April was enjoying breakfast with her mother on a chilly Saturday morning. They always made time like this to hang out. After all, they were the only family they each had. April's father left them right after she was born. But her mother didn't fall into despair. Instead, she had dedicated her life to giving her daughter all the love she could.
April, now that she was 18 years old, had come to appreciate all her mother had done for her. The last two decades of her mother's life were split between working and caring for her. But now that she was an adult herself and about to head to college in a few months, she hoped her mother would make time for herself again. Find new hobbies, make friends, and maybe even find a romantic relationship. Since her father left, April's mother hasn't gone on a single date. But she was still young. Only 38 years old.
April herself hasn't explored the romantic world either but for different reasons. She dedicated herself to her studies and her love of art and music. But what she lacked in boyfriends, she made up for with friends. In particular, she had four close friends. Darnell, Cody, Vincent, and Aaron. Her mother had teased her in the past for having four guys as best friends and predicted she would end up dating them. But April said that wasn't going to happen and proved herself correct. These guys were her friends, and no other funny business had ever happened with them.
"Are your friends coming over tonight to hang out again," her mother asked. April nodded. Her house was a frequent hangout spot for them. Her mother enjoyed having her friends around, too, and they frequently called her the 'cool mom.'
"I'm glad to hear it. Now that they are all 18 years old, I can't help but notice how handsome they are," she said with a sly smile.
"Mom! Gross! Those are my friends you're talking about," April said, shocked that her mom would comment on her friend's appearance.
"Relax, I'm just saying. They wouldn't be interested in me anyway. I'm twice their age. But can you imagine...," she said, looking off into the distance.
"No! I can't and won't imagine that. Can we please talk about something else," April said in protest. Hearing that her mom even entertained the idea of being anything resembling romantic with her friends was beyond embarrassing. She appreciated that her mother hadn't had any contact with a man in decades, but she could start by dating men her age.
However, the young woman calmed herself down. Her mom was just teasing. And even if she was interested in her friends in that way. It's like her mom said to herself; she's twenty years older than them. April even doubted how much her four male friends were interested in romantic encounters currently. None of them have had girlfriends or been on dates as far as she knew. The five of them just wanted to have clean fun.
That evening, the four guys arrived together at April's house. She had made plans for them to play the board game Wing Span. "Hey guys, I got the game set up in the backroom. I even added in the Asian bird expansion, so there are even more bird powers you can use!" April excitedly said.
But as she led them to the room she expected them to spend the next seven hours playing the bird-themed game, the four boys were momentarily distracted by the arrival of April's mother. "Hello, boys! It's so nice to see you all. I trust you all are staying fit as ever?" She said to them.
"We try our best, Ms. Booker," Darnell said in a flirty tone that alarmed April.
"You're looking fit yourself, ma'am," Cody added.
"Oh, stop it, you guys. You're going to tempt me into doing something bad...," she said. What the heck does that mean, April thought. She started pushing her friends down the hall, away from her mother.
"Come on, I need to explain to you guys how the egg-laying mechanism works in the game," April said.
Finally, away from the odd behavior her mother was portraying, April got to work walking them through the board game she intended for the five of them to play for the next five to seven hours. Ten minutes later, she was in the middle of explaining how food selection works. "If the dice show the same food, you can re-roll. But that's optional," she said as she showed them an example.
"Man, Ms. Booker looked so good. Has she been working out, April," Aaron asked, interrupting her explanation.
"She's been taking walks more, I guess. Anyway, you can only take food when you do the collection action...," she said, changing the subject back to the game before getting interrupted yet again.
"She was being really friendly with us. Even flirty," Vincent remarked.
"Yeah, she kept talking about how handsome you guys were earlier today. She even wondered out loud if you guys were interested in her. It was pretty embarrassing to hear. She's twice your age. Can you imagine!" April said with a laugh. She felt bad making fun of her mother like this, but her behavior was so odd today.
"Your mom's interested in us?" Cody asked, surprised.
"That's not what I said. She was wondering if you all were interested in her. God, I feel cringy even telling you guys about it," April said, clarifying. "But let's talk about how nectar is used." But the boys were becoming less interested in the avian-themed game.
"Dude, she said we were handsome. She hasn't been with anyone in almost two decades. Do you think we might have a shot with her?" Cody asked the group.
April's eyes lit up in horror. These guys were actually interested in her mother? "Whoa, guys. She's my mom. Can we not talk about her like this," she asked.
"We're not teasing April. I don't know about the other guys, but I think your mom is a stone-cold fox. I'm sorry, but if she is attracted to me, I'm taking my shot," Cody said.
The other three voiced their strong agreement. "Let's go talk to her. We're all 18 now. She might be on board for anything," Darnell suggested. This prompted the four boys to stand up.