Father and Son

Anakin
(anakin_skywallkr@hotmail.com)

Max was working in his office rather late that night: the sitcom was doing good in the ratings, and the end of the first season was approaching, but he had to review the actors’ contracts for the next. Fran had gone to bed some time ago, saying that she had had an exhausting day too: the twins were having their teeth growing, and had been quite a pain lately.

He heard a soft knock on the door.

“Come in?”

Brighton came in. Max smiled.

“Hello son… Already back from your party at John’s?”

“Yeah… It was boring, so I left… Dad… Can I talk to you a minute?”

The seriousness in Brighton’s tone made him put his pen down, and take his glasses off.

“Of course Brighton, take a seat…”

Brighton went to sit on the couch in front of his father.

“Dad… Tell me about Mom… I mean when you met her… Had you had any other girlfriend before her?…”

Max smiled, a hint of male pride squeezing his insides: he had expected this discussion with his son for a long time, and was wondering if Brighton would ever dare confiding in him one day.

“Well… When I was your age, I was not really a ‘British cold fish’, as Fran would put it… Before meeting your mother, I had a few girlfriends indeed… But I don’t think it was ever as serious as it was with your mother…”

“I see… And did you… Well… Had you…”

“… Had sex before I met your mother?… No… Your mother and I did not really ‘follow the rules’ before we got married, but although my raging hormones were pushing me to, I never ‘took the step’ before I met your mother…”

“And… Sorry to be asking all these questions, but… How did you… Manage… I mean… What did you do about this between Mom and Fran…?”

Max leant back on his chair.

“Well… after your mother’s death, that was totally out of the question… Until I met Fran…”

“You and Fran?… Before you got married…?”

“No… But I can tell you I thought about it a considerable amount of times!” He smiled. “Now Brighton, why all these questions?… Is there anybody you would want to…”

“Well, there’s this girl at school… When I was in Europe, I met several girls, and I could have had the opportunity to… You know… several times… but truth be told, I never… Well… Did it… I don’t know what was keeping me… Maybe Fran’s voice, or maybe yours, in my head… Anyway… Since I got back, I’ve been seeing Jennifer. She’s a very nice girl. She’s nice looking, she’s sensitive, intelligent, brilliant I should say, and she clearly showed we that… Well she would like to ‘go further’ with me…”

“I see…”

“The thing is that… I’m not sure it’s the right time… I mean I think I love her, and she told me she loved me… But I want to be sure I love her, I want to do that right… you see what I mean?…”

“Yes…”

“… How did you know that Mom was the right one?”

“I didn’t know… But… We were engaged, and we both wanted to do this.”

“How do you know when you’re actually ‘in love’?… I mean… How can you be sure it’s not a fling?”

Max sighed.

“I guess you don’t really know until you find yourself married with three beautiful children…” He smiled at his son.

“How did you know about Fran?… WHEN did you know?”

Max smiled for himself this time, remembering in a flash.

“Well… I guess she simply captured my heart that very first night when she went down the stairs in that red sequined dress… Her smile and the twinkle in her eyes were illuminating the whole house… Something we hadn’t experienced in a very long time… Remember?”

Brighton seemed to relax at the memory of that night too… In fact, he had loved that woman from that very moment too… On a different scale of course, but Fran had been the first and only ‘Nanny’ to understand what his fears and needs were, and what to do about them…

“Yeah… she’s quite someone, isn’t she Dad?…”

“Oh yes…!… And frankly, I don’t know if we’d be sitting here together, talking man to man, if she had not rang at our door more than 6 years ago… Now back to what you were saying… When I met Fran, I knew I was in love with her almost immediately… Although I wouldn’t dare admit it at the time, but deep down in my heart, I knew I loved her. When I imagined my future, she was always there… You see Brighton, ‘loving someone’ means you want to do something with the person, other than sharing a bed with her… You want to build something, achieve something together, but you picture this on a long term… You see what I mean?”

“Yes… Dad…”

“Tell you what, bring Jennifer here for dinner one day. I trust Fran to help you out of your interrogations quicker than me, as soon as she sees her.”

“Yes, sure… but Dad… I also need some… huh… Man advice on that matter… I mean if we decide to…”

Max chuckled softly.

“You worry too much son… Men have been doing this for millennia now, and the very fact that you’re here proves it works just fine…”

“But Dad… I don’t want to hurt her…”

“Why would you hurt her?”

“Well… You know how it… Huh…”

Max chuckled again.

“Don’t worry about that, men and women’s bodies are designed for that…”

“And if … I don’t… I can’t…”

“Son, you worry too much… The best way to avoid this, is to let the things happen naturally… Just relax, don’t worry , and everything will be fine…”

Max stood up and went to put a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder.

“I’m glad we had this discussion Brighton…”

“I’m glad we had it too Dad…” he said, standing up and smiling.

Max looked at his son proudly.

“My boy’s a man now…!” He squeezed his shoulder.

Brighton looked at his feet shyly.

“Okay… Why don’t you go to bed now?… I had nearly finished here, and was about to do so myself…”

“Yes Dad… thanks…”

Brighton went upstairs. Max arranged some papers on its desk then turned the light off and went upstairs too.

He went to his bathroom, brushed his teeth, and changed into his pajamas. Then he switched the light off and opened the door of his room. He opened the sheets and cuddled up to his wife.

She moaned.

“Mmmm Max?… What kept you so long?…”

“Contracts Darling… and I had a discussion with Brighton…”

“Oh?…”

“Yes… A ‘father and son’ discussion…”

“I see…”

She turned into his arms to face him.

“And?…”

“And… I guess we raised a very responsible young man…”

“We?”

“Yes… I wouldn’t have been able to raise him that way without your help…”

“My ‘help’?… Hey I was practically on my own all the time on that subject…” she teased him.