“So thingsaredifficult,” his mother jumped on his choice of words. Sebastian took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“No, now can we please stop talking about this?” Sebastian stared at his mother, who glared back at him, defiant. “Please?”
“If you insist.”
Sebastian went back to eating his waffle, now soggy from sitting too long drenched in syrup, his mother watching him like she was worried he’d disappear into a puff of smoke if she looked away even for a second. It was almost enough to make him wish he was back with Viggo.
Then he remembered how terrifying Viggo had been the last time he saw him – the way he’d growled and bared his teeth – and he was glad to be where he was.
It was hard to defend Viggo to his mother when their last encounter had been so upsetting. He wished he could talk to her about it, but he knew that if he mentioned it, she’d go into overdrive trying to make him run away.
* * *
A few hours later, Sebastian and his mother were out in the garden, weeding and tending to the young cabbage plants in companionable silence. It was a warm day, the sun beating down on their necks without mercy, not so much as a breeze rustling the leaves of his mother’s garden.
“This is nice.”
His mother sounded calm for the first time since Sebastian had come home. She glanced up at him, gauging his mood and taking a sip of water from her water bottle.
“It is,” Sebastian agreed. He wiped the sweat off his brow, the back of his thumb leaving a smear of dirt over his nose. “These cabbages look like they’re doing well.”
“I don’t mean to upset you.”
Sebastian went still at the non sequitur, not sure how to respond.
“You don’t,” he lied, looking up. His mom had put her shovel down and was looking at him with grim resignation.
“I do.” She looked down, shaking her head. “I don’t mean to – I just want to help – but I do.”
Sebastian said nothing.
“Do you really want me to just accept this?” she asked, picking her shovel back up and nervously twirling the handle. Sebastian met her gaze, nodding quietly.
“So I just let them take you?”
“That’s not-” Sebastian cut himself off. He’d already explained to her that Viggo had given him a choice – that after they got to know each other, he wasn’t even required to live with them. He took a deep breath and met his mother’s eyes. “Yes. You have to accept it.”
Her lip wobbled. She took a deep breath, steeling herself. “Fine, but if you need help, you tell me and I’ll be there to do whatever you need. Okay?”
Sebastian nodded, hoping that she actually meant it.
“I will.”
They stayed in the garden for most of the afternoon, weeding, watering and administering carefully measured out doses of fertilizer. After that, they headed inside to shower in their respective bathrooms and Sebastian convinced his mother that she should go join her friends for their weekly evening of Mahjong.
Even as she was getting ready, she kept offering to stay home with him.
“Go have fun,” Sebastian told her when she hesitated by the front door. “You need to de-stress, and I’ll be perfectly fine here by myself. I’ll order a pizza and watch a movie or something.”
“If you’re absolutely sure?” his mother said, putting on the earrings she’d gotten from her last boyfriend for her birthday.
“I’m sure.” Sebastian gave her a quick hug, opening the door for her and handing her her purse. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
“In that case, I’ll see you later tonight.” Tucking her purse under her arm, she leaned in and kissed his cheek before walking out to her car.
Closing the door behind her, Sebastian let out a pent-up breath of relief. He loved his mother to death, but a few hours with the house to himself was exactly what he needed to finally relax. He ordered a pizza on his phone and grabbed a soda from the fridge, making himself at home on the living room couch.
Not in the mood to watch anything new or mentally taxing, he decided to re-watch the latest season of The Great British Bake Off. Cozy, calming, and low-stress, the show was exactly what he needed in that moment to take his mind off both Viggo and his mother.
