Epilogue 2
Neily
“They think they are so smart. Like we don’t know what they’re up to. We are so on to them,” Alyssa says from beside me. I shove the rest of the cupcake she brought with us into my mouth. This is a stake-out after all. Everyone knows that cupcakes are a necessity during this. She elbows me in the side. “Are you paying attention?”
I lick the icing off my fingers. “Yeah. They think they’re smarter than us,” I repeat. I look down into the box thinking we should have packed more cupcakes. “How long do these stake-outs usually take?”
“Until we bust them.” Alyssa glares at me. “Don’t you want to know if they are living together?”
My oldest daughter Zoey and Alyssa’s older son Trent have been inseparable since birth. Trent came into the world a few days before Zoey, but I think we all knew they would end up together. Now they are off at college together. Zoey got a place of her own that sits right off campus and Trent said he was living in a frat house. The idea makes me want to snort.
“They’re engaged,” I remind Alyssa. I feel like I’m the one who should be a little more bent out of shape about this. It’s my little girl, after all, that is shackin’ up with a man. But I can’t even be upset because I know if Trent is around, Zoey is safe and well. Zoey tends to be a lot like me. I know Trent is Zoey’s Tomas. I had a feeling when I suggested she get her own place so she could have a small art studio right at home that living there together would be inevitable.
You might say I even planned it out a little. They are good kids. Both are in college on scholarships. All that any of us would be doing is standing in the way of what was meant to be. I ran from Tomas because of silly ideas in my head. It was a waste of time. If my daughter is ready to take the next step with her man, then I’m going to be there cheering her on in any way I can.
“I know, but they should tell us if they are secretly living together.”
“I’m sure Sean knows.” Our men seem to know everything. It’s freaky and well, kind of cool.
“Here they come!” Alyssa shh’s me.
“Okay, so let's say they go inside. They could just be hanging out,” I point out. This plan doesn't seem to be working. We didn't think this through.
“Never mind. It’s not them.” She huffs, setting the binoculars down.
“Someone is going to call the police on us.” We’re sitting next to a bush in all black with binoculars. In the middle of the day.
“Do you have a key? We can just go in and snoop around. If he lives there I’ll know.”
“I do but what if-” I trail off. I’m all for my daughter being with Trent, but there are some things I do not want to see.
“Oh my God.” I gasp. Alyssa drops to the ground.
“What? Do they see us?”
“No, but I think we’re our moms.”
“Oh shit.” She rolls over onto her back, looking up at me. “We are.” I nod at her. Alyssa doesn't care either if they are living together. She just wants to be in the know. We are both so happy they are madly in love. They are a perfect fit. In our eyes we’re all already family but this was going to make it true on every level. Alyssa’s and my grandbabies will be one and the same.
“How are you two doing?” I jerk my head up to look at two boys standing over us in football jerseys. I’m pretty sure they are in college. I could be wrong. I know very little about sports. They both hold their hands out to help us up from the ground.
“You’re blowing our cover,” I inform them.
“Cover?” the one with short blond hair asks.
“I’ve got something you can blow.” The dark hair one smirks, making me cringe. Before I can respond, he goes flying and hits the ground. The blond takes off running, leaving his friend behind.
“Apologize,” Trent barks at the man on the ground.
“They totally blew our cover,” Alyssa huffs. My daughter holds her hand out to help me off the ground. I take it. I hear the boy on the ground saying his apologies. Trent tries to go after him but Alyssa jumps to her feet, blocking her son from going anywhere.
“What happened?”
“Double crap.” I let go of Zoey’s hand to turn and look at Tomas and Sean coming up on us quickly.
“The moms are getting hit on by college frat boys,” Zoey says through a laugh.
“Snitch,” I call her, making her laugh harder. I grab Tomas by the arm before he can chase after them. They are long gone but I’m sure Tomas could track them down.