I didn't know how to feel on Monday.

My talk with Summer over the weekend had her in tears but I was glad it was all out in the open. She finally understood my actions and she said she had never doubted that I had a good reason.

Summer was accepting, a good listener, kind and absolutely amazing in every way.

Walking into the school building that morning, my brain had been in Summerland, taking up residency.

Summer had surprised me with a swift kiss on the cheek. "Morning Cam," she winked.

I had stood there with my jaw hanging open and no words to speak.

As the day went on, it was more of the same behavior. Summer walked with me to class, Summer held my hand, Summer and the girls sitting with me, and Suho. Then Summer kissed me goodbye before leaving school.

As if my day couldn't have possibly gotten any better, Summer texted me that evening, and we spent all night talking. I had missed that.

I had missed it so much that I made sure we did it every night since then.

So when Summer asked me last night to go with her to this charity event, I couldn't say no. Rumors be damned. If Summer wanted to fight for us, she wouldn't do it alone.

"Awe, you look so handsome." I whipped around but not in time to prepare myself for the bright camera flash.

"Jeeze, Mom," I said, rubbing my eyes. "Why did you have to stand so close?"

I blinked a few times, waiting for my vision to go back to normal.

"Get used to it." Mom took the instant-printed photo, fanning it out. "You'll have a lot of reporters with cameras flashing and sportscasters with their mic in your face when you're famous." She grinned then looked at the photo to see if it had developed yet.

"This is going on my mirror. But I'll need to take a few more for the photo album."

Mom got into a prime photographer position. "Come on, come on. Model for me. GQ front cover pose."

I posed, pretending to adjust my cufflinks. Then I sleeked my hair back with one hand and threw in more of those classic poses.

Mom would need a whole new album after this, not that she would mind. She always said that she felt like we didn't take pictures as we used to, and we needed to get back to that.

She was right. Life's been so busy that we didn't take the time to capture moments that were important to us. Even if it were a single photo, that would be more than enough.

Mom laid all my photos down on the kitchen table. One by one, we watched them slowly develop.

"Perfect," Mom muttered to herself with a smile.

"I know, I know. I look dashing."

Mom waved me off. "Shush." Then she turned to me with her eyes falling on my tie. After watching multiple videos online, I know I didn't do the best job on it.

Mom's hands went to work on it.

"I should have bought a clip-on," I mumbled, feeling silly about being dressed up in a suit and having no clue how to fix a tie properly.

Other than that, I looked pretty good. I've had this suit taking up space in my closet since I wore it to Uncle Alex's brand relaunch party last year. We had been matching with Mom, who had worn a navy blue Grecian style dress. One of our best customers called her an angel, while the other asked if she needed a sugar daddy. They all got quiet when they saw her bodyguard, aka me, step up to her side, politely hauling her away. Mom thanked me for the save because she wanted nothing else from them while she appreciated their business.

"Don't feel bad. The men in this family have had problems with ties for years. It must be a curse or something." Mom chuckled.

"Is that why Uncle Alex doesn't wear ties?"

"He doesn't wear ties because he wants to show off his macho chest hairs as if ladies dig that?"

We snorted, which turned into roaring laughter.

If my uncle were here, he would never let us get away with a jab like that.

"There. It's neat." Mom smiled proudly. Then her face grew serious as her frown lines came in.

"What did we say about avoiding wrinkles in your late thirties?" I spoke sternly, but you could quickly tell that I was joking.

Mom's face didn't budge from my slight humor. "Let's talk for a minute."

I checked the time on my phone before taking a seat. "Sure." I had a few minutes before I needed to leave.

Mom's fingers played with the ends of her French braid. "I told Arnold everything last night. I know we're getting serious, and he wants to be a part of our lives. I had to tell him, and I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads up first. I wanted to ask you how you felt about him knowing, but it had slipped out." Mom sighed. "Then when he asked to hear the whole story, I couldn't stop rambling."

"I'm happy you told him. But what did he say, though? Did he change his mind?" I couldn't bear the thought of Mom's heart getting broken.

Mom sniffled, making me think that she was crying from sadness, but then she laughed a bit, confusing the heck out of me. "That man looked at me and said, 'I can't believe I voted for that bastard.' Out of everything, that's how he replied." She shook her head.

I smiled, nudging her shoulder with mine. "That's a good thing. He has it baaddd."

Mom wiped the corner of an eye. "Duh! Who wouldn't? I'm the whole package." She tossed the braid over her shoulder and sat up straighter with her hands on her thighs.

"I'm biased. Therefore I'm very much inclined to agree."

Anyone who saw what I saw in my Mom deserved a spot in our lives.

"You better." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Or I'd disown you."

"That's fine. Angelina Jolie would adopt me."

Mom jumped to her feet. "DISOWNMENT! You would leave your own mother in search of a new one? Did those nine excruciating months mean nothing to you?"

"You just said you would disown me!" I argued.

"Doesn't matter. How dare you leave me!" Mom crossed her arms, pinning me with a stare that would have put ordinary people six feet under.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry."

"Hmm. Anyways moving on. Can we talk about Summer? Don't get me wrong. I love that girl. She's a total sweetheart. The salon has been getting an influx of customers since she helped get Dolores and Eden through the doors."

I had shown Mom the blog post Summer had put up and the vlogs that Eden posted online. I hadn't revealed Summer's identity yet. I didn't think she would want me to. And she didn't know I had figured it out either. But the hype surrounding the salon had reached new heights.

Eden wanted Mom to be her hairstylist next year when she's filming her first indie film. And Mom got a few calls from a couple of magazines and fashion designers who want her to style their models' hair. Mom would need a secretary to manage all these emails and phone calls at this rate.

"I told Summer the truth last week."

Mom stared at me for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. "Okay. That's fine. She's important to you. I understand why you felt compelled to tell her. And honestly, I trust her too. There's something in those brown eyes that says 'I won't let you down.'"

I nodded. "She won't tell anyone else. Summer's had my back since she saw the news. I was a jerk to her for weeks. I thought she would grow to hate me and wise up enough to forget all about us. My actions had the opposite effect."

"You were trying to protect her. But she's a big girl who likes to make her own decision."

My laughter surprised me. "She's exactly like that. And I'm grateful. I won't let anything get between us like that again. I should have trusted her and everyone else who wanted to stay by my side. I have a few apologies to make, but for tonight, I'll just try to enjoy my time with Summer."

"And try to keep a low profile and stay clear of you know who."

The mayor was going to be at the charity event. But I wouldn't let the fear of another confrontation worry me. I refused to live with that hanging over my head.

"Don't worry, Mom. Don't worry about a thing. I've learned my lessons the hard way, and I'm not going to make the same mistakes."

Mom leaned over, bringing me into a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too."