"21 years old. I can't believe it, Will."
Mom looked at me across the dining room table with her usual adoring eyes. It was my birthday, and I'd just blown out the candles on the cake she had baked for me.
It was just the two of us. Dad had been out of the picture for a few years, having left Mom for his secretary, who was 15 years younger. I thought he was an idiot, and our relationship suffered for a long time. Mom grieved over Dad's infidelity and the breakup of the marriage for a while, but it didn't take her long to bounce back. She had a good job, and she could support herself just fine. I was studying business in college but lived at home to save expenses.
Mom had cooked chicken enchiladas and a chocolate cake, my favorites. She was a great cook.
"This is great, Mom," I said. "Thanks so much. I really appreciate it."
"It's my pleasure." She reached a hand across the table and squeezed my arm. I was struck by how young she looked, her eyes wide and skin unblemished, and chestnut hair flowing over her shoulders. As she leaned over the table, her shirt revealed cleavage--a lot of cleavage. I felt a strange tingle. A son doesn't usually feel that sort of tingle because of his mom. But I did.
Mom seemed unaware of the impression she was making, and I shrugged it off, or tried to.
We cleaned up the kitchen together when dinner was over.
"21," Mom said, while we were both cleaning dishes. "That was your football team number, right?"
"Yeah," I said. "Both years of varsity." I had played strong safety on the high school team.
"You know," Mom said, "I was a cheerleader in high school. I was head cheerleader my senior year."
"I didn't know that," I said. "I think this is the first time you told me that."
"Really?" she asked me. "I'm surprised you didn't know that. I think I still have my cheerleader uniform in the house somewhere."
"Mom, I had no idea. When was the last time you wore it?"
"Not since high school," she said.
"Why don't you try it on?" I asked her. "I'd like to see that."
After the words left my lips, I thought that maybe it was a strange thing to say--to want to see my 40-something mom in a cheerleader outfit. But I did want to see her in it.
"I don't know, Will," she said.
"Come on, Mom," I said. "Humor me. It's my birthday."
"I'm not sure where it is," she said. "But since it's your birthday, I'll look for it. Even if I find it, I'm not sure I'll fit into it."
"Take your time," I said. "It's early in the evening."
It WAS still early. Mom had come home early from work to make my birthday dinner, and we were done, and it was only 6:30 pm.
Mom looked at me, bemused, and sighed. "Here goes nothing," she said.
After Mom left the room, I left the table, too, and went to my bedroom. I pulled my old football jersey out of my closet. Mom had gone to the same high school I had, twenty plus years before, but I was pretty sure the colors--white and green and gold--were still the same, and I thought it would be fun to see if we matched. I pulled off my t-shirt and slipped on the jersey. I returned to the kitchen and sat at the table and waited.
It took what seemed like a long time, but eventually the sound of Mom's soft footfall came to my ears, and she rounded the corner--and voila!--there stood Mom in her old cheerleader outfit.
She looked embarrassed. She stood in the doorway, fidgeting.
"What do you think?" she asked in a small, tremulous voice.
What did I think? I didn't know what to think. I had never seen Mom look like this before. I had never seen her wear such a short skirt. It was tiny. It showed off a lot of leg. Her legs were slender but shapely beneath the little pleated skirt hem. Considering the uniform had fitted her in high school, it was amazing how well it fit her now. It was a little tight, especially around the tummy and, well, her breasts, which bulged under the white top and green and gold lettering of the high school name.
But altogether, Mom looked amazingly good. I was a little bit in awe. I didn't say anything at first.
"Um," Mom said. "You haven't said anything, Will. Do I look ridiculous?"
"No, Mom!" I said. "You look fantastic. I can't believe how well it fits you."
"Thanks," she said. She looked relieved but skeptical.
"We match," I said, pointing to the green and gold number on my jersey. Unlike Mom's uniform, my jersey had grown roomier since high school, since I had lost some of the muscle I'd gained back in those days from hours in the weight room.
"You look very handsome," Mom said. Mom said that sort of thing all the time to me, but it felt a little different this time, with her looking at me in my jersey and me staring at her--yes, I was staring--in the tight cheerleader skirt and top.
We just stood there for a moment looking at each other, maybe both of us feeling a bit nervous, a bit ridiculous, and a bit . . . something else.
Mom broke the silence.
"That was fun. Time to stop looking silly and take this thing off." She turned to go back to her bedroom.
"Don't do that!" I blurted out. "Stay like this. I'll keep wearing my jersey. It'll be fun. It'll be like I'm the team captain, and you're the head cheerleader, my date."
I wasn't sure where that came from. I hadn't been a team captain--that job had gone to the quarterback, a swaggering, cleft-chinned asshole. But I had envied him because he HAD dated the head cheerleader, a redhead named Allyson that I'd always had a crush on. I had wanted to take her to homecoming, but my hopes were dashed when I found out she was going with him.
"Date?" Mom looked at me quizzically. "Uh, where were you planning to take me?"
I had no idea. We had no plans for the evening.
I wracked my brain for an idea, and after a few moments of thinking and not talking I realized I was staring at Mom's tightly-clad breasts because she suddenly folded her arms over them. She tapped a foot.
"Let's go to the drive-in," I said, the thought coming to me out of nowhere.
"The drive-in? I can't remember the last time either of us went to the drive-in. Why there?"
"I don't know. It just seems to fit with what we're wearing. A football player and a cheerleader, going to the drive-in." Inside, I had to admit, it was a ridiculous idea.
"Well, it's your birthday, so if you want to, we can, but if I'm going to the drive-in, I have to change. I'm not wearing this out."
"Come on, Mom," I said. "You look great. And as you said, it's my birthday. You have to do what I want."
She raised her eyebrows at my remark. She wasn't convinced.
"Come on, Mom, let's do it," I said. I pondered my choice of words as soon as they left my mouth. A hint of a curl of her lips suggested she caught the implication of my words as well.
"I don't know--"
"Nobody will see you but me," I urged. "It will be dark, and you can stay in the car while I get the popcorn."
Mom's resolve seemed to waiver.
"What's playing?" she asked. Now I was encouraged.
I looked at my phone.