinkle in his eye. "How about a proper introduction?"

"Winona. This is Grandpa and Mom. Mike and J-J-Joni to most." I say, my eyes only on Grandpa. "Mom. Grandpa. This is Winona." My breath catches a moment with joy as I add. "M-My girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Mom gasps, her face brightening into a disbelieving smile despite the grim news she'd just received. "Girlfriend!" She looks at me with pride sparkling in her blue eyes. "Avery! You never told me that you had a girlfriend!?"

"Ha ha!" Grandpa laughs a happy laugh and claps his hands. "I had a feelin this one was special. I can tell you that you made one heck of an impression on my Buttercup here."

"The feeling was mutual." Winona smiles bashfully. "Pleasure to meet you both."

This time it's Mom who pulls Winona down into a hug around the neck. "Girlfriend. I didn't even know he was seeing anyone." Holding Winona by the shoulders she steps back to look her up and down. Since Mom was even shorter than me there was a lot more up than down. "My! You're a big one." As I blush Winona laughs it off. Mom shoots a look to me. "Avery. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I'm telling you n-now."

"This kid." She rolls her eyes. Coming back to my side she takes my arm and holds it tight to her side. "I told you it was a phase." She whispers. "Didn't I?"

A flinch crosses my face despite my best effort to contain it. Even before my first date with Eddie, back when she saw my internet history which included both hot guys and girls, she had told me that my interest in men was nothing more than a 'phase' and that I was just confused and weak and that Kayla was a bad influence and that I would eventually outgrow it.

"Yeah." I wear the fake smile I always used when she hurt my feelings. "You d-d-did Mom. You sure d-did always s-say that. Y-Y-You we're right."

"Moms always know." She kisses my cheek, just below my bruised eye. "I'm really proud of you Avery. She is lovely."

***

Chapter 113

In Grandpa's eyes I see the same blend of guilt and shame whenever he heard his daughter say something nasty like she just had. It tore him up to hear his daughter treat his grandson like she did. I knew that his one great regret in life was how far he and Anna had allowed their only child to stray. He might have been the greatest grandpa in the world but, according to him, he and Anna's free-spirited live and let live philosophy had made for being lousy parents. As he told it, all had been smooth sailing until Joni turned 15 when she fell in with a bad group of friends. Just as with strict conservative families where a child might rebel to become a carousing party animal Joni swung the other direction from her upbringing of free-thinking idealism into rigid outdated mores. Busy as their life was in those prime years little did they realize the radical shift in their daughter's worldview until it was too late. Peace, love and understanding had been replaced by intolerance, judgment and homophobia. The more they tried to reel her back in the further she wriggled from their grasp. By the time Mom met Dad, a man who shared those same attitudes and then some, and became pregnant with Paige her ways had been set.

Grandpa tries to pull me away from her. Keeping his tone upbeat for our guest's sake he takes my hand. "I just brewed a fresh pot of coffee." He says. "I could whip you kids up some scrambled eggs and bacon if you're hungry."

My attempt to go with Grandpa is blocked by my mom keeping a tight grip on my arm and remaining glued to my side. In the span of a few seconds a silent argument flashes back and forth between Mom and Grandpa's eyes. Today Mom wasn't budging. Wishing to keep things cordial, probably because he knew how important this meeting between him and Winona was to me, he cedes the battle and steps away.

"Actually, we were coming by to see if you wanted to join us for breakfast at Chub's." Winona says, oblivious to all that had just happened. "Our treat."

"Our?" Grandpa raises his bushy brows and smiles. "Look at these two. They're an 'our' already."

Winona laughs. "You're free to join us, Joni. The more the merrier."

"This really isn't a good time..." Mom stresses, before Grandpa cuts her off.

"Free grub!" He claps. "I'm in."

"This is not a good time!"

"Hoo hoo! Let me grab my jacket!"

"Dad!" Mom shoots him a hard look.

"You can stay here and mope if you want to." He says. "But I'm hungry." After a quick trip into the wheelhouse to grab a faded blue windbreaker he starts locking Bella up. "You got wheels Winona?"

"Got my truck." She says as she takes her keys from her pocket to spin them like an old west cowboy with his six-shooter. "If we all don't mind gettin cozy that is."

"I mean, I don't mind." He quips. "But I heard your boyfriend is a real bad mamma-jamma."

"Oh yeah." She warns. "He's a straight up bad ass. You better watch your hands old man."

"Ha!" He lets out a loud guffaw at her cheek. "I'm a married man young lady!"

"Hey." She winks. "I won't say nothin if you won't. Just don't let him catch ya."

"Ha ha ha! Are you hearing this Anna?"

I stand there giggling, absolutely adoring the way these two were already bantering back and forth. I just knew they were gonna like each other! It made my heart so happy to see it.

At my side Mom wasn't nearly so charmed. In fact she was downright stewing in anger at the way they were carrying on. She grumbles something under her breath then says curtly. "Fine. Avery and I will go in my car. We'll meet you there."

This stops Grandpa's laughter in a heartbeat. "Joni..."

She turns on him and jabs a finger into his chest. "It's all just fun and games to you, isn't it Dad? It's all a big joke, huh?"

"Joni..."

"No! Don't Joni me. You drop that bombshell on me, on poor Avery, and now you just want to go for breakfast as if everything is alright? What about us, Dad? Some of us can't just laugh it all off, Dad. Some of us actually give a damn!" Grandpa shifts uncomfortably as he shoots an apologetic look Winona's way as things were suddenly very awkward. "I need to talk to my son. We will meet you at Chubs." She turns to leave with me in tow. Knowing better than to sass my mom I move along with her without resistance.