Kelly reached across the table and gripped her daughter's hand. This small act of affection had great meaning: Kelly was finally comfortable enough around her daughter to show her not only love, but to offer her advice.
"Honey, eat, you're too thin."
"I am eating, Mom. Look, I finished my salad." She pushed her empty salad plate across the table toward her mom. "And now I am working on my sandwich."
Kelly tried to suppress a smile. Since their reunion, this was the first time she heard her daughter say the word "mom" so easily. "More like nibbling at your sandwich. And thanks by the way."
"For?" Julie asked.
"For calling me Mom and acting like it wasn't forced. I know this is hard on you trying to accept me back into your life."
"Hmm . . . not so . . . hard." Kelly replied in between bites of her chicken salad sandwich.
"Don-" Kelly started to correct her daughter before stopping abruptly.
"You were going to say, 'Don't talk with your mouth full, Kelly darling'. You almost were going to sound just like grandma there for a minute."
They both break out in spontaneous laughter at Julie's little jibe aimed at her grandmother. Things were going much better with Julie than Kelly could have ever hoped. The upcoming night will be the first time they will have a chance at being truly alone.
Kelly returned to the small Ohio town of Hunter's Creek for the first time since she left some eighteen years ago. Her deep California tan, pretty blond hair, blue eyes, shapely five- five 36-25-34 figure stood out in stark contrast to most of the other moms in this small town of just over seven thousand people.
In high school, Kelly was successful in everything she tried. She was a co-captain of the cheerleader squad, runner up for prom queen and chairman of the year book committee. Plus she was a star on the girls' volleyball team that took third in the state finals.
Her high school sweetheart was a star linebacker on the football team, and a bit of a jerk off the field, but still, after she got pregnant from him, they made plans to marry.
She was eight months pregnant when Bobby left her. Being dumped in the first place-let alone being eight months pregnant- really flipped her world upside down.
Her parents, Melissa and Doug, conservative to the core, were upset when Julie got knocked up in the first place. She fought bitterly with them, especially after hinting she might get an abortion.
The talk of an abortion was the final straw. Her mother especially was livid telling Kelly in no uncertain terms she would have the baby, and if she did not want it afterwards, it could be arranged so they, Kelly's parents, would adopt the baby as their own.
Kelly, young and headstrong, and full of dreams for her life that did not include raising a baby by herself, took her mother up on the proposal. She gave birth and at the age of 18 headed to California with fanciful dreams of being a starlet in mind.
Like many a small town girl who trod before her, Kelly's dreams of stardom were never realized. Instead of going home and admitting defeat, Kelly secured a job, enrolled in UCLA, and ended up with a law degree. A lucky break here and there, combined with a ton of hard work, allowed her to become a fairly successful Hollywood lawyer.
Eighteen years later, after taking a leave of absence from the law firm, she was back home trying to mend fences with her only child.
At first her parents, always so protective of Julie, refused to let Kelly see her without one of them being present. The supervised visits burned Kelly up, but she agreed not wanting to create additional controversy.
Finally, circumstances would allow Kelly time alone with her daughter. Melissa and Doug were forced to take a trip to western Kentucky to visit Melissa's sister who was in the hospital with a serious illness. They would be staying overnight and decided to invite Kelly to come spend the night with Julie so she wouldn't have to be home alone.
After finishing their lunch on this cold December afternoon, mother and daughter headed back out to finish their shopping. So far things were going perfectly. They talked, laughed, held hands, and generally acted like they had the perfect mother and teenage daughter relationship.
After shopping, on the way home, Julie implored her mother to stop at a store and get a bottle of wine for the evening. Kelly, playing the role of proper mother, told her 18 year old daughter she was "too young to be drinking."
Julie laughed before asking, "And how old were you when you had your first drink, Mom."
"Hmm, maybe 25 or 26, I think."
"Bullshit!"
"Hey young lady watch your mouth." Kelly snapped.
"You watch your mouth with those lies," Julie snapped back without missing a beat.
"OK, fine, I was seventeen the first time I got drunk. It was the best night of my life." Kelly answered as they pulled into the local liquor store.
"Oh why is that? Did your boyfriend like . . . do you good or something?"
Kelly rolled her eyes at her daughter's crass remark not bothering to respond as they walked into the store. When Julie pressed for an answer, Kelly finally answered quietly, "Because it was the night you were conceived silly."
Kelly picked out two of the store's more expensive bottles of wine: one white and one red, hoping it would not be a mistake allowing her underage daughter to drink.
Back in the car, Julie, seeing the worried expression on her mom's face, told her, "Would you rather have me drinking with some boy or my own mother. Come on how much trouble can I get in to. I wanna live a little with Grandma and Grandpa gone. I mean, Jesus, they don't let me do anything."
"Yeah, they are a bit overbearing at times," Kelly agreed with a wry smile as she settled in behind the wheel of her rented sedan. By the time they reached home the snow was coming down in large white waves much to Kelly's delight. She missed the snow living in sunny Los Angeles.
They spent the evening nestled together on the couch watching a movie while sipping on the white wine. Before too long, the youthful exuberance of Julie caused her to switch from sipping her wine to gulping it down.
By the end of the movie, Julie was passed out on the couch, pressed up against her mother. Kelly paid scant attention to the ending of the movie, instead she was solely focused on enjoying this rare chance to bond with her daughter.
Even though she was eighteen now, it gave Kelly some measure of comfort to think of Julie as "her baby." Sleeping like this, her daughter was a picture of youthful beauty and innocence.
A few minutes later, Julie awoke with a start. The living room was dark except for the soft glow of the TV. Rubbing her eyes she looked around realizing she was alone.
"Mom, where are you?"
"Right here hon." Kelly replied as she hurried down the stairs. She had left a few minutes ago, going to the upstairs' bathroom, to strip out of her jeans and blouse, and into her usual sleeping attire—a pair of shorts and a tank top.
"I was just upstairs getting ready for bed," Kelly answered plopping back down on the couch next to Julie.
"I guess I fell asleep, huh?"
"More like passed out, sweetie. If your grandmother finds out-"
"She won't." Julie said with a sheepish smile. "I guess I drank too fast."
"Yeah, I warned you not to gulp your wine down."
