I stood beneath the stream of the shower as I called through the glass, "How long till we need to leave?"
Jerico spat out his toothpaste replying, "We've still got twenty minutes."
Turning the knob, I stepped out of the shower and was greeted by a topless Jerico, leaning against the sink as he openly leered at my body with a smirk. I rolled my eyes with a smile, "Are you done in here? Get out of my way, so I can brush my teeth now."
He laughed as he opened the ensuite door and stepped back into his room, "Good idea, can't meet my mum with dick breath."
I laughed around my toothbrush, "Yeah, good job she's not meeting here. I bet the bedroom stinks of sex."
We hurried out of the apartment building, walking at a brisk pace towards town. A short while later Jerico waved to a Black woman in her late fifties. She was tall and slim, with the same round eyes as Jerico. "Mum!" He called throwing his arms around her, "I've missed you. How are you?"
She hugged him back tightly with a smile across her face, "Not as much as I've missed you, my beautiful boy." They separated from their hug as she turned to me, "You must be the famous River. I've heard wonderful things about you" she said, taking me by surprise and scooping me into a hug. "I'm Mary Miller."
"It's so nice to meet you Mumma-Miller. Jeri speaks so highly of you."
"As he should. Now, let's get you boys some lunch." She replied pointing to a small restaurant called, 'Barns Kitchen.'
We each settled on a roast, gorging ourselves on our choice of carved gammon or roast beef with roast potatoes, roasted vegetables, and fresh-baked rolls. Desert took longer for us each to settle on, but eventually Mary got herself a slice of carrot cake and Jerico and I each got ourselves a large ice cream sundae, with layer upon layer of calorific chocolate delights.
Jerico patted his swollen stomach proudly, "Damn that was good. I'll have to spend an extra hour at the gym tomorrow."
I nodded in agreement, "It was delicious. I wish I could cook like that."
"So does Mum." He replied.
She rolled her eyes playfully, "Oh, I'm not that bad."
He burst out laughing, "Mum. You gave all of my friend's food poisoning on my 13th birthday."
"I still maintain innocence. I think you all just got the same bug."
He shook his head, "Right. All two hours after eating. Honestly River, it was a blood bath."
I joined in with his laughter, as they continued this back and forth for a few minutes, until Mary turned to me shaking her head with a smile. "Are you like this with your mother, River? Or is it just Jerico whos' mean?"
"No, not reall-" I replied as Jerico interrupted me, warning,
"Mum..."
"Oh, sorry. I was told not to pry. I really didn't mean to." She said holding her hands up in surrender.
I laughed, "It's fine. I haven't actually heard from her since I moved out here. She erm, she drinks." I said hoping it explained enough. Apparently, it did, because Mary reached her hand out, covering mine to give it a squeeze, "I'm sorry to hear that. Do you have other family?"
I shook my head and almost laughed again at the daggers Jeri was giving his mum, "No, my dad passed away when I was in primary school. Many of my extended family started peeling away because of Mum's drinking years ago and the rest did because of the men she dated."
She gave my hand another pat, "Well, if you ever need anything you just let me know."
I felt my throat constrict at the motherly gesture and knew my eyes were going glassy. I pulled my hand away gently and nodded, giving a tight smile, "Thank you, really."
Jerico and I spent the next few hours showing his Mum around the city, as we continued to get to know each other. He had a large family, with three siblings that were ten years older than him. "I was a happy surprise. Not an accident." He summarised when the topic came up.
Mary covered his hand with her own, "You certainly were the happiest of surprises."
I said my goodbyes, leaving the two of them at the entrance of a chain coffee shop. I kissed them each on the cheek, as they both reiterated that I didn't need to leave, but I wanted to give them some alone time, I'd also admitted that I had a tonne of laundry that I needed to take to the launderette. "It was honestly so Lovely to meet you Mumma-Miller. Thank you for lunch, you really shouldn't have."
As I walked back towards the hostel, I sent Jerico a quick message, [Thanks for today. I had the best time. You Mum is amazing.]
I got a reply within seconds, [She's literally going on about how great you are already. She's also obsessed with the fact you call her Mumma-Miller hah. Talk to you later. X]
...
Over the next two days, I'd only seen Jerico briefly at work as my early shifts and his late shifts over lapped. But things between us hadn't grown awkward and we'd made plans for another game's night tomorrow after his late shift. As I left work, I called Ezra who answered, "Hey handsome, that's odd, I was going to call you in a minute."
"That's random. Just calling to see how you are?"
"Yeah great, sorry I've been so busy. But I've just got my most recent clients website signed off, so I'm free tonight, are you about?"
"Yeah, I just finished work and was heading back to mine."
"Perfect. Any chance you just want to chill at mine? I'm just finishing up at the supermarket. I could swing by and grab you in like twenty?"
I glanced at the time on my phone, "Yeah, that sound good to me. Can I wear my onesie?"