My mom still wasn't happy about my relationship with Hunter. She never said as much out loud, but I knew her well enough to feel the hidden tension at dinner. We talked about the normal things like their work and my plans for school until my father went back to work.

"Jake, would you help me wash the dishes tonight? I'm feeling a bit more tired today than usual." She turned to carry half of the plates into the kitchen while I carried the rest.

Washing dishes wasn't really my thing, but as I set up in front of the sink, I was grateful for the chance. My mom Did look tired. Her raven black hair was still styled in neat waves over her left shoulder her posture was still poised like the boss that she was, but her eyes made it look like her mind was a million miles away.

She had a busy job that could have any number of things to keep her distracted, but I knew that wasn't it.

"Mom?"

"Yes, honey?" her ears perked up a bit, but she kept her eyes on the dirty plates.

"Are you...disappointed in me?" I needed to know.

As soon as I asked, her head snapped in my direction and her face widened in shock. "What? What on Earth would make you think about something like that?" the way she responded made me feel silly just for asking.

"You just seemed tired more often since I brought Hunter to dinner on my birthday. I thought it might be because of...you know." I tried finding the words to finish my sentence, but it was just hard. "Because I'm dating a guy now."

A mix of guilt and sadness swirled across her expression before she turned to continue with the dishes. "No honey, I'm not disappointed in you. Not even a little.

"I'll admit that I'm not sure how to feel at all about this thing between you and a werewolf. I wish I could smile knowingly and say that, 'I knew it all along,' but I didn't. I had no clue.

Neither did I...

"It's a lot for me to process and wrap my head around, honey. I look at you now and..." she glanced at me and I could see tears at the corners of her dark eyes. There were small wrinkles showing her true age through the makeup. "I look at you now and you're already a man. I don't know what you're doing every hour of the day when you're out. I can't protect you from the entire world if they decide to judge you for who you are."

The first of my mom's tears were finally escaping and I could feel my own eyes beginning to water. A knot was winding its way into my heart.

"I know you are not a little kid anymore, but a big part of me still wishes you were. I mean I wish that you were only ten-years-old again and bringing your little friend to play house like you used to. Then I wouldn't be wondering if my grandkids will have a furry coat instead of skin," she laughed and smiled while wiping a couple tears falling down her cheeks. "Well, I suppose I'll be lucky if I can have grandkids at all somehow, right?" she laughed again and I saw more tears falling as she shielded her eyes with the back of her hands.

My stomach tightened so badly that I felt like I would throw up or something. "Mom, I..." but there was nothing I could say.

"I'm sorry honey. There's probably nothing that you can say, right?" Can someone just kill me, and replace me with a perfect son. "I don't mean to make you feel like any of this is your problem. It's not. I'm not disappointed in you," she said more forcefully.

She dropped her hand and looked me straight in the eyes. I'd grown at least an inch taller than my mom at some point, but it always felt like I was looking up her. With more strength in her voice, "I am not disappointed in you, and I never will be. You're my only son, and there's nothing that can change that.

"So, I will be nice to your werewo- Hunter. I'll be nice to Hunter. But you are not about to become a damsel in distress, alright? Your father and I raised you to be a man, and that hasn't changed. We still expect you to go to college and come out prepared for whatever the world will throw at you. Can I count on you to do that for me?"

My answer was immediate. "Yeah, mom. There's nothing in the world that can stop me." My heart felt a million times lighter seeing her smile at me again. We set to finishing the dishes and lightly discussed politics.

So this was the first real talk between Jake and his mom since the big reveal of his relationship with Hunter. How do you think it went overall? Did his mom handle it really well or do you feel like she overreacted? Leave a comment to let me know what you're thinking and vote if you just think she's an awesome mom :3