Closer to Heaven than You

I nodded,” Yeah, home sweet home.”

He stated,” I can’t believe you went from like a two bedroom house to this. This must have been the life.”

I chuckled at his statement. It was much better than being abused. I noticed that my stomach was now churning. I was nervous for Matt to meet my parents. It was like the moment of truth. The guy I’ve been in love with for most of my life was finally here to meet them.

I stopped the car and before I could turn off the car Matt got out. I gave him a weird look and then I realized he was coming to open my door. My door opened and he offered his hand. I raised my eyebrow,” looking for extra brownie points?”

He chuckled and shut the door once I was out. He wrapped his arms around me as we walked up to the stairs. He picked me up off the ground instead of me touching the stairs. I laughed as my wedges finally touch the cement. I looked up from laughing to see my mom smiling at the door.

Her long flowing light red hair was in a loose braid. I smiled, “Hi momma.”

She walked onto the porch and opened her arms,” Come here Jacey Rae.”

Matt let go of me and I went and hugged my mother. The familiar smell of moonlight path filled the air. She let go of my and smiled her motherly smile,” You must be Matt. We’ve heard a lot about you over the years. Gosh I don’t remember a year when she didn’t mention you.”

Matt grinned and while my mom gave him and hug he looked at me which caused me to blush.

M. Shadows:

I smiled at the thought that I was always on her mind. Someone else confirmed it. Her mom was nothing like I expected. I expected someone who was a lot older. But really her mom looked extremely young. She was radiant and seemed caring. I noticed right away that Jacey looked nothing like her. Jacey was born with blonde hair and her adoptive mom was a red head.

Her mom opened the door for us and said with an accent,” Well come on in. Looks like a storm is on the horizon, I wouldn’t want you two to get soaked.”

Jacey’s hand was back in mine as she led me through the door. She shouted,” daddy!?”

A man answered from the kitchen,” is that you Jacey Bear?”

I was quickly pulled into a dining room that connected to the kitchen to see a man who looked a tiny bit older than Monica. He had darker red hair that it almost looked brown.

Her mom stated,” Jacey where are your manners.”

She jumped and then faced me. She smiled,” Sorry, do you want anything to drink?”

I shook my head,” No thank you.”

Her father wiped his hands and then offered to shake my hand. I gave him a nice firm handshake. Jacey’s mom kissed her husband on the cheek and he wrapped his arm around her waist. He introduced, “Nice to finally meet you Matt. You can call me Jay or Jason either one.”

Matt nodded,” Nice to meet you too Jason.”

Monica said,” Hey Jacey, do you think you can show the maid where to put both of your bags and go clean up for supper, please.”

Jacey nodded, “Yes mom. You can come with if you’d like.”

Jason smiled,” Matt, how about I show you around?”

Jacey left my side and now I was alone in the kitchen with Monica and Jason. Monica stretched out her neck to make sure Jacey wasn’t in hearing range. I gulped unsure of what would happen next.

Monica stated,” Listen Honey, We wanted to take this chance to officially apologize for taking your best friend away from you at a young age.”

I hesitated and then I really heard what they said. I shook my head,” You don’t have to apologize.”

Jason explained,” You see, Jacey bear was happy that we got her away from the beatings but she went through a depressed stage losing you. So we wanted to say that we were sorry.”

I took my hat off. Damn it, I should have done that earlier. I replied,” You don’t have to. I was the one who told my parents about her bruises. They called socials services. I did it.”
We moved to the front room where there were pictures of their life. There were family pictures, cheerleading pictures, and an album cover.

I caught Monica wiping her eyes,” Then I want to thank you for making that call Matt. She is such a blessing to us. She is so talented and beautiful inside and out. I’m glad she is finally with you. It broke my heart to see her hurt after running to that mailbox day after day and now her smile just makes everything better.”