Done Adulting Vol. 1 Ch. 123

“I love the blouse you bought. If you hadn’t gotten it, I would’ve,” Jane said.

“Sorry-not-sorry,” Becky responded. “How long have we been waiting?”

“A half-hour. Maybe you should wake Jamie up. Lunch is his favorite part of shopping.”

“Lunch is the only thing he likes about shopping.” Rosie sat in her stroller oblivious to everything around her.

“You could always drop him at Tot Care again,” Jane joked, “I’m sure he’d love to check in on that girl and all her descendants.”

“You would memorize what he said,” Becky said as she shook her head. “Not his best day ... Not his worst, either,” she added when she thought on it. “Jamie ... Jamie ...” She brushed his cheek, and he started to wake up. “Hey, baby.” Becky unbuckled him from the stroller and put him on her shoulder. “Didn’t think you’d wanna miss lunch.”

“Hi,” Jamie said sleepily.

“O, still a sleepy bear,” Jane said. He smiled weakly and waved at her. Their pager buzzed, and a waitress led them to a table. The restaurant, busy on any weekend, was packed with holiday shoppers. The waitress wasted no time getting drink orders and putting menus in front of them, trying to keep the place moving while not rushing anyone too much.

“What looks good to you, Beck?”

“After all the holiday food, something green. How about you, Jamester?”

“Um ... nothing. Guess I’m not really hungry.”

“Since when,” Becky quipped. She felt Jamie’s forehead. “You’re not feeling sick, are you?”

“No, just nothing sounds good.”

“Nothing at all? I thought you liked this place.”

“I do. Just not really digging it today. Just ... not all that hungry, I guess.”

“Maybe it was the stack of pancakes for breakfast.”

The waitress came back and took their order. Becky ordered herself a side of French fries just in case Jamie changed his mind. Sitting on Becky’s lap, listening to her and Jane talk about some acquaintance from their teen years who was going through a divorce, Jamie was wishing changed his mind about lunch, but also wanted to go back to sleep.

“Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“May I please have some milk?”

“Sure.” Becky unbuttoned a couple buttons on her blouse and got Jamie situated.

“Nursing bras are so much more convenient, aren’t they,” Jane said.

“Definitely. So anyway, I’m sorry for her kids, but she’s not blameless ...”

With each swallow, the conversation grew more distant to Jamie as the sweet milk pooled in his belly and went to his head. He never got tired of this feeling. It was always good, and it always had the same effects on him. If he drank a little, he’d get mellow. If he drank a little more, he’d get sleepy. If he drank too much, he’d become less coordinated and have trouble thinking straight. He didn’t like that feeling, but he liked the others, and he liked the sensation of Becky, the physical sensation of being so close to her, the contact sending oxytocin to his brain along with whatever was in her milk.

“Excuse me,” a woman wearing black pants and a black shirt interrupted Becky and Jane.

“Hi,” Becky said.

“Some of our diners aren’t used to seeing nursing in public.”

“O? Well, here’s their chance to practice,” Jane said.

“Do you think you could wait?” To her credit, the woman sounded apologetic.

“No,” Becky replied. “It’s lunch time. This is his lunch.”

“I understand,” the woman said, clearly uncomfortable, “In that case, do you think you could finish in the ladies’ lounge? We have a nice sofa in there.” Jamie couldn’t see and didn’t hear – he kept doing his thing – but if he could, he’d have seen Becky’s eyebrows creep up to the very top of her forehead, the same way Amanda’s did when she got angry.

“He’s going to eat in the dining room. Not the bathroom,” Becky declared.

“And if some of your other patrons have a problem with that, tell them there’s plenty of open seating in the toilet if they’d prefer to eat in there,” Jane chimed in.

“I’m sorry,” the woman said. She walked away, perhaps satisfied that she had tried to follow her boss’s instructions and was glad of the outcome. No matter.

“Seriously,” Becky said, looking down at Jamie and patting his rump.

“Who do you think,” Jane asked. Becky looked around, and so did Jane.

“Those two?” Becky discreetly nodded at two older women at the table behind Jane. Jane glanced over her shoulder.

“How’s your lunch,” Jane asked. No one ever accused her of being a shrinking violet. The scowl Jane received in turn confirmed it.

Jamie sat up, content and feeling no pain. “All done, Baby Bear?”

“Yep. Thank you.” Becky covered herself and wiped Jamie’s lips with her napkin. Their waitress returned with their lunch, unaware of what had happened.

“Can I get you anything else,” she asked.

“Can we get four glasses of milk,” Jane asked.

“What are you doing,” Becky asked.

“Being neighborly.”

When the waitress returned, Jane took two of the glasses and told the confused waitress to give the other two to the women behind them, with her compliments. Jane turned around to watch. When she got the dirty look she was hoping for, she raised her glass and said simply, “Cheers.”