Ch72: Puppy Love

Donny watched in an amazed déjà vu moment. Wendy reminded him of Margarita as she whirled around the kitchen, popping this into the oven, that into the microwave and stirring something else on the stove top, all the while chatting up a storm with him and Cindy. She was nothing short of a dynamo…and a very pleasing one to look at.

“Have any homework, Cindy?” Wendy asked.

“Yeah, math. I was hoping Steve would help me with it before dinner’s ready, but he’s still in the shower,” Cindy said, tugging a math book out of her backpack.

“What is taking him so long?” Wendy said.

“Maybe he’s extra sore and sweaty from practice,” Cindy said with a shrug.

“Yes, he definitely does get stinky,” Wendy said and Cindy burst out laughing.

“Mom!” Steve said angrily.

“Oh sure, now he shows up,” Wendy muttered waving her hand in front of her face. “Whoa, little heavy on the cologne, kid!”

“Hey, Steve, can you help me with math? I can help you with Spanish,” Cindy said, smiling at him.

“But Stevie’s doing fine in Spanish,” Wendy said.

“Really? You told me you needed help,” Cindy said, looking at Steve’s caught-in-the-headlights expression.

“Uh…I was doing okay, but not so much anymore…I… uh...you know, mess up conjugating verbs and stuff… sometimes,” he said.

Wendy smiled to herself. “Oh, I see. Well, you better go study then. Make sure you help Cindy with her math first, okay?”

She giggled when they left the kitchen. “It never changes.”

“What?” Donny asked.

“Oh, you know, the silly things kids do when puppy love first strikes.”

“Janet and Wes, you mean?”

Wendy gaped at Donny. “No. Did you just miss that?”

“What?”

“Between Stevie and Cindy?”

“What?” he repeated, baffled.

“Well, the beginnings of puppy love,” she whispered.

Donny’s heart nearly stopped. “Oh, no,” he said, shaking his head. “She’s too young for that!”

Wendy giggled. “Young or not, I think they like each other.”

“We gotta stop them,” he said, standing up.

Wendy grabbed his arm. “Stop them? Don’t be silly. Donny, you putting the kibosh on this before there’s much to it will just make them dig their heels in. Trust me. The quickest way to make them stop liking each other is to give them a week. They'll be at each other's throats in no time. No one stays together longer than that at this age. I was twelve once and I’m guessing you were, too. Remember?”

He did remember, but he still didn’t like the idea of his precious daughter with a boyfriend, harmless or not. “You could be wrong,” he said, hopefully.

She suppressed a laugh. “I could be, but I can tell, Donny. I’m like a love psychic. I knew when my sister was irrevocably in love with Chad. It took him longer, but I knew he was in love with her before she did and they were blissful together for ten years until…” Wendy stopped abruptly and turned back to the stove.

“Janet said her uncle died in the war. I’m assuming that was Chad. I’m sorry.”

“It’s been a couple of years now, but May is still…” she stopped again and looked at Donny. “I suppose you know that best of all, huh?”

“I do, yes,” Donny said, forcing a smile he did not feel.

They were silent for several minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.

“They wouldn’t…I mean… the kids won’t do anything…” Donny anxiously said, his brow furrowed. 

“They’ll hold hands and kiss a little and that’s it,” Wendy said reassuringly.  “Listen, it’s Stevie who seems to have a bit of a crush. I think Cindy just wants to be friends, so you really don’t have to worry. They’ll just be buddies…you know, like you and me.”

Donny suddenly felt sorry for Steve, just not too sorry.

“Mommy, we’re home!” Troy shouted from the front door. 

Wendy laughed. “There’s my boy,” she said, just as he burst into the kitchen going straight to her and planting a kiss on her cheek.

“Didcha miss me?” Troy said, grinning.

“Don’t I always?” Wendy replied.

“Mom, what are you doing?” Jasmine shouted.

“Making dinner. Can’t you tell?” Wendy said.

“In a Christian Dior? Are you mad?” Jasmine shrieked.

“Uh…maybe?” Wendy said, unsure.

“Do you know how much that costs?” Jasmine said. “And you’re not even wearing an apron!”

“Uh…I forgot.”

“Mom, you could have ruined a thousand dollar dress. Go! Get upstairs and change… now!” Jasmine said.

Wendy glowered and then turned to Donny. “Who’s the mom around here anyway?” she said, tossing down a towel. “You hold the fort while I’m gone, won’t you?” She then left the kitchen in a huff with Jasmine following.

Donny laughed until he saw Troy grinning at him. “What?” he said.

“She’s a peach, isn’t she?” Troy said, smirking.

“Jasmine? I was going to say bossy, but sure.”

“No, not Jasmine. Her super hot mom.”

“I guess,” Donny evasively replied.

“You could do worse,” Troy said.

“Excuse me?”

Troy just grinned.

“Anyone ever tell you, Troy, you look like the cat that just ate the canary?”

“And you look like the guy trying to become a permanent fixture here, but no worries, Mr. Sebastian, I won’t tell Mr. Fummel,” Troy said, in a conspiratorial tone.

“Hey, Dad, you’re here,” Wes said, coming into the kitchen just as Troy left it.

“Mr. Sebastian, where’s my mom?” Janet asked.

“She had to change out of a thousand dollar dress before Jasmine had a conniption,” Donny explained.

“Thousand dollar… dress?” Janet said. “What lunatic would pay that?”

“Mr. Frank,” Wes said. “He’s stinking rich and doesn’t know what to do with all his money, so he goes around spending it on his friends and your mom is now his best friend.”

“That’s insane!” Janet said.

Wes shrugged. “You should see him when he’s in love. He bought a Maserati for Viktor.”

Janet gaped wide-eyed. “Think I can get him to switch teams and fall for me?”

“No!” Wes shouted. “You’re mine.”

“Nuts,” Janet pouted turning to Donny, holding her thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart. “I was this close to getting a Mercedes.”

Donny laughed, totally forgetting the puppy love currently forming in the living.