“That was great!” Annie said when they left theatre C, then she laughed. “If I could pronounce the name, I would try and remember it when it comes out for sale.”

She and Arnold walked back up the hallway to see the theatre lobby was crowded and there were three people behind the concession stand to handle the crowd.

“It looks like we were lucky and just missed the afternoon rush.” Annie commented and they walked by the mass of people. They left the building and hopped into the car, then they drove around for a bit to wait for suppertime. About an hour before she thought the supper rush would happen, Annie pulled into a nice restaurant that she had found online. She had booked a table, just in case, and the two of them went inside.

“A table for Strickland.” Annie said to the host.

“Yes, right this way.” The man said and led them over to a small table at the side of the room. “I'll send the waitress right over.”

“Thank you.” Annie said and they sat down. “I booked ahead in case it was busy.” She said. “I hope the food is as good as the reviews said.”

Arnold nodded, because he assumed she wanted a response. The waitress came over to them and delivered the menus as she gave them a quick rundown on the specials for the day.

“The fish fillets do sound good.” Annie said and browsed the menu. “Is it a platter or do I have to order french fries separately?”

“It's a huge platter.” The waitress said and held her hands over a foot and a half apart. “Believe me, you get your money's worth.”

Annie chuckled. “All right, you convinced me. A fish fillet platter for me.” She looked at Arnold. “Any preferences?”

“If the platter is that big, we should share it.” Arnold said.

Aw, that's so romantic. The waitress thought and did her best to not gush about it.

“That's a good point.” Annie said and looked at the back of the menu. “Um... in case that not enough, let's get a nice appetizer.” She said. “Potato skins or nachos?”

“Nachos help make friends.” Arnold said and Annie laughed.

“Nachos it is.” Annie said and nodded to the waitress.

“Anything to drink?” The waitress asked as she took the menus back.

“We had soda at the theatre, so we should stick with just water for the meal.” Annie said and Arnold nodded.

“I'll be back with your appetizer in a few minutes.” The waitress gave them a huge smile and left.

“Arnold, I wanted to talk to you about Kelly.” Annie said without any preamble or building up to it.

“Okay.” Arnold said.

“I know you won't ask her to be your girlfriend; but, will you be willing to date her?” Annie asked. “I'm sure she misses you a lot.”

“Did she move back into the house yet?” Arnold asked.

“No.” Annie said, sadness in her voice. “Her parents aren't taking her being hurt... or her plans for moving in with you... very well.”

“Are they going to arrange a new living space for her?” Arnold asked.

Before Annie could respond, the waitress came over with their nachos and cheese. “There you go.”

“Thank you.” Annie said and the waitress left. “Arnold, they have a month to try and find another place for her; but, I'm only pretty sure they are not going to be successful.” She reached across the table and took his hand. “If Kelly does end up not living with you, are you going to be okay with that?”

Arnold thought about that. “You won't have someone there to look after me.”

Annie sighed. “Yes, that's one of the main downsides.”

“We don't know anyone else you trust that can take her place.” Arnold said.

“No, and we won't know if she's going to be staying in your room with you until registration.” Annie said and squeezed his hand. “That means we have a month to wait and see if you're going to be all alone at college.”

Arnold nodded and ate one of the nachos. Annie took the cue to stop talking about it and ate one, too. She didn't let his hand go as they picked at the nachos, then their main course arrived and she let go. They ate the fish and fries and they were quite good, so Annie's mood improved as the food disappeared. Arnold had been right and the two of them barely finished eating the large platter.

Annie sat back and looked at her son and smiled, then waved to the waitress. A few minutes later, she came out carrying an elaborately decorated birthday cake and two other waitresses walked behind her. They gathered around the table and sang a very subdued version of 'Happy Birthday' for Arnold, then they put the cake down and left.

“Make a wish and blow the candles out.” Annie whispered.

Arnold closed his eyes and blew out the candles. When he opened his eyes, there was a large wooden box in front of him. He looked at his mother with wide eyes.

“Go ahead and open it.” Annie said.

Arnold popped the clasp and opened the wooden lid. His mouth opened slightly in surprise at what was inside.

“I talked to Professor Crenslav and he said that this was the best and most extensive tool set for a dissection specialist.” Annie said, her face slightly red, because she had gotten exactly the response from him that she wanted.

“Mom.” Arnold whispered and resisted the urge to rub his fingers over all of the gleaming tools inside the box. He stood up and went to her side of the table. “Thank you.” He said and bent down to give her a kiss. He only held it for three seconds and didn't move his lips, because of his bruise, despite her deserving to be kissed properly. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Annie said, her face bright red, because that wasn't a response she had expected.

Arnold went back to his seat and sat down, then stared at the contents of the box. After a few minutes, he closed it and hooked the clasp, then he smiled at her.

“I think we can skip cutting the cake for now and take it back to the dorm.” Annie said.

“Okay.” Arnold said and waved to the waitress. She brought over a cardboard box for the cake and gave Arnold the check. He took out enough money for the meal, did the math in his head, and took out some more money. Annie motioned at the cake and subtly pointed upwards and he nodded. He showed her how much he was going to tip and she nodded, so he kept them separate and handed the bill with the money on it to the waitress, then he held out her tip in the other hand.

“Oh! Thank you very much, sir!” The waitress said. “I'm very happy that you enjoyed the food.” She packed the cake in the box for them and handed it to Arnold. “I hope you come back to eat here again.”

Arnold looked at his mother, who shrugged, so he didn't say anything. They left the restaurant and climbed back into the car with the cake and the wooden box in the back seat, and drove back to the college. They parked and went inside, saw Doris was busy, then rode the elevator up to the top floor. A couple of the girls were a little bolder this time and said hello to both Annie and Arnold, who said hello back and walked by and went to Arnold's dorm room.

Not surprisingly, the girls were all curious as to what was in the two boxes that Arnold carried. None of them had the nerve to ask, however. Janet would have asked if she was there, though. She was actually out having supper with Pam at a fast food place and was hearing about Arnold and Annie going to the movies together.

Arnold and Annie settled into the dorm room and closed the door, which meant none of the girls in the hallway were going to see what was in either box, or see Arnold change for bed. They understood that it was because he had his mother there and that he wasn't going to be giving them the show that they normally expected to see every day.

Annie put the cake in the refrigerator and then watched Arnold read from a very thick chemistry book. She was surprised when she took a peek at it, because she couldn't make sense of it at all and she wondered how much smarter her son was than her now. She dismissed that thought and waited for the right time to tell him to go to bed, then they changed out of their casual outfits and into their sleep clothes.

Arnold climbed into his bed under the blanket and Annie climbed into the other bed. They both laid there for several minutes and didn't say anything, then Annie rolled over and looked at her son. He was already staring at her and she chuckled.

“All right, get over here.” Annie said and Arnold left his bed and slid into hers. “We haven't cuddled since that time we stayed at Kelly's place in the spare room.” She said and rolled over to face the other way, so that the sore side of Arnold's face would be facing up and not be against the pillow. Arnold cuddled in as he put his arm around her waist and rested his forehead on the back of her neck. His hot breath felt great against her skin and they both relaxed.

“I love you, Mom.” Arnold said.

“I love you, too.” Annie said, then the both of them drifted off to sleep.

*

Janet stayed out and hung out at the theatre with Pam, since it was pretty empty between movie showings, and the two of them left when Pam's shift was done and went back to the college campus.

“At least you didn't have a late night showing this time.” Janet said as the car pulled into the parking lot and stopped at Pam's space. “Even just hanging around made me tired!”

“You should have seen it this afternoon.” Pam laughed and turned the car off. “It was a madhouse!”

“I can imagine.” Janet said and lifted out a plastic bag full of popcorn. “There's was almost nothing left in the popcorn machine.”

Pam shook her head and held the dorm building's front door open. “I still can't believe you can eat so much of that and not get sick of it.”

“I wasn't the one that took the manager's offer to eat as much of it as I wanted on the first day of work!”

“Making me sick of it worked like a charm.” Pam said and waved at Doris as they walked by her. “I can make it and serve it like an expert; but, I'll be damned if I'll put any more of it in my mouth.”

Janet laughed and pushed the elevator button. “At least you still like the smell.”

“Thank god for small favors.” Pam said as the elevator doors opened. “Can you imagine working there and not liking the smell? The carpets are soaked through with it!”

Janet laughed again and they stepped into the elevator. “I always wondered why the floor felt so squishy.”

“At least it's not sticky.” Pam said. “I've lost count of how many spilled cups of soda I've cleaned up since I started working there.”

“Shouldn't someone be keeping track of things like that?” Janet asked. “Maybe I'll mention it to Mark the next time I see him.”

“Don't you dare give that anal nerd any ideas!” Pam said accusingly and Janet laughed. The elevator doors opened and they stepped out to see most of the doors were open, except for Arnold's. They didn't stop and ask anyone why that was, since they just assumed it was because he had his mother over.

They went to their room and went inside, then followed Arnold's example and shut their door. Pam took a shower after a long day of work and changed for bed, then settled down in bed and sighed.

“That was really nice of him to do that for you.” Janet said from her bed.

“It really was.” Pam said.

“Pam.” Janet turned over to look at her friend. “I had sex with Arnold.”

“I know.” Pam said.

“How did you find out?” Janet asked.

“You've been acting guilty all week and you just spent the better part of six hours hanging out with me at work for no reason.” Pam said. “Either you were going to kick me out of the room or you slept with the guy I told you to take your shot with.”

Janet sighed. “Pam, it felt great, but... it was all me and I pretty much just pleased myself... a lot.”

“He said you'd do it again when he was better?” Pam asked and Janet nodded. “I hope it's as good as you hope it's going to be.”

“I know it's going to be better.” Janet said. “Just look at how he masturbates when given a chance.”

Pam nodded. That had definitely been a surprise for the both of them.

“I want you to try and sleep with him before I do.” Janet said.

“Janet...”

“No, let me explain.” Janet said and then told her that she wouldn't have had the guts to do what she did if it wasn't for her encouragement. She also wouldn't have had the chance at all if Pam and Arnold hadn't had their argument. In fact, it should have been Pam in the backseat of the car that day after lunch.

“But, it wasn't me. It was you.” Pam smiled sadly. “I'm glad you took my advice and didn't miss your chance with him.”

“That's what I'm trying to tell you. I think... No, I'm sure that he only skipped over you.”

“Janet, you can't seriously think that...”

“We can't do anything while his mother's here, so we don't have to discuss it until tomorrow night.” Janet said. “Then we can work out how to get you with him.”

Pam sighed. “You're not going to let this go, are you?”

“Pam, I tried to... um...” Janet's face flushed red. “I couldn't... swallow it.”

Pam blinked her eyes for a few seconds as she absorbed that little bit of information. “Okay. Wow.”

“Yeah.” Janet said. “He didn't get upset about it, thank god.”

“Why would he? You tried.” Pam said. “Then again, you didn't make a big mess or anything, did you?”

Janet shook her head. “I made it to the bathroom in time and didn't spit it out on him or the floor.”

Pam closed her mouth and tried to hold in her laugh. She only managed it for a few seconds and then laughed.

“It's not funny.” Janet said.

“I was just imagining you spitting it all over him. Hey, Arnold! You can have this back! Ha ha!” Pam laughed and Janet had to laugh, too.

The laughter died out eventually and they were quiet for a few minutes.

“Janet?” Pam said into the silence.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for making me feel better.”

“You're welcome.” Janet smiled. “Now go to sleep and imagine that Arnold's dick is wrecking you.”

“Great! Now I can't sleep!” Pam exclaimed and they both laughed again.