[ THERE's a RiVER ] immyblimmy

[d o l c e]

The night had been wonderful, Izzy thought as she woke up sometime during the early morning. Her room was dark and the moon shined in her bay window, offering a pale-lite path to the middle of her floor and then abruptly stopping. Izzy sat up and the cold air jumped on her, causing her to shiver. She looked down at her side and saw Nate sleeping soundly, her chest rising and falling with each breath. His hair was a mess, but he was gorgeous. And he was all hers.

Shivering once more, Izzy climbed out of her bed and walked over to her dresser. Sometime during the night, Izzy had pulled her sweater off - but she still had her bra on. She grabbed some underwear, sweat pants and a beater and walked into her bathroom to quickly dress. Izzy then retreated back to her bed and slipped under the covers. She sighed and turned on her side, facing Nate. He mumbled something and rolled over, gathering her in his arms. Izzy smiled to herself and fell asleep, burying her head against his strong chest.
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The peace ended too soon and the next thing Izzy knew, Nate was yelling at her to wake up. Her head was throbbing her and she winced, opening her eyes very slowly. She moaned and looked around with her curious blue eyes. Nate was not staring at her, but whomever or whatever was behind her. Sitting up, Izzy turned around slowly and saw Jessie standing in her doorway.

"Oh shit," she uttered under her breath. Swallowing, Izzy glanced at Nate and then looked back at Jessie. How could this have happened? Were they cursed? They must be! She bit her lip and ran a worried hand through her dark hair. What was she supposed to say to this? Izzy had never brought a guy home... obviously. Sal had only been gone a few short months; okay, so it was more like over half a year. Anyway, back to reality. Here was Jessie... in Izzy's room... and Nate was next to Izzy, unclothed.

"Jess," Izzy said cautiously. She wanted to keep her daughter's attention and she wanted to keep her from freaking out. Throwing back the covers, Izzy got out of her bed and walked over to Jess. She knew not to touch her or even act like she was going to touch her. "Let's go to your room and talk about this." She stared at Jessie, not giving her an option. She hoped that Jessie would obey. Izzy glanced back at Nate and felt her eyes become wet. She cleared her throat and bit the inside of her cheek. She would not fall apart.

This was going to be the biggest day of Jessie's life.

[SPOTLESS ™]

Jessie was frozen solid, staring at her math teacher in her mother's bed. She wasn't sure what she was feeling. She wasn't sure if she was angry, or afraid, or what was going on in her head. But beneath all of her mix of emotions, there was a flicker of happiness. Her mother had surely been happy moments before. Really, truly, happy for the first time in months. And although she wasn't sure what to think, she was sure that one day, she'd be happy about the fact that her mother had let the little barrier she had between herself and the rest of the world, break. But right now, she was brought back to the present with an unpleasant thud. She decided she wasn't going to be angry. That's not what they needed right now. Exactly what she was feeling, she still wasn't quite sure. She decided to not argue, following her mother silently towards her room. She piped up when the two were safely in Jess's room with the door closed behind her. She sat Izzy down on her bed, and anticipating her speaking, pressed a finger to her lips.

"Okay, here's the dealio mom. How 'bout I talk, you listen, and then we'll see what you have to say, mmkay?" Jess's tone was snippy, but she was barely containing a smile. She gave Izzy no time to answer before she continued.

"Alright, let's start at the beginning. We get the call that dad is gone." Jess allowed a stab of emotion at the mention of her father, but quickly pushed it away. She was not here to make her mother feel guilty. "And you start drinking. You get fired. Blah blah blah. I help you get your life in order, for the most part, and then you get your degree, and become a teacher. Yeah, yeah, that's all fine and good. Your happy-ish, or as happy as you could be at that time. And then this guy, who currently awaits your return, who also happens to be my math teacher shows up. Suddenly your flustered whenever he's mentioned. I understand you might like this guy, but it's unlike you to be flustered around someone, your not like me." She threw Izzy a look, that plainly warned her not to pipe up about this particular comment. Jess had begun pacing back and forth on her blue fuzzy rug.

"And now, that same guy, the guy your careful to leave out of every single humorous story about the school, every single anecdote or slightly insulting comment is here, at our house? And you think I believe this is some sort of coincedance? The planets aligned? Suddenly it's like some sort of sick Music and Lyrics spin off... I dunno... Math and English." She allowed herself a grin. "See? Even my ability to make up somewhat clever references is off! But that's beside the point. Basically, I want to know one thing. Are you happy? Does he make you happy? Because if he does... if he does make you happy, then I'm happy too."

Jess finished her speech with a heavy sigh. She gazed at her mother with almond shaped blue eyes, both identical in shape and color. Her face blazed with affection. It was the true nature of the relationship between Jess and Izzy. The oddest things could set them off, and the oddest things could bring them back together again. She sat herself on her bed next to Izzy, looking up at her with a searching expression. She had a question in her eyes, but she said nothing, only staring with pale pink lips and porcelain skin.

"And... and if I am right, then I suggest you go back to your room and tell him that. And then you've got some explaining to do. To me." She offered a tentative grin. Each other's happiness. Wasn't that really all the two of them cared about?
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Nate was panicked. He was picking up his discarded clothing off the hard wood floor, and throwing it on in a frenzy. He would never be able to look Jessie in the face now, would he? His own daughter, and already he'd presented a terrible image for her to carry around with her. He hoped around, pulling a sock on and searching for it's mate. When he did, he sat down on Izzy's bed with his head in his hands. How could they have forgotten about Jessie? Had Izzy assumed she would've stayed out all night? Nate knew enough of Jessica from his math classes to know that she wouldn't stay out, all night, so surely her own mother would know even better. But Izzy wasn't in her right mind the night before. He hoped she wasn't sorry that what had happened had happened. He sure wasn't.

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