[sub]Collab with [@Themerlinhawk] and [@lovely complex][/sub]

Jerry cleaned his hands as he surveyed the front room. Most of the boxes had been unpacked and there wasn’t all that much more to do. The majority of the process had been taken up home to get the gun safe into his bedroom. It had been an interesting ordeal but he and the movers had managed to wrangle it into his closet. 

Sitting at his table Jerry looked across the street, it was probably a good idea to go see his neighbors but at the same time. Jerry stared at his phone; it was probably safe to call Nana now. Resisting for another moment Jerry finally flipped open his phone and scrolled down to Nana’s number and hit call on it. The neighbors could wait, maybe Nana and Jude would be interested joining him for lunch tomorrow as the kitchen had been refurbished after Jerry had bought the house. 

Jerry’s phone rang as he waited patiently to see if Nana would pick up; if not he could always leave a voicemail.

Observing her son as he ate baked spaghetti and watched Count von Count on the show, Sesame Street, Nana looked at her work schedule on her phone. Her next day off would be on Monday, she sighed at the thought. Scrolling down through her memo, she smiled when she went to Thursday. Thursdays were her favorite days of the week. It was when she taught two one hour classes at the gym from 6PM to 8PM and Jude got to play with some of his friend in the gym daycare. People would come to discover the mother was quite fit and in shape, even with such a hectic schedule being a full time mother, a morning maid, and other extra curricular activities. Jumping a little in her seat, her phone rang loudly making her son glance over.

[color=palegreen]”Who is it mommy?”[/color]

To her surprise, it was an unknown number… could it be him? He wouldn’t call her this fast would he? It’s not like she minded, but she almost died from a heart attack because she didn’t expect a call so soon. No one ever called her at this time. 

[color=limegreen]”Mommy doesn’t know yet, sweetie. I’ll be in the hallway. Call me if you need me. Remember to chew your food.”[/color]

The little boy nodded as he watched his mom get up and walk out of the dining room. Grinning devilishly, he dug his hands into his food and began playing with it. He even began mimicking the Count as his fingers slapped spaghetti on the table, [color=palegreen]”Ah! That’s one. One bat! Two. Two bat! Three. Three fabulous flyers! Ahaha…”[/color]

Staring at the number, Nana took a deep breath in and then exhaled. Answering the call, she brought the phone to her ear and said softly, [color=limegreen]”Hello? Nana Darling speaking.”[/color]

Jerry raised an eyebrow in surprise that he’d caught her. That and she was picking up an unknown number. Personally he always screened them through his voicemail first but he was glad she’d picked up. Back in his chair near his bay window Jerry watched the neighbor’s house across the street. [color=silver]”Hey, this is Jerry. I wanted to call and tell you I’m sorry our lunch got interrupted. Turns out my neighbors were behind all the fun at the mall today. Sorry if I called a bit soon, I’m not sure what the socially correct length of time to wait before calling a woman who gave you her number is.”[/color]

Jerry cringed a little, hopefully this wasn’t [i]too[/i] awkward. 

Leaning her back up against the wall, the mother attentively listened. Her eyes caught sight of dust on one of her framed pictures of Jude on the wall. Using her shirt (since it was going to be washed tonight anyways), she lifted it up revealing her thin, fit stomach and wiped the bottom edge of the frame. Letting out a light, pleasant giggle, she reassured the officer, [color=limegreen]”Oh don’t worry about it. I don’t know when it’s [color=silver]socially correct[/color] to do some things too. You’re actually the first man I gave my number to on Day 1.”[/color]

Pausing briefly, she came to the realization that her entire time here in Millington, she refused quite a handful of men, [color=limegreen]”Now that I think about it… maybe the only man I’ve given my number to...”[/color] Nana blushed at the thought. Did she really deny that many men her number? Her boss only had her number because it was on file but whenever a guy asked her for her digits… she usually gave an excuse and ran away. Changing the subject and still a little red in the face, Nana sweetly purred, [color=limegreen]”Oh, those kids are your neighbors? That should lead to some interesting times.”[/color] 

Leaning forward onto his table Jerry propped up his head tilting it slightly, it would have been too strange to have a set out binoculars so he’d settled for just doing some extended peering at the neighbors houses. In reality it was a nosy thing so much as an exercise in trying to figure stuff out about the neighbors. [color=silver]”Well I’m certainly flattered by that, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little surprised too but I’m certainly glad you did. I know almost no one here frankly. Just got the last of the unpacking done...more or less.”[/color] Jerry turned and looked over his shoulder at the last few boxes carefully stacked beside the entrance to the hallway. 

[color=silver]”So I hope this isn’t premature but I was thinking maybe you and Jude would like to come over at some point this weekend or next week and let me make dinner or lunch. Since our lunch got interrupted at the mall.”[/color] Jerry tensed waiting for the potential rejections. It was a bit of a long shot but he might as well push just a little and see what she was okay with. Nana had seemed relaxed enough at the mall but Jerry got the impression that their might be history to go along with the kid at a young age.

Taking in his offer, Nana thought about how she should answer him. Having come to realize how little she accepted men’s numbers made her think she was some kind of prude, who didn’t know how to live. Lifting her right leg and pressing it against the other wall, the mother began to stretch it. 

Hm. How should she answer? If she said no… nothing about her life would change. If she said yes… who knows what would happen? He did invite her child as well, so that did show he respected her to some degree. Not wanting there to be too long of dead silence, the mother joked, [color=limegreen]”If I came over for dinner, Jude and I might have to sleepover. His bedtime is at 8.”[/color] She could do lunch at his house on Monday. She knew her son would appreciate seeing Depuhtee again. Quickly, the woman lifted her other leg and held herself up in the air, in her hallway. What are you going to decide Nana? What are the chances he is a cruel man, who just wants to fuck you? Then again… quite a few men, she felt, viewed her as a sexual object. Men could be terrible creatures and none of them should be trusted wholeheartedly.

Finally answering the officer, the mother began twirling her untidy hair with her pointer finger while up against both walls, [color=limegreen]”Nights are usually bad for me. Being a working mother and all, I get kinda tuckered out. How about Monday, lunch? Jude has a nut allergy, so no peanut butter or any of that!”[/color]

Jerry smiled and resisted the urge to let out a sigh of relief. Given that he was still on the phone with her it might come across as sort of silly. With a quick rock onto his feet Jerry stood walking towards his fridge where his grocery list was. [color=silver]”Okay two more questions, these ones are easier I promise[/color] His smile shone through in his tone. It was a surprise he’d made it this far; what was a bigger surprise was that he was enjoying this. [color=silver]”What is an acceptable lunch for you and Jude? I know he’s a bit young and I get that they can be picky so I can make just about anything. Also if you have a preference I can always make something that caters to both your tastes since I am asking you to haul the little guy over here on your day off. So the food should be enjoyable for you too.”[/color]

Taking down the grocery list he leaned onto the counter supporting himself with his arms before shifting and taking his gun off his gun belt and setting it onto the counter. The top of the firearm had been digging into his side. Releasing the triple retention lock on it her carefully removed the magazine and pulled the slide back. Locking it back he set the bullet that was in the chamber down on the counter. It was probably best to put away any and all guns for Monday since Jude accidentally hurting himself would have been a terrible thing to happen on the first date. Jerry paused. Was it a date? Best not to put the cart before the horse and simply leave it at lunch. 

Nana kept one ear attentive to the direction her son was in, just in case something went astray. The next question was easy, as she brought herself down from the air and began pacing back and forth in the hallway, [color=limegreen]”Surprisingly, he’s not [i]that[/i] picky. He does, however, like to make deals to get junk food over more healthy choices. You’ll come to learn… he is constantly plotting for treats. My little mastermind. Hm, lets see. He loves broccoli, but hates carrots. Hard to hide carrots in a meal unless it’s mashed well. I try to make his meals simple so if you have a 5 star lunch in mind, deduct it… by a lot. If it doesn’t look gross, he’ll eat it. Granted, you can easily get around that by promising him a treat. I don’t mind what you make, so surprise me! But no eggplant, please please please. I hate that stuff.”[/color] Even if this was a [i]date[/i], the mother would be oblivious on the matter. She didn’t necessarily understand how it felt being courted. This was simply a lunch outing with someone her son took a liking to. Looking down the hall, toward the dining room, she wondered if she should check on her mischief maker… things were quiet. [i]Too quiet[/i]. 

[color=silver]”Last thing and then I’m sure you need to go since no doubt you’ve been distracted sufficiently long for Jude to start getting into trouble. I am going to do a BBQ at some point here for the people I’ve met, a few of my co-workers and probably my neighbors if they don’t show up here drunk or high. Which if they do I’ll be throwing them out.”[/color] Jerry mentally berated himself for adding such an unnecessary detail since he was trying to sell the BBQ idea. [color=silver]I was wondering if maybe you and Jude wanted to come and balance out the crazy with some normal. Otherwise I’ll be stuck here with off duty cops and angsty neighbors.”[/color] Jerry mentally sighed. Well he’d probably blown that one. [color=silver]”Given how I just pitched that I’d understand if you told me no thank you.”[/color]

With that he began writing down items on his grocery list. Finding himself not wanting to end the call but knowing that it was probably drawing to a close what with her probably needing to get going. After all it was pushing the end of her day off. Well it had at least been worth the offer.

Off duty cops? Angsty neighbors? The woman crept down the hallway, slowly approaching the dining room but not looking just yet. Nana gave him a reassuring laugh, to not be so hard on himself, [color=limegreen]”That sounds way better than snobby rich people, who don’t know how to clean up after themselves. Ah, yeah. I’m a maid…”[/color] She was a little embarrassed revealing her main paying job, since cleaning houses and wearing an uncomfortable outfit to get more in tip money was nothing to be proud about. Smiling at his attempts, the mother didn’t mind listening to his voice. Giving an unintentional flirtatious compliment, she grinned, [color=limegreen]”I like an honest man who takes care of business. If I had the strength and even bothered throwing a party, I’d kick out the problem starters!”[/color] Nana wasn’t necessarily a weak woman, but she didn’t want him to find her unattractive for being extremely prepared to break a man’s nose or kick him in his… you know. 

Finishing her response, she added, [color=limegreen]”Text me the day when you figure it out and I’ll let you know if we can make it.”[/color] Finally, she peered into the dining room and her eyes widened. Spaghetti was all over her table...floor… and her son.

[color=limegreen]”JUDE!”[/color]

Sheepishly, the boy turned and looked at his mother with big, innocent eyes, [color=palegreen]”Mommy, I think it’s bathtime.”[/color]

[color=limegreen]”Uh, Jerry.”[/color] Saying him by his nickname rather than Jeremiah slipped from her lips, [color=limegreen]”I-I have to go. Remember to text me the info! Thanks for inviting me. You’re too nice.”[/color] and with that the woman hung up and went to deal with her little adorable… messy monster. 

With a grin and a small laugh he flipped the phone around and sent her a quick text. [color=silver]Good luck battling the destruction, sorry I distracted you long enough for the little guy to get into trouble.[/color] With that Jerry finished up his list and looked out the front window. Eyeing his gun he contemplated; was it worth bringing it with him? With a shrug he picked it up, reloaded it and reloaded the magazine before putting it in the small handgun safe he’d put in his entryway closet. clipping his star and ASP to his belt he opened the front door and started across the street. 

Had she called him Jerry? A thought struck him as he was walking. Was that a good thing? With a shrug and a smile he decided it was.

Walking up to the door of the house across from him he inhaled slowly before reaching up and knocking. Hopefully this went well. It seemed like Millington was one of those towns that looked normal from the outside but once you were in the thick of it; it dawned on you how crazy it actually was.

[@Athinar]