Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 183

Evan was prepared for sunglasses and a scarf around his mother's neck. She would be upset, mad at him, and he would say he was sorry a thousand times. That's what Evan was expecting when he stood and faced the doorway into what his father deemed the adult annex. Evan could not have foreseen nor equipped himself for what happened next.

The woman who entered the kitchen wasn't wearing sunglasses or a scarf. All of Evan's preparation had been a waste of time. His rehearsed apology was a stupid tongue twister that clogged his throat. Who was that woman staring at him from the other side of the kitchen? Evan was inflicted with a state of paralysis.

What had once been blue jeans, were now shredded as if her bulking thighs had burst them and the legs had fallen away from her crotch. A belly button ring would have complemented the ZZ Top T-shirt that was tied in a knot below her chest. It acted as a sling for her huge breasts. Makeup had been replaced with a youthful shine, and her strawberry-blonde hair was pulled back in that ponytail he loved. The transformation that had been underway for weeks was now complete; Candy was back.

There seemed to be an invisible force field holding them apart. Evan leaned against it, but he couldn't move. "I, ah, I'm-" He tried to wet his lips, but his tongue was too dry, so he had to force his words, "I'm sorry."

The Invisible force reversed, and they almost ran at each other, his tears boiled over before he collided with Candy. "Mah, oh, Mom, I'm sorry, I swear didn't mean to-"

"Shh, don't, don't, Evan, it's my fault. I shouldn't have."

"No! was the one who shouldn't have. I'm the one who's to blame. I shouldn't have let that happen to you. I'm sorry I didn't help you."

"Please don't say anything, not yet." Her arms tightened. "Just hold me."

Evan held her head in his hands, pressing it against his shoulder. Her hot tears soaked through his shirt. A fist of pain grasped his heart. He had loved Candy with an incomprehensible love as only a child can. If she had died like his mother had, Evan would have been crushed, broken and empty, then he would have healed, but Candy hadn't died. It had been like sand blowing off the dunes, a little at a time; she had been taken away. He hadn't noticed at first, then Candy was gone. No, not gone, held prisoner by his father. Candy had been locked inside a box called, Mommy. Once Evan realized who was behind the facade, it was a knife constantly cutting into his broken heart.

The minutes passed like hours. Candy was supposed to be the warrior, the strongest person in the room. Evan wished she'd stopped crying; it was making him angry. Candy drew in a huge breath and wiped her face on his shirt. "Honey, you did what you love, what you're good at. Cindy told me how good you are. You didn't do anything wrong. Her arms restricted his chest and a sob caught in his throat. "It's all my fault. I'm sorry."

Evan's anger turned into fury, and he pushed back, holding his mother by the shoulders. "It's his fault, all his fault! What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?"

"Nothing, he didn't do anything." Candy mumbled with her face pressed against his chest, "I shouldn't have done this."

"What," he asked, "what shouldn't you have done?"

"I made a mistake, a huge mistake," she said. "I swear, I didn't know, thought could make it work. It will. It's gonna work. I'm gonna make it better."

Gloria's warrior seemed to come alive and snatch him out of the raging flood that was sweeping him away. He believed her, even though his mind couldn't lay hold of any logical reason he should. "I know, know," he said.

Candy turned away and walked towards the stove. A transparent veil of threads hung in front of the sharp curves that the short- shorts couldn't contain. The babysitter was back. "You want some herbal tea?"

Evan stared like she had asked him if he wanted a shot of Jack Daniels. The strawberry-blonde in the cutoffs and the ZZ Top T- shirt walked back to him. His eyes followed the swish of her tits like a hypnotist's pocket watch. He didn't see his father's wife anymore.

"Sweetheart, listen to me." Candy was a foot shorter than him, but the woman who wrapped her arms around his body felt like a giant; like the teenage girl who always took up for him, "I love you," she said.

"I've always loved you."

I know," she said. "We need to talk. I'll make dinner, then later we'll

talk"