I Could Rest Beneath Your Smile

“Brooklyn, what happened?” Brooklyn heard Max say as she lay back on her bed, trying to keep her anger from boiling over any more than it already had.

“I hate my mother,” Brooklyn stated.

“Brook, tell me what happened,” Max begged.

Brooklyn sighed as she remembered the last four hours. Her mother had come over, telling her that she wanted to take her out to dinner. “Mom, I really don’t want to take Noah and Elise out tonight,” Brooklyn had argued with her. “Can’t we just have a nice dinner here?”

“I’ve already asked Jocelyn to look after the babies, and she has agreed,” Eve told her. Brooklyn looked at her curiously, wondering what was going on. Since when did Eve prefer to go out to dinner with Brooklyn over Jocelyn?

“Mom, I really don’t feel like going out tonight,” Brooklyn told her.

“Nonsense!” Eve exclaimed. “You will go out. A couple of my friends, Fred and Jan Lincoln have invited us out.”

Brooklyn tried to think back in her mind who Fred and Jan were, but she had never even heard their names before. “Mom, I don’t even know who they are!” Brooklyn told her.

“Well, then that’s more reason to come out with us tonight. Do not argue with me. I am still your mother,” Eve stated the obvious. “Be ready to go at six-thirty,” she ordered, walking out of Brooklyn’s house.

Jocelyn came over at six that night after she got off of work. “What’s going on?” Brooklyn asked her, wondering if she had more information than what Eve was giving her. “Mom’s taking me out with this couple that I don’t even know.”

“I really don’t know anything,” Jocelyn told her. “Mom called me begging me to watch after the babies tonight. She said she was taking you out to dinner. I thought maybe it was as an apology or something,” Jocelyn said, shrugging her shoulders.

“I think she’s got something up her sleeve,” Brooklyn muttered, looking at her watch to see it was 6:25. She kissed her children as she walked out to the living room to wait on her mother to arrive.

Twenty minutes later, Eve and Brooklyn were walking into an extremely fancy restaurant, and Brooklyn felt extremely out of place. She followed her mother to a table to see two older-looking people, who she presumed was Jan and Fred, along with a younger man that was about her age. She looked over at her mother, realization finally hitting her. “Brooklyn, I’d like you to meet Fred and Jan Lincoln. And, this is their grandson, Spencer. He’s your age and single,” Eve added, nudging Brooklyn in the arm. “Everyone, this is my lovely daughter Brooklyn,” she introduced.

Everyone said hello, and Eve pushed Brooklyn into a seat right next to Spencer. Brooklyn glared at her mother, but Eve simply smiled back. “So, Brooklyn,” Jan said with a smile. “Eve tells us that you just had a baby. You look awfully thin already.”

“I actually had twins,” Brooklyn told her.

“Oh, well, you know, Spencer here, he’s great with kids,” Jan told her.

“Really?” Brooklyn asked. “That’s nice,” she added, not knowing what else to say to Jan’s comment.

“It’s great that you’re raising these children on your own,” Fred stated.

“Excuse me?” Brooklyn questioned, just as the waiter arrived to take their order. Fred looked at her, wondering what the problem was, but Eve gave her a look that clearly said to be quiet.

“May I take your order?” the waiter asked, and everyone ordered their food.

“What were you going to say, dear?” Jan asked as soon as the waiter had left to go put their order into the kitchen.

“She wasn’t going to say anything,” Eve responded for her. Brooklyn stared at her, wondering why she lied to her friends.

“Well, I think that you and Spencer would make a lovely couple,” Jan stated.

“I’m sorry,” Brooklyn said, and everyone turned around to look at her. “I don’t know what my mother’s told you, but I’m not a single mother. Their father is in their lives,” she stated.

“Oh, we know, dear,” Fred told her.

“You do?”

“Yes, Eve told us that he still likes to be in their lives when he’s around. But, that doesn’t mean that you can’t date once again,” Jan said.

“I’m married!” Brooklyn screamed, showing them her ring finger which held her wedding ring. Everyone’s eyes went wide, and Brooklyn spun around to look at her mother. “Mom! What did you tell them?”

“Brooklyn, do not make a scene,” Eve said in a low voice.

“No, Mom, I will make a scene. I understand that you don’t like Max, but that doesn’t mean you can go behind my back and try to set me up with other men. I love Max,” she screamed. “And, I don’t care if you don’t like him. He’s my husband, and he is my family, along with Noah and Elise,” she finished, her voice still loud. She turned around to Jan, Fred, and Spencer, quickly apologizing. “I should leave,” she told them, standing up and walking towards the door.

As soon as she walked a few feet down the sidewalk, she heard Eve calling her name. She continued walking, not wanting to talk to her right now. “Stop walking away from me!” Eve screamed.

“What do you want, Mom?” Brooklyn yelled back.

“How dare you talk like that in front of my friends?” Eve told her.

“How dare you tell them that I’m a single mother like Max doesn’t exist?” Brooklyn countered.

“He might as well not exist. He’s never there for you or the children.”

“He’s coming home tomorrow,” Brooklyn informed her. “And, for your information, he is there for me and Noah and Elise! He is a wonderful father to them!”

“And, you are a terrible mother,” Eve stated.

“Excuse me?” Brooklyn asked. “What did you just say to me?”

“You heard me correctly. Brooklyn, you are a terrible mother. I feel sorry for those children to have a mother like you,” she stated in a snooty voice as she turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

By the time Brooklyn had gotten home, she had begun to bawl. As soon as she walked in her house, she heard Jocelyn call out, “How did the evening go?” Jocelyn walked out to meet Brooklyn, and as soon as she saw her sister crying, she got concerned. “What happened?” she questioned.

Brooklyn proceeded to tell her all about the evening. “Don’t listen to her,” Jocelyn told her. “She’s wrong. You are an amazing mother. Just like Max is a wonderful father.”

“Thanks,” Brooklyn said, wiping her tears. “How were the kids?”

“Great. They’re asleep right now. Listen, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take off.”

“No, go ahead,” Brooklyn told her. “Thanks for watching Noah and Elise tonight.”

“Of course, any time,” Jocelyn told her. “I think you should call Max, though. Tell him what happened tonight.”

“I will,” Brooklyn said, continuing to wipe at the tears that were still falling from her eyes. “Bye,” she told her, walking back to the twins’ room to check on them before calling Max.

And, now she was on the bed, telling Max everything that had happened with Eve. “Brooklyn, don’t listen to a word she says,” she heard Max tell her.

“I hate her,” Brooklyn cried.

“I know you do,” Max told her.

“I want her to leave right now, but she’s staying another week for some unknown reason.”

“Well, I’ll be there tomorrow to help you battle her, okay? I think you need to get some sleep,” he told her when he heard her yawn.

“Yeah, I’m kind of tired,” she admitted.

“I love you, Brooklyn,” he told her.

“I love you, too.”

“Tell Elise and Noah that I love them,” Max told her, and she smiled, thinking to herself how wrong her mother was. Max was the best father in the world, always thinking of his kids.

“I will. Goodnight, Max.”

“Goodnight, Brook. I love you,” he repeated.