Chapter Fourteen.

Arnold got back home in time to see his mother putting his son to sleep.

She always helped look after Frederick whenever he was out of the house to work or do other important things. 

His mother almost lives with him now, because she is present most days of the week to babysit her grandson. 

When Arnold got close enough to his mother in the living room, he lowered himself to greet with a peck and he whispered in order not to wake up his sleeping son.

'Thanks for watching him.'

'You don't have to say thank you, son. I will do anything for you and my grandson.' Lisa muttered lowly too, because of sleeping Frederick. 

'Did you get the transfer letter?' She asked almost immediately 

'Yes, I picked it up at the post office already.' Arnold replied and lifted his body back upright.

'Frederick starts school on Monday.' He added and Lisa smiled 

'That is amazing.' She said.

'Are you sure you don't want him staying with your father and I, instead?' She asked and Arnold gave a disapproving look.

'I will take good care of him and you know that.' She added when she saw the look on her son's face. 

'I know, mom. But I want to do this by myself.' Arnold muttered and headed to the refrigerator by the kitchenette. 

'I want to take care of Freddie myself, mom.' He added. 

Then Lisa got up from the sofa and followed him as he walked the fridge.

She placed her hand on his shoulder when she got close enough and said.

'Arnold, you know I will be the very last person to doubt your ability to raise your son.'

'But the work load is overwhelming you, I can see that.' She added.

'You just got out of your marriage to Lori and relocated back here to start a life with your son, and I know perfectly how tough settling in a new environment can be.' She went on

'This is not a new environment, I have lived here before.' Arnold countered as he reached for the refrigerator door handle.

'I know, but you also haven't been here in more than a decade.' Lisa persisted.

'And you just joined your brothers at work. You take care of your home and Freddie too all by yourself.' She went on

'I just want to help you out with him, so you can have more time to put yourself together and also be in the right frame of mind before taking up the responsibility of raising your son alone.' She added and withdrew her hand from his shoulder. 

'I understand you, mom. And I am in my right frame of mind.' Arnold said and turned to face her.

'But, if Freddie stays with you what happens to his school?' He asked.

'The new school is about three miles away from town and I can not burden you.' He added. 

'Come on, Arnold. Freddie is no burden to me.' Lisa protested. 

'I know.' Arnold whispered.

'I also know you just want to help out.' He said audibly.

'But, I will really love to take care of Freddie myself. He is my responsibility now.' He added.

'Fine.' Lisa gave in.

She knows how stubborn Arnold can be.

He was not going to change his mind no matter how hard she tried, and she completely understood where he was coming from.

Freddie is the only good thing happening in her son's life right now.

In as much as Arnold hardly ever talks about it, she knows only his son keeps him going each day.

Arnold is staying strong only for Frederick's sake, because she knew her son well enough to know that he wasn't living off his own strength.

Judging by how he reacted after Lina left him and he had no one to fall back to, he misbehaved and turned into someone else entirely.

And somehow, he found Lori and she got pregnant.

That called him to order as he was going to be responsible for a person. 

But, the divorce was something Lisa feared was going to break her son.

And somehow he has handled it well.

'Just so you don't miss him too much, I promise to bring him over to yours every weekend.' Arnold said to comfort her.

'Really, son?' Lisa blurted all lightened up. 

'Of course, you missed out on 10 years of his life already and I wouldn't deprive you of having as much fun as you want with your grandson.' Arnold replied, wrapping his arm around his mother's shoulders. 

Then he opened the refrigerator eventually and grabbed a bottle of soda from it, closed the fridge and walked back into the living room area with his mom.

He opened his bottle of soda with an opener and started to take a few gulps directly from the bottle after they both took a seat by the front window.

'So, I heard Crystalina is back in the country side.' Lisa blurted and Arnold almost choked on his drink.

'Careful, son.' She said as Arnold coughed. 

'Thanks, mom.' He said to her after his coughs subsided.

'Should I get you some water?' Lisa asked.

'I'm fine, mom.' Arnold replied.

'Okay??' Lisa hesitated before going back to the conversation she started.

'So, you know Crystalina is in town?' She asked hoping her son was going to talk about it.

'Yeah, she just buried her grandmother.' Arnold replied. 

'How did you know this, though?' He asked. 

'Matt told me.' Lisa replied. 

'That's big mouth.' Arnold scoffed.

'Don't troll your brother, Arnold.' Lisa chuckled. 

'Certainly not.' Arnold muttered.

He knew better than troll Lisa's last child.

Matt was her favourite son.

'He also told me you attended the funeral. Did you see her?' Lisa's question brought Arnold's mind back to the fact that his mother was not going to stop.

'I didn't exactly attend the funeral, but I went to the wake to give my condolences.' Arnold replied. 

'Poor girl. She was so close to Melina that people thought she was her last daughter.' Lisa said.

'She sure was.' Arnold muttered. 

'Is she still in Bentonville?' Lisa asked.

'Yes, I ran into her at the post office today.' Arnold replied. 

'You did?' Lisa said almost squealing like a teenage girl while Arnold nodded. 

'Uhmmmm.' Lisa hummed and Arnold regretted ever telling her that he'd seen Lina again.

'You ran into her!?' Lisa teased with a mischievous smirk. 

'Yes, mom. I ran into her but I promise it was mere coincidence.' Arnold blurted. 

'Ookay, I'm not saying that it wasn't.' Lisa said.

'Although, what I am sayin...' She was still speaking when Arnold got up from his seat.

'Oh, mom. I should quickly take a shower.' He said, interrupting her.

'You're staying for dinner, right?' He asked as he walked to his room.

Lisa should have known better that her son would always try to avoid any conversation about Lina.

He hardly spoke about her since their messy break up, but when he went over to her family to give his condolences on Melina's death, fully aware that Lina was also there, she thought Arnold finally let bygones be bygones. 

'No, it's a long trip back to town.' Lisa finally replied, loudly enough to wake up her grandson sleeping in the sofa. 

Then, suddenly she wrapped her hands around her mouth in realisation. 

But Frederick was deeply asleep already, and Lisa was thankful for that.

'Take care of my grandson, I'd be on my way.' She added.

'You're leaving, already.' Arnold uttered in awe and retraced his steps back to the hallway.

'Since, I can not drive a good conversation out of you, my own son. I better drive myself back to town in solitude.' Lisa said and Arnold knew that his mother was trying to blackmail him emotionally. 

'Alright then, mom. Good bye.' He said as he wasn't ready to have that conversation. 

'Unbelievable.' Lisa scoffed and grabbed her purse as her attempt to cajole her son to talk about Lina was futile. 

'Help yourself with the pizza in the microwave.' She added and walked out of the door.

'Thanks, mom.' Arnold sputtered, but the gently slam of the door by his mom served as his reply.

'Oookay.' He muttered and walked up to to his son who was still very much asleep. 

Arnold swung Frederick up in his arms calmly and took him to his room.

Then headed to his and walked right into the bathroom. 

Took off every layer of clothing and shove it in the laundry basket by the door and moved to the shower.

He turned the shower on and got under the running water.

As the cold shower washed down the sweat on his chiseled muscles and abs, his mind wandered back to Lina. 

She looked better today than she was the night of her grandmother's wake.

Her voice creeped back into his mind as well, as he thought about the talk they had at the post office. 

He hated the fact that he was an open book with her despite being apart for almost two decades. 

She was easy to talk to even after all these years and Arnold didn't like it.

He wouldn't even deny the fact that he was still upset with her for ghosting him and breaking up with him over the phone.

He also was not interested in trying to get closure for that.

Raising his son was his only priority at the moment.