Popcorn Love

“See that!” Lucas cried, pointing out the window of the moving vehicle. Allison looked over her shoulder so she could look out Lucas’s window. She didn’t have a clue what he was pointing at, but she still gasped and pretended to be thrilled.

“Whoa! Yeah!”

“And that!” Lucas shouted again, still pointing.

“Yeah, what was that?”

“I don’t know!” He shrugged his shoulders and grinned like he was on top of the world. He seemed even more pleased with himself as both his mother and babysitter laughed loudly.

“Is he always like this in the car?” Allison asked Elena.

Elena shook her head and kept her eyes fixed on the road. “Not typically, no. He has occasional mornings when he is more energetic, but he usually sleeps or repetitively sings the dinosaur song.”

“What?” Allison asked, her grin widening. “There’s a dinosaur song?”

“Oh yes.”

“Like from a TV show or something?”

“No.” Elena rolled to a stop at a red light. “It’s his song.”

“His?” Allison glanced back at Lucas again. “As in he made it up?”

Elena confirmed with a proud nod. “He is rather creative, that son of mine.”

“Heck yeah he is.” Allison turned in her seat again and faced the back. “Hey Lucas!”

“Hey!” Lucas’s gaze snapped away from the window and back to Allison in the front seat.

“Sing me the dinosaur song. Please?”

Lucas didn’t hesitate to nod. “Okay!”

He kicked his legs in an absentminded way against the front of his car seat as he began to sing loudly, and Allison had to cup a hand over her mouth in order to keep from laughing or squealing or some strange combination of the two. The song came out in shifting rhythms with no set pattern, and none of the lines rhymed. Lucas didn’t seem to notice, though, bopping his head as if the rhythm never altered and made perfect sense.

“Dinosaurs are big.

Dinosaurs are green.

They eat plants and other dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs have big teeth.

And big claws too.

Dinosaurs are my friends.

Dinosaurs, dinosaurs, dinosaurs.”

Lucas held out the last word for a long time, raising his voice an octave and throwing a small fist into the air dramatically, and Allison just completely lost it. She had been biting her lip behind her hand the entire time, trying her best not to ruin the moment, but she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She burst into laughter as she clapped her hands and cheered for Lucas. Elena joined in the cheering and Lucas beamed from the backseat, clapping his hands as well.

“That was a great song, little man!” Allison reached back to pat his exposed knee. Elena had let him choose his outfit for the day, and he had chosen khaki shorts, a green-and-white striped polo, green socks, and solid white tennis shoes. There was no denying that the kid had style, much like his mother.

“And a superb singing voice,” Elena added as she glanced at her son in the rearview mirror.

Allison nodded enthusiastically. “Totally!”

“Want me teach you?” Lucas offered.

“Do I want you to teach it to me?” Allison raised her brows and bugged out her eyes. “Well yeah! Of course!”

“Perhaps next time, munchkin,” Elena said before Lucas could begin another loud round of the dinosaur song. “We are here.”

Allison whirled around in her seat and her jaw instantly dropped.

“Holy Cracker Jack!” Her eyes widened as she leaned forward in the passenger seat of Elena’s car and stared up through the windshield at the massive home looming in front of them. “This is where your parents live?”

Elena glanced up as well as she parked the car. “Yes. It is rather ostentatious, I know.”

A teasing smile painted Allison’s lips. “Like you have any room to talk about other people having ostentatious houses.”

“Ah-ah,” Elena said, clucking her tongue. “You forget that my home first belonged to my parents before it belonged to me.”

“You’re right. I forgot. Fair enough.”

“Thank you.” Elena unlatched her seatbelt and exited the car.

“You want me to help?” Allison asked, unlatching her own seatbelt. “I can get Lucas.”

“No, that’s all right dear. I only have the munchkin to carry, since he has duplicates of nearly everything here. There is rarely a need for me to pack anything for him.”

“Oh.” Allison pouted. “Well, you want me to walk with you to the door?”

“You could. But only if you wish to subject yourself to my mother’s interrogations.”

“Interrogations?” Allison asked. “What about?”

Elena opened the back door and went to work unbuckling Lucas from his car seat. “Oh, a variety of topics, I’m sure.”

“Ow, Momma,” Lucas squeaked and lifted his leg. “Don’t pinch.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” Elena cooed, readjusting her hand around the base buckle. “It was an accident.”

Allison’s hand shot to the door handle. “Need some help?” she asked, ready to exit the car and run around to assist Elena.

“No, it’s fine.” Elena shook her head. “This one is frequently a hassle, but if I can just get enough pressure on th—” A click sounded as the buckle released, and Elena glanced up at Allison with a smile. “There.”

Lucas threw his arms out for his mother to pick him up. She propped him on her right hip and bent to look back into the car at Allison. “I’ll just be a moment.”

“No big.” Allison shrugged and watched Elena close the door and make her way up the walkway. She didn’t get very far, though, before Allison heard Lucas shout through Elena’s cracked open window.

“Momma wait!”

Elena stopped and patted his thigh. “What is it, Lucas?”

“Alson!”

“Yes.” Elena nodded, and Allison waved from the car. “Allison is waiting in the car.”

“No,” Lucas told her, shaking his head. He started waving his arm wildly, motioning for Allison to join them. “She has to say bye.”

Elena sighed and freed her left arm to mimic Lucas’s beckoning motion.

Allison reached out and turned the key back in the ignition to shut the car entirely off. She pulled the key out and stuck it in her pocket as she jumped out of the car and jogged over to where Elena and Lucas waited.

“Apparently, your presence is required.” Elena chuckled as Allison stepped up to them and Lucas dove toward her.

She caught him mid-dive and transferred the small boy from Elena’s hip to her own. “Well, I’m cool with that,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and bouncing Lucas atop her hip.

When they turned to continue their short trek up the walkway, the door opened and out stepped an older brunette woman that Allison had seen in several pictures around Elena’s house. The resemblance was striking if you knew what to look for, and Allison had spent plenty of time studying Elena’s features, whether consciously or not, so she could definitely see the similarities. This woman was most certainly Elena’s mother.

“Gram!”

“Hello, my sweet boy!” Nora called to him from the porch, but she wasn’t looking at Lucas. Her gaze was locked onto Allison. Her eyes narrowed as she stood in the doorway with her arms crossed over her silken robe.

As Elena, Allison, and Lucas reached the door, Lucas dove forward again without warning, practically leaping from Allison’s arms to Nora’s. His grandmother caught him easily. She kissed his cheek as she held him at her side before leaning forward to kiss Elena’s cheek as well. “Good morning, darling.” Her narrowed gaze never left Allison as she greeted her daughter. It made Allison squirm.

“Good morning, Mother,” Elena replied, pressing her lips to her mother’s cheek as well. “He is rather excitable today, so he may be a handful.”

“Oh, he’s fine, dear.” Nora waved a hand dismissively. She then pointed at Allison. “Who’s this?”

“Mother, this is Allison. Allison, this is my mother.”

“Allison,” Nora repeated, smiling at Allison as she held out her hand. “Lovely to meet you.”

Allison shook her hand firmly. “You too, Mrs. Vega.”

“Oh dear, please call me Nora.”

“Okay, Nora,” Allison replied. That was a good sign, right? Allison relaxed a bit and smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

“Allison is the babysitter that I told you about,” Elena said.

“Of course. Of course,” Nora said, nodding. “I knew the name sounded familiar. Lucas goes on and on about you. So, how do you like our darling boy?”

Shuffling in place, Allison’s shoulder brushed gently against Elena’s. “He’s the best kid I’ve ever worked with,” she said.

Elena beamed, as did Lucas, who was now twirling Nora’s hair around his fingers. “Alson likes green, Gram.”

“She does?” Nora asked, bouncing the boy on her hip.

“Yup!”

“Well then I suppose Allison is a keeper, isn’t she?”

Lucas nodded.

“So,” Nora said after a beat, “why might the babysitter be needed this morning? Am I being replaced?”

Allison felt her face flush with heat as the boy exclaimed, “Alson had a sleepover!”

One of Nora’s eyebrows arched impossibly high, much as Allison had seen Elena’s do countless times. The resemblance between them in that moment was almost uncanny. “Is that so?” Nora asked.

“Yeah,” Lucas told her, “but she didn’t sleep with me.”

“She didn’t sleep with me either!” Elena added in one long, frenzied stream of words. She then cleared her throat and straightened her back. Her mother’s face erupted into a knowing smirk, and Allison was fairly certain they were screwed. She glanced to Elena and noticed that her face was as red hot as Allison’s felt.

“I see.” Nora hummed. “And were you disappointed by this?”

“Mother!” Elena hissed.

Nora completely ignored Elena. Her eyes locked onto Allison and she asked, “So, I take it your position has surpassed babysitter then?”

“Uh.” Allison glanced back and forth between Nora and Elena. “Uh, y—”

Elena subtly shook her head, and Allison quickly changed her course of speech. “…No. I mean, uh, nope. Just a babysitter.”

“And a poor liar.” Nora chuckled. “So, may I ask—”

“No, you may not, Mother.” Elena snapped at her. “We have neither the time nor the desire to endure a classic Nora Vega Inquisition.”

“Inquisition is a bit harsh, don’t you think, Elena?”

“Not at all,” Elena said, moving in to press a kiss to Lucas’s cheek. “I stand by my word choice. Have a good day, munchkin, and I will see you this evening.”

“Lickstick, Momma.” Lucas stuck out his tongue as he wiped at his cheek where a perfect imprint of Elena’s lips remained. He giggled as she stuck her tongue back out at him.

“I love you.” Elena ran a hand through his hair lovingly.

“Love you,” he said right back.

Elena shot her mother a glare even as she leaned in to kiss Nora’s cheek. “Bye Mother.”

“Have a good day at work, dear.” Nora smiled smugly. “Lovely to meet you, Allison. I look forward to our next visit.”

“Uh, yes ma’am,” Allison said with what she was sure was an awkwardly lopsided smile. She reached out and patted Lucas’s back. “See ya, bud.”

He waved at her as he laid his forehead against his grandmother’s temple. “Bye Alson!”

Elena hooked her hand around Allison’s elbow and tugged her along. “Come, Allison,” she implored, leading them hurriedly back toward the car.

“Holy shit,” Allison muttered but managed to hold in her laughter until they made it back inside the car.

* * *

“It wasn’t that bad,” Allison said as Elena drove them through the busy New York streets.

“Yes,” Elena agreed, “and that is only because I put an end to it before it even began.”

“Would she really have interrogated me?”

“Oh, most certainly.” Elena nodded. “Ranging a number of topics, I’m sure.”

“Well, I guess we dodged a bullet then, though I’m wondering if…” She hesitated, drumming her fingers on the console as she stared at Elena. “Nah,” she said after a minute, shaking her head. “Never mind.”

“What is it?” Elena asked, glancing over at her.

“It’s nothing. Never mind.”

“No, tell me,” Elena said. “Please.”

Allison sighed as she picked at the frayed parts of her holey jeans, her head ducking down a bit. “Fine,” she muttered. “It seemed like you really didn’t want your mom to know about us, not that I think that there is an us, but I guess that’s kinda what I’m hoping for. Anyway, I’m just wondering if you want me to deny it too, because—”

Confident in where this was headed, Elena laid a hand on Allison’s knee. Her voice was soft and quiet as she filled in the gaps. “You were wondering if it was because I am ashamed of you?” she asked.

Allison nodded without looking at her. “I mean, it would make sense.”

“Absolutely not.” When she stopped at a red light, she reached over and tucked her index finger beneath Allison’s chin. She lifted Allison’s head and turned it to face her. “Please believe me.”

When she felt Allison nod into her hand, Elena offered her another small smile before dropping her hold and turning back toward the road. As she drove them nearer and nearer to Allison’s dormitory, Elena explained, “I simply did not want my mother drilling us for answers that we have yet to even possess. This, whatever this is between us, is very new.”

“Yeah. You’re right. Sorry I asked.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, Allison,” Elena told her, driving around the block from Allison’s dorm to find parking. “I can understand why you would ask, but I will have you know that status and wealth have never mattered to me. They are unimportant where my love life is concerned.”

“Really?” Allison asked. “Because it was pretty obvious that all the dates Vivian set you up on were hella rich.”

Sighing, Elena pulled into an open spot and shut off the engine. She and Allison relaxed back into their seats, turning to face one another. “Yes, well, that was Vivian. She gave me no say in the matter, though she does know my feelings on that particular issue. It is simply that she and I have little extended or personal exposure to people outside of our own social class. She likely chose people from her daily life and work.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Allison said.

A tender silence developed between them as they continued to stare at one another. Allison’s gaze very obviously raked slowly up and down Elena’s body, and Elena smiled and shifted in her seat. She leaned over the console, Allison meeting her halfway, and nuzzled her nose against Allison’s. “I suppose we should talk about last night,” she whispered.

“Yeah.” The word was hardly more than breath as it floated from Allison’s lips and faded in the inch between them.

Elena’s heart raced, and both women’s breathing audibly quickened as they drew together like magnets. The air inside the car turned thick and hot as the heat radiating off of them filtered through it and caused small droplets of sweat to bead at their temples and on their palms.

Allison nodded as she scooted a little closer, her nose brushing Elena’s again. “Yeah,” she whispered again. “We should—”

Elena devoured Allison’s words before the sentence could ever be finished. They both moaned softly, little whimpers escaping their throats as they met in a kiss, just as fiery as the first. Fingers itched against moist palms before finding their way up arms and slender necks and twisting into hair.

Their lips slid together in perfect harmony as they touched one another gently, almost reverently. Their hands explored tentatively and the press of their mouths cycled experimentally from soft to hard to something that was somehow both. Elena reveled in it, in the innocent heat of that moment.

When they parted, a shy smile played at Allison’s lips. “I thought you wanted to talk.”

Elena smirked. “Among other things.”

Shaking her head, Allison laughed and said, “So, I know you gotta go, but can we talk soon? I mean, will I see you again soon?”

“I would like that,” Elena agreed.

Their hands slipped down one another’s arms before slim fingers laced together.

“Me too.” Allison waggled her eyebrows and poked Elena’s side. “I guess I should go then before my sheer animal magnetism has you dragging me into the backseat.”

“Oh yes. Do relieve me of the terrible temptation, dear.”

“I’ll see you soon,” Allison said. She pecked Elena’s lips once more before hopping out of the car and bending down to wave through the open window.

Elena nodded. “You certainly shall.”

* * *

“We kissed,” Elena blurted as soon as Vivian answered the phone. “Twice. Well, more than twice, but basically twice.”

Vivian squealed like a thirteen-year-old girl, needing no further information to know what Elena was talking about.

“Do try not to burst my eardrums, Viv.”

“Sorry. I freaked out, but I am drowning in my excitement over here! It actually worked!”

Vivian smacked a hand over her mouth, realizing what she’d said, but it was too late to take it back.

“What actually worked, Vivian?”

“Uh, that’s not important right now.” Vivian waved a dismissive hand, even though Elena couldn’t see her.

“Vivian,” Elena hissed, and Vivian let out a heavy sigh. She knew there was no distracting Elena or getting her to drop the issue. She assumed she would eventually have to tell her anyway.

“Fine. But please keep in mind that all of what I am about to tell you led to this wonderful lesbian love you’re feeling right now.”

“Vivian!”

Vivian confessed in one rushed exhalation: “I may have purposely set you up on specific dates to steer you in Allison’s direction.”

“Excuse me?” Elena asked. “What exactly do you mean?”