Chapter Five

May 25: "You know how Mondays are."

CC accepted the vegetable peeler his mother handed him automatically, then stood there waving it in the air as he talked. "I don't know what to wear. I did all my laundry...and still nothing." His fingertips tingled mildly, but his guts were clenched tight. Terror or anticipation...either one would work.

"You sure are stressed over this date, honey. Is this guy that important?" Margaret Cain tossed him a potato, which he neglected to catch, so it smacked him in the chest and thudded onto the countertop.

"It's just the movies...and technically we're babysitting, so...jeans should be okay, right?" He fumbled the potato and began cutting the peel from it in long strips. "I have great jeans I bought at the thrift store two weeks ago. They're black and..." He broke off before he blurted out that his ass looked fabulous in them. Like his mother needed to know that. "I just can't find a shirt..." That made his thin chest look as good as the rest of him in those jeans.

"What about that green dress shirt we picked up at the Macy's clearance sale last month? You looked so nice in that one." His mother continued chopping carrots for a pot of beef stew that would serve as their "to go" meals for the next week. This was one of their rituals, had been as long as CC could remember. Some of his earliest memories were of standing on a chair in the kitchen at this counter, fumbling with clumsy fingers and fat vegetables, making big batches of chili, stew, or pasta sauce. He'd been the only kid in elementary school who brought hot lunches in a thermos. When he was six he'd have killed for a peanut butter sandwich and an Oreo cookie.

CC sliced the last bit of red skin off the potato in his hand and dumped the potato into a colander in the sink before reaching for another one. He knew which shirt she meant...had considered it himself. "It's winter weight fabric Mom. I'd sweat like a pig in the theater in that...especially if—" Once again he broke off, afraid to reveal the name of his date in case Mat wasn't into being gay in public. "If he sits next to me." He finished, ducking his head and staring intently at the second potato as strips of red peeled back, revealing pure white flesh beneath. The scent of garlic and onion thankfully overpowered the cloying marshmallow scent as it intensified.

"Well, then...what about that blue sequin number you wore to that club on New Years?" She rolled three more potatoes in his direction.

"Mom! That shirt is...I wore it for a joke." And it had cost all of two dollars. The shirt was cheap, and loud. The last thing he wanted Mat Giraud to think of him was that he was cheap and loud. "And even if it were a nice shirt, sequins are not appropriate for the movies with kids."

Setting down the paring knife she'd been using, Margaret turned to face him. "Exactly. What would be appropriate to wear to the movies with kids is a nice t-shirt...like the v-neck gray striped one sitting on top of that pile of laundry you just did." She shook her head, pursed her lips. "You're trying too hard, Colin. Just be yourself, dress like yourself, and this guy...who I notice you have not named...which does not give me good impressions...will love you."

CC snorted before he could stop himself. "Mom...look at me. I'm skinny, short and the best thing about me is that I'm two inches this side of homely. I do have nice hair." He forced himself to add the last...

Her hands slapped on narrow hips, Margaret glared him down. CC felt about two inches tall after enduring that stare for a full sixty seconds.

"Mom—"

"Colin Crane..." She cut him off then huffed. "This is my fault. You inherited my small stature and plain features. But...you got your father's hair and brain...and that's not a little thing, CC."

"Fat lot of good that's doing me." He grumbled. "I'm on the fifty year plan to a multi-subject PHD."

"We could get the student loans..."

"No. I am not graduating in debt." He studied his mother, recognizing at once that she was not as plain as she said. Her lips were full and rosy...her brows clear and arched and as far as he knew unplucked.

"You're staring CC." A blush tinted her pale skin a rosy hue. "You're wishing Sophia Loren were your mother, aren't you?"

"No...Mom. I'm realizing...you're beautiful, in your own quiet, elegant way. Like a painting by an old master." He hastened to reassure her.

"And you are too...besides having very kissable lips, you've got a great ass." She turned back to the stew pot and stirred the meat. "Are you about done with those potatoes? It's nearly time to add the veggies to this."

Still choking on that series of too frank compliments, CC shoved the colander of potatoes at his mother and raced to the laundry pile. The gray striped t-shirt would do just fine. "Thanks mom." He had just enough time for another shower to rinse away some of the marshmallow smell before he had to leave to meet Mat and his nephews.

***

"Stanley! Conrad! Get back here!" Mat called after his sister's kid and his friend as they darted away...once again...to look at "the coolest movie poster ever". He smiled ruefully at the woman in the ticket line behind him, who just blinked and shifted the baby on her arm. She looked like he felt, but with better reason as two stair-step youngsters clung to her legs, alternating demands for candy with inquiries about when Thor would arrive. "They're really excited to see this movie."

She smiled wearily at him. "I'm not gonna lie. I picked this showing in the hopes that they'll all crash so I can enjoy the scenery."

"Yeah... I'm looking forward to that." Almost as much as he'd been looking forward to CC, who hadn't arrived yet. Mat deliberately didn't check his watch. He'd already done it multiple times, and it wasn't helping. He would just have to remain confident in the Giraud dimples and their power to captivate. CC Crane wouldn't stand him up.

"Your son is pretty rambunctious." The woman's eyes traveled over his shoulder, and Mat kept smiling, resisting the urge to leave the line and snatch Stanley and Conrad back by the ears.

"They aren't mine. It's my nephew and his school friend. I promised him a movie for a birthday treat." He glanced down at the two children at her feet. "Are these all yours?"

"Absolutely. No way would I do this for someone else's kid."

The line finally moved, and Mat ended up at the counter. "Four for The Avengers. Two kids and two adults."

"Do you want the supersaver package?"

"Uh... what's that?"

The woman behind him leaned forward. "It's popcorn, drinks and candy. How much sugar do you want the kids to have? I hate the way they're always trying to push that crap on kids."

"There's sugar-free caffeine free drinks at the concession stand too." The cashier refuted. "And there's no sugar in the popcorn."

"There's salt and fat in the popcorn." She pointed out.

"Uh... just the tickets, thanks." He'd probably end up springing for drinks and popcorn anyway, but... Ah...Mat caught a whiff of the sweet powdery scent he'd come to associate with CC Crane. He swiped his debit card then accepted the tickets from the clerk and stepped out of the line, ignoring the ongoing argument as the two continued discussing the merits and detriments of snack bar food.

Mat moved into an open space in the lobby, so he could search the growing crowd for CC.

"Uncle Mat!" The two eight year olds skidded into him, and he caught Conrad before he could fall.

"Whoa there boys." With a tight grip on each boy's shoulder he scanned the crowd, feeling a bit lighter as he caught sight of a dark head and slender figure. "CC!" He waved his hand in the air. "Over here!"

"Did you get the tickets Uncle Mat?"

"I want a drink, Stanley's uncle. Can I get a drink? And popcorn?"

"Just a minute, Conrad. My friend is here." Mat met CC's gaze over the boys' heads, saw the sweet smile, the way CC's eyes sparkled when the met his. He held the squirming boys and waited, admiring the way CC darted through the crowd, swift and graceful. In seconds he stood in front of them, swaying a little, cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling.

They stood, staring at each other. Mat let his gaze take in the casual tee and neat jeans, the thick waves of hair, and god...had CC always had such gorgeous, kissable lips? How had he not been captivated by those beautiful eyes back in high school?

CC's flush deepen, his face went beat red. "Uh...glasses. I wore glasses in high school up until my senior year."

Mat bit his lip. He'd actually said that out loud? "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. Let's start over, shall we? Hi. You look great."

CC smiled broadly. "Hi." He glanced down at the boys. "I don't believe I've met your friends, Mat."

His name on CC's lips was too short... Here in the lobby it sounded sexy and made him want to kiss the man...how would it...

"Uncle Mat? Can we get drinks now?"

Mat jerked back from his thoughts to realize that CC and the boys were all staring at him wide-eyed. "Sure. Let's go get in line."

"I need to get my ticket for the show, so I'll meet you at the entrance." CC pointed at the line. "It might take me a while."

Mat caught CC's arm as he turned to join the queue. "No. I already got your ticket."

"But..."

"Come on, Uncle Mat! The line's gonna be real long..." Stanley tugged at his other hand. Mat smiled apologetically at CC.

"Sorry. Do you mind?"

"No..." The scent of marshmallows increased, and Mat realized that CC must be nervous.

"It's okay. They'll take their drinks and sit in front of us so I can keep an eye on them. You won't have to entertain them."

"Oh...good. Um..."

They followed the two boys to the concession stand, where the line was moving fast, thanks to the efficient efforts of two bubbly blonde high school students. "Did you get in trouble for that drive-off?"

"What? Oh...no. You know how Monday's are. That was just the tip of the iceberg for it."

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