Free Under Construction by J. A. Armstrong Page A

understanding that this was mostly for her benefit. “I don’t
picture your mom and me changing diapers and filling bottles in the morning;
unless, of course, one of you is visiting.”
    “Jonah
hasn’t worn diapers in at least ten years,” Michelle cracked, receiving a swift
punch from her brother. “Ow!”
    “Just
remember, you two will be in Depends before me,” he reminded her.
    Jameson
sniggered. Candace’s children reminded her of her own brothers. “Well, it’s good to know that you are all potty
trained,” Jameson said. “I was worried there for a while.”
    Across
the yard, Candace was sitting on the
patio with Jameson’s parents, Pearl, Dana, and Steve. “What do you think is
going on over there?” Dana pointed to where Jameson was seated by the fire, flanked
by Candace’s kids.
    “Trouble,”
Pearl smiled. Candace grinned along with her.
    “Yeah,
you don’t need to worry about us, J.D.,” Michelle said. “I can barely get a
date, so you’ll have to rely on Marianne and Rick for diaper duty.”
    Jameson
nodded. “The thing is….We don’t have that planned.” Marianne looked directly at
Jameson. Jameson continued without missing a beat. “If any of you have a concern
or a question; you can ask me. I can’t promise you I will answer it, but I will
listen and if I can, I will answer.”
    “J.D.,”
Michelle said quietly.
    Jameson
held up her hand. “I would like to be your friend because I know how much that
would mean to your mom and because you
are all a part of her. That means something to me,” Jameson said honestly.
“What I won’t stand for is seeing her hurt. She doesn’t deserve that.”
    Jonah
smiled at Jameson. “No, she doesn’t,” he agreed.
    “I
can’t promise I will never hurt her,” Jameson added. “But, I would die before I
would ever do that on purpose. That’s the best I can promise you. Now eat your
S’mores,” Jameson instructed.
    “You’ve
been spending way too much time with Pearl,” Michelle laughed. Jameson
chuckled.
    “For what
it’s worth J.D., I think you’d make a hell of a parent,” Rick said. Marianne
shot her husband a confused look. “Well, I do,” he said. Jameson nodded her
appreciation.
    “Hey,
if you can smack us down, a kid would be no problem,” Jonah laughed.
    “Yeah, but
those diapers,” Jameson cringed. “I kinda like it when they come already potty
trained. Speaking is optional. Potty trained…” The entire group laughed, even
Marianne was left chuckling.
    “You
sure she doesn’t want to run for office herself?” Pearl asked Candace and
Maureen.
    Jameson’s
mother laughed. “My daughter? She’s lucky she remembers who the president is .”
    Candace
laughed. “That hasn’t stopped many before her,” she winked.
    “All I
know is, if she managed a smile from Spitfire, she could charm a den of
Republicans in a heartbeat,” Pearl said.
    “That’s
good since she is one,” Maureen laughed.
    “A spitfire?”
    “No, a
Republican,” Maureen laughed.
    “What?”
the entire table erupted at once.
    “That’s
like having a fish on land. There are no lesbian Republicans,” Dana said.
    “She
did it when she registered just to ruffle me,” Maureen laughed. “I don’t know
if she ever changed it, though.”
    Dana
looked at Candace. “Ohhh…boy.”
    Candace
just raised an eyebrow. “Well, that certainly is not the elephant in the room I
expected,” she laughed. Maureen laughed immediately. It took the rest of the
table a moment to understand Candace’s pun. When they did, the entire group
fell into a fit of raucous laughter.
    “What’s
wrong with them?” Jonah pointed to the patio.
    “Is Mom
drinking wine, J.D.?” Michelle asked, concern coloring her voice.
    Jameson
smiled watching the group at the table. “Nah, she’s
just being Candace,” Jameson said.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    “Mom?”
    Candace
was just about to head up the stairs when she heard Marianne’s voice. “Hey,
thought you went up to bed?”