Henry shook his head, " I do understand. Claire's son Ethan has been in my life now for about 7 months, and I've been with them almost everyday of the past three months. I love that little boy so much. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him. So I do understand now how you were feeling and I'm sorry for pushing you away that day. But you had always been so overbearing and I didn't want to be smothered, I was beyond vulnerable and I needed Claire in my bed. There was nothing sexual about it. She just held me, didn't ask questions, didn't want a recap of what happened. She was just there to comfort me. And I know you, you would have been all over me trying to find out what exactly happened"
Anne nodded, " Probably", she admitted.
Henry smiled slightly. " I love you mom, and I do want you in my life. You don't need to be nasty to get your point across. We can talk and have civilized conversations about things. But you have to realize that we're not going to agree with you all the time. We also need to make our own mistakes and find out things for ourselves. I think your opinion would matter more to us if you would just talk to us instead of dictating and berating us"
Anne took a deep breath and blew it out, " That's what your father said, and I promise, I am working on being a better mother to you boys. I've started going to therapy to work on my issues". Henry's eyebrows shot up and Anne scoffed, " Oh don't look so surprised. I knew I was a bitch but I didn't care. Sebastian was right for doing what he did. He opened my eyes"
Henry smiled warmly. Glad his mother admitted that, " Have you talked to him yet?", Henry asked.
" He won't return my calls, so I decided to come to you first, knowing you would listen. I was hoping you could talk to him", Anne sighed.
" I'll try, he can be belligerent sometimes", Henry snorted.
" I'm sure he gets that from me", Anne smirked.
Henry laughed, " No comment"
Anne chuckled, but her smile faded quickly, " I love you Henry, I hope you know that"
Henry nodded and closed the distance between them, pulling her into a hug, " I do, mom".
They hugged for a moment before Henry eased back, putting his hands on her shoulders.
" I want one more thing from you"
" Name it", Anne said, looking up at him.
" I want you to apologize to Claire"
" Already on my list", Anne said with a sharp nod.
" Not tonight though, she's drunk", Henry said with a lopsided grin.
Anne bit her bottom lip, " I was wondering, she kinda staggered out of here"
Henry laughed quietly, " Yeah, so you can do that another day"
" Okay", Anne agreed.
Chapter 13
Sebastian rolled his eyes as he threw back his beer. He was listening to Henry tell him, Quinn and Christian about what their mother said when she showed up at his house a few night ago. Henry called a brother meeting at a pub in Center City. So the four of them were sitting around a table, drinking beer and discussing their mother.
" She seems sincere, she even apologized to Claire yesterday in person", Henry said with a shrug.
" Really?", coming from Christian, who's eyebrows had shot up in surprise.
Henry nodded and sipped his beer. " It was a very heartfelt apology, Claire got teary-eyed"
Christian's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. " No way!"
Henry smirked at Christian's reaction. " It's true"
Quinn, the ever stoic one of four of them, asked in his deep raspy voice, " Is she really going to therapy?", his tone saying that he was doubtful.
" I called dad and he insisted that she's been going for two months now, he's even gone with her a few times, their working on their marriage also"
Sebastian snorted, " I think she's full of shit. There is no way she can change a lifetime of habits in a few months"
Henry frowned, " She's trying Sebastian, I never said she was going to change overnight, but she is working on it"
" Believe that if you want but I don't trust her", Sebastian grunted, finishing off his beer and motioning to the waitress for another one.
" Can't you at least talk to her?", Henry asked.
" Nope, not happening", Sebastian dismissed immediately.
" Sebastian", Christian admonished.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow at him, " What?"
" Come on, she's our mother, you have to talk to her eventually", Christian said sadly.
Sebastian snorted, " No I don't", then looked up at the blonde waitress with the huge titties and gave her a rakish grin, " Thanks dollface"
She gave him a flirty smile before turning to go back to the bar. She really wasn't all that good looking but she had a bangin' body. Sebastian's divorce had been finalized about a month ago. He's slept with about 5 women since then. All one night stands. He was not doing relationships anymore. He was done with that shit. Love apparently wasn't for him, so he was gonna fuck whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted. No more being tied down. He was only 32 and he was going to live it up while he still could.