Mother knows best

The yellow house remained noiseless as Jennie kept holding her breath in. "Jenn, are you okay? Your face looks red." Rose said with concern in her eyes.

Jennie opened her mouth and let out a faint sigh. She then took a deep breath. "I am all right, mom," Jennie replied. She felt better now that she had stopped suppressing her breath.

"I am glad that you are okay. As I was saying, do you have anything you want to tell me about why you are having all these insecurities? You know your husband is not cheating on you. So is there any other reason you have for thinking in this manner?" Rose continued asking her previous questions.

Jennie knew she could not get away from these interrogative sentences, and Rose was good at detecting lies. So, all she could do was tell the truth. "For the ten months I traveled out of the country, I was not having an affair with another man. I also did not cheat on my husband with another. Is that what you wanted to know?" Jennie replied.

"Maybe, You said you did not cheat on him within the ten months, but did you do it before the ten months?" Rose asked Jennie. She seemed speculative about how Jennie answered the early question.

At that moment, they overheard noises outside. "Beep! Beep..." A car kept blowing its honk. Next, they heard someone screaming. "Mom, your last born is here!" Rose jumped out of her seat, cheerfully. She could recognize that voice anywhere. Rose ran outside and saw Steven screaming as he got out of his car with a quiff hairstyle.

'Safe by the bell.' Jennie thought as she followed her mother-in-law. "My baby! Did you get a fresh haircut?" Rose asked as she embraced Steven. He clasped his hands around Rose. The affectionateness from her hug filled the hole in his heart that his birth mother had left.

"Yes, he did. He forced me to get multiple services from the salon, like eyebrow waxing and tweezing, Professional lowlights, Spa facials, Manicures and pedicures, body hair grooming, Teeth whitening and cleaning, Facial hair grooming, and more. The list is too long and annoying." Jackson replied as he approached them.

His face looked scowled, and his expression seemed stiff. Steven had him go to a beauty spa and allow those people to pluck him with various equipment, talking about how they want him to look more refined. Jackson knew it was Steven's means of getting back at him for the t-shirt incident. He reached out to his mother and kissed her on the cheek.

"Jackson, you should be appreciative that your brother wants to take extensive care of you and be there for you!" Rose said. Steven gave his friend a teasing expression as Jackson walked past him and approached Jennie.

"Okay, mom!" Jackson replied. He understood Steven could get away with mischievous behavior because he is a few months younger than him, and Rose considered Steven to be her last born. Jackson hugged his wife and kissed her. "How was everything when I was away?" He whispered to her.

Jennie tiptoes to reach Jackson's ear and mutters into it. "The day was all right." He kissed her on the forehead and smiled.

"Honk!" Their joyous moment was distracted by a taxi as it stopped at the Harper bakeshop. Julie got down, paid the cab driver, and when inside. She did not notice Jackson or his family. However, they did see her. Steven did not remove his gaze from Julie, even after she entered the bakery.

"Is everything okay, baby," Rose asked as she observed the sadness in Steven's eye. He gazed at her and did not know what to say. His heart hurt when he saw Julie's distressed appearance, but he did not want to worry Rose about petite stuff.

"I am fine, mom." He said with a fake smile, but Rose knew that it was not real. She had known Steven for ten years now and treated him like her own son. So just as Rose can tell when Jackson is lying, she could also do the same with Steven.

"Who is she?" Rose asked.

Jennie gazes at Steven, and he too looks at Jackson, who stares at their mother. "She is Julie, our neighbor's daughter." He replied.

Rose glanced at Jennie and folded her hand. "Oh, you mean the girl that your wife falsely accused you of having an affair with and slapped you in public for?" She replied in a sharp tone.

Jennie bent her head down embarrassingly. Jennie knew that she was in the wrong in this situation, yet she still wished that her mother-in-law did not call her out in that manner.

"Hold up! Jennie slapped Jackson? Bro, why did you not tell me?" Steven asked. He knew Jennie had changed, but that was a whole other level of transformation on her end. She had never raised her hand against her man before recent events. So Steven's concern was about why she started now?

"If you had not punched me, maybe I would have reached that part of the story!" Jackson answered carelessly before realizing that they swore not to talk about their fight in front of Rose. He got mad that his mom was pointing fingers at Jennie again.

"Steven, why did you hit your brother?" Rose screamed. She couldn't believe that her boys were in a fight, and she did not notice it. Now Rose knows why they pay a visit to the spa. She knew it was strange for Jackson to agree to go with Steven since he hates stuff like that. Rose knew that her son was more of a home self-care guy.

"Mom, he punched me too, and he also slapped me on the head!" Steven replied. 'Since we are letting the cats out of the bag, why not let it all out?' He thought to himself.

"Do you have something to say for yourself, boy?" Rose asked, staring at Jackson fiercely.

"No, madam!" He replied.

Rose grabbed both of their ears and pinched them. She yanked them hard by their ears until Steven's ear turned pink.

"AHH!" Jackson and Steven scream mutually.

"Hahaha!" Jennie laughed. She could not believe her husband and his friend could be this childish in front of her mother-in-law. Both in their thirties, but acting immature because of their mother.

"In the eyes of a parent, their child is always a kid, no matter how old that person becomes. I guess this saying is true by looking at you guys." Jennie said, giggling until her side hurt.