This is the first time I've submitted a story, I hope those who read it will enjoy it. Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated. If you like what I've written, please let me know and I'll continue the story. If you don't like it, please tell me why so I can improve my writing skills, and I'll still continue with the story.
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Linda and John had only been married a year now and all was going well with them, until Linda's daughter, Jennifer, moved in. She was 20 years old and was Linda's only child from her previous marriage. She was very young when Jen was born, and so was her father. From what little John knew, when Linda divorced Jennifer's father, the two didn't speak to each other for several years. As Linda put it, Jen was daddy's little girl, she just adored her father and, in her eyes, he could do no wrong. He remarried when she was about 14, so when Jennifer turned 18 she moved in with her then boyfriend. But money issues and other problems caused her to leave him a little over a year later. She went back to try and live with her father and his new wife for while, but she didn't get along with her and was left with very few options. When she contacted her mother to see if she could stay with them, Linda saw this as a chance to reconnect with her daughter. But first she needed to talk it over with John, he had never met Jen, and she wanted to make sure he would be ok with her moving in with them.
Linda was looking at John over her coffee mug trying to think of the best way to bring up the subject of Jen. They were having breakfast together before heading off to work.
She cleared her throat, "Hon, I need to ask you something. It has to do with Jennifer."
He lowered his newspaper and looked at her, "What's the matter? Is she ok?"
"No no she's fine, its just. Well, she needs a place to stay and called to ask if she could stay with us."
John looked thoughtful for a moment, "Its fine with me. Is that what's been bothering you this week?" Linda had been trying to find the right time to talk with him about Jen, and she was worried about how he might react. "How long will she be staying?"
Linda hesitated, "Um, I'm not really sure, Jen didn't say how long she wanted to stay."
"Well she is your daughter so she can stay as long as she needs to." He went back to reading his paper.
John was a good man and very understanding, but she didn't want to take advantage of his good nature.
She smiled at him, "She said she'd like to move in this weekend if that's not a problem."
John put the paper down, he could still see this was worrying Linda, and he tried to reassure her, "That's fine with me, I think its great she's moving in with us. The two of you can get to know each other again."
He knew a little of their past history and had some sense of what Linda feeling. She loved her daughter but when the divorce happened, Jen blamed her mother for the failure of the marriage. Maybe now that she was older she could see it wasn't Linda's fault, or at least not all it. Sometimes people just fall out of love.
It was a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon when Jen pulled up in her old Honda Civic that was packed with everything she owned. Linda and John came out of the house to greet her and help carrying things in. As Jen got out of the car Linda walked up and gave her big a hug. Jen seemed a little uncomfortable with it but tentatively hugged her back.
Linda was so happy, "I'm so glad you're here. We'll help you unload your car, then we can have some lunch and talk."
Jen gave a weak smile, still not completely comfortable with being here. "Thanks mom, I really appreciate you and John letting me stay here for a while. At least until I can get back on my feet and get a place of my own." She looked over at John to gage his reaction.
He smiled warmly at her, "You can stay as long as you like. You're family. "
Jen liked him right away, a man of few words, and not a bad looking man at that. They started to help Jen unload her car and put her stuff into her bedroom. Linda had moved into John's house before they were married. It wasn't anything special, a single story house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a large backyard. John bought it as a foreclosure property and had been fixing it up for the last 3 years.
It didn't take them very long to unload the car as they moved Jen into the larger of the two available bedrooms as she started to unpack and put things away. John noticed how much the two of them looked alike, with a few differences of course. Jen was a few inches taller and she had a slimmer figure, Linda was a bit more voluptuous, but you could defiantly see the family resemblance. Linda looked young enough that they could be mistaken as sisters. Both had the same honey blond hair and blue eyes and they even sounded the same when they spoke.
After the car had been unloaded and Jen had all her clothes and other belongings in the bedroom she joined her mother and John in the kitchen. Linda was so thrilled to have Jen here with them, it felt like they were a family again.
John opened up the fridge to grab a beer, "So what are we having for lunch?"
Linda looked over at John and shook her head, "Typical. All men ever think about is beer and food."
"You forgot about sports and sex." John retorted.
Jen smiled at their exchange and at how happy they were being together. She looked at the two of them, "How about we get a pizza, on me."