It was just after midnight when Arnold woke up again. Somehow his mother had turned around to face him and her hand was gently resting on his neck. He put his own hand in the same spot on her neck and Annie mumbled something and her breathing sped up slightly. She eventually opened her eyes slightly to see that Arnold was staring at her.

“Arnold, what...” Annie blinked her eyes and opened them all the way. “What time is it?”

Arnold lifted his head to look at the alarm clock. “Twelve-thirty.” He said and put his head back down.

“Are you hungry?” Annie asked at the same time that her own belly rumbled, then she chuckled. “Make that, I'm going to eat, you should probably eat, too.”

Arnold gave her a small smile and nodded. They both climbed out of bed and Annie turned the oven back on. After twenty minutes, it was ready again and she took it out. She did up plates for herself and him, conservative of the contents, considering that they needed to go back to bed to get up in the morning. They ate at a slow pace for the same reason and then cleaned the dishes when they were done.

Annie finally noticed that the room door was still open and went over to shut it. She saw that a few others were still open, one of which was Janet's, and she was both curious and concerned.

Is she still up this late? Annie asked herself and walked over to the door and peeked in, only to see both Janet and Pam at their desks. I think it's time for some mom intervention. She thought and went back to Arnold's room and did up two plates of food, which used up most of the remains of what she had cooked, then added silverware and went back to Janet's and Pam's room. “Food break.”

“Ah!” Both girls jumped at the sudden unknown voice in the middle of their room.

Annie chuckled. “I didn't mean to scare you.” She said and held out the two plates of food. “Mark your spots, close the books, and eat.”

Janet looked at Pam and back at Annie. “Annie, um... well...”

“I can tell you both missed supper like Arnold and I did.” Annie said. “We just ate, so it's still hot. Come on. Take it and eat it. That's an order.”

Janet sighed as she marked her place and closed her book, then took the plate.

“That's a good girl.” Annie said and pat the top of her head, which made Janet laugh.

“Thanks, I think.” Janet said and started to eat. “This is really good!”

“It always tastes better when you're hungry.” Annie said with a smile and looked at Pam. “Hurry up and take it or I'll start feeding it to you.”

Pam chuckled and closed her books, took the plate and started eating, too. Annie stood there and made sure they both finished, then took the plates and silverware back.

“Now sit there for ten minutes to digest it, then get back to work.” Annie said.

Both young women stared at her.

“You're not going to tell us to put everything away and go to bed?” Janet asked, surprised.

“I could tell you that. I could also tell you that you're going to be exhausted tomorrow if you stay up too late.” Annie gave them another smile. “Or I could encourage you to hurry up with your schoolwork and get some sleep before you need to get up in the morning.”

“What one are you going to do?” Pam asked, curious.

“None of them. I'm going to get changed and go back to bed.” Annie said and walked away, to their surprise. She thought she heard the two of them laugh and she smiled as she went back to Arnold's room. She shut the door and put the plates in the sink, then saw that Arnold had already changed for bed. “Did you set the alarm back to the right time for the morning?”

Arnold nodded. “I can shower, get dressed, eat, and be at work to prep the lab fifteen minutes before class starts.”

Annie nodded back and changed into her sleep clothes. Almost as if her body had been waiting for the change, she felt exhaustion hit her again and yawned. “I'll shower and head out in the morning, too.”

Arnold walked over to her and hugged her. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too.” Annie said and gave him a quick kiss. “We need to get to bed.”

Arnold let her go and climbed into the second bed and Annie chuckled.

“You're not sick of cuddling me yet?” Annie asked and he shook his head. She climbed into bed and laid down on the proper side to keep his bruise off of the pillow.

“Don't you want to cuddle, too?” Arnold asked as he slid in close and put an arm around her.

“Arnold, I...” Annie thought about telling him no, then couldn't. If there was one thing she always tried to do, it was to give him what he asked for. The only problem she had was that she wanted it, too. “I will always want to hold and cuddle my smart little boy.”

“I'm big now.” Arnold said and pressed his forehead into the back of her neck. He let out a long sigh and his hot breath rolled down her spine. Rather than give her a shiver of discomfort, Annie felt even more comfortable and hugged his arm tightly.

“You could be ten feet tall and ten feet around, and you will still be my little boy.” Annie said.

“I'd need surgery and bone grafts to stretch my legs out by four feet.” Arnold said. “I couldn't be ten feet around, though. The human body can't support that massive amount of weight, unless they remained suspended in water or some other buoyant fluid. Then I'd only have to worry about my organs crushing each other under their own weight.”

Annie chuckled. “As reasonable and a little disgustingly as you've explained my comment, please don't try to do anything like that. I love you just the way you are.”

“I love you just the way you are, too.” Arnold said.

Annie laid there and let those words wash over her. “Arnold, I... I should tell you... most mothers don't cuddle their sons like this in bed.”

“Do you want me to stop?” Arnold asked.

“God, no.” Annie said and gripped his arm tightly before he tried to move away from her. “I love you too much to let you go.” She said and then sighed. “It's lonely at the house without you there.”

“It's lonely without you or Kelly here.” Arnold said.

“I'm going to try and fix that, if I can.” Annie said and turned her head to look back at him. “I can't promise that I can, only that I'll try.”

“Thank you.” Arnold said and gave her a quick kiss. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Annie said and faced forward. She felt Arnold's breath slow down and even out, which meant that he was going to sleep. She laid there for quite some time before sleep claimed her, too.

*

Doris laid in bed and she still couldn't believe what Arnold had said. Her mind raced and built various scenarios where she would be able to finally have him. It wasn't something that she was accustomed to doing, plotting to sleep with someone, and she tried hard to ignore the possibilities... and the ramifications.

She knew there could never be any kind of relationship with him, not with his current life path and how busy he was going to be. She went over everything she knew and couldn't help but find spots in their schedules where they would be able to get together. She wanted to show him everything she knew about sex and wanted him to make her feel like a desirable woman again.

Doris shook her head at that thought. She knew she was preying on his good nature, especially considering what they had already done together. She felt both guilty and privileged to have had it happen. The temptation he had been before was intoxicating when he had his restrictions. Now with those restrictions removed, she wasn't sure how to describe him anymore.

She also didn't know what she was going to do.

Doris had been able to restrain herself for the most part, because of his restrictions and his schedule. She hadn't even kissed him in a while and that was both a blessing and a curse. He was a great kisser and he didn't hold back when he did it, despite her age and who she was. It was rare for her to meet someone that didn't look at her skin color and say stupid things like, 'I'm with a black woman' or that they were getting a taste of her 'dark chocolate'.

She almost laughed at that last one. She was a woman, not a piece of candy. She shook her head and rolled over in bed. She wasn't horny at all as she thought about the conundrum she was in. She had heard the stories about what Annie had said in the cafeteria to her daughter. Cissily never told her herself, which meant she couldn't act on it directly or show her daughter that she knew what had happened... or that she was on her side.

Doris sighed at the problem, because she was essentially going to do an end-run around Annie to get at her son. She was pretty sure that she would have a talk with Arnold about it and about how he should treat Cissily, then her mind derailed and wanted to ignore it completely. It was just too much of a mess for her to handle, especially if she couldn't confront Annie directly about it.

She also didn't want to ruin her own relationship with Arnold over it. They were going to be seeing each other at the dorm for years, several times every day, and the last thing she needed was to have any animosity between them. She was sure that she could smooth over the rough patch between Cissily and Arnold over time, especially since Annie said that they could still be friends.

Anything can build on friendship as the base. Doris thought with a slight nod and closed her eyes. It was going to be another long day tomorrow if she didn't get enough sleep. She thought about taking a sleeping pill, then decided not to. She didn't have a solid eight hours before she had to get up and she didn't want to miss being there in the morning for all the girls at the dorm. She really liked her job and fell asleep with that thought occupying her mind.

*

Arnold woke up when the alarm sounded and had to let his mother go to turn it off. He saw the time and did exactly like he told Annie he would do. He showered, dressed, ate a bowl of cereal, and went to the door. He stopped before he opened it and went back to the bed his mother was still asleep in.

“I have to go to work.” Arnold whispered.

“Hmm?” Annie rolled onto her back and pat the bed beside her where he was supposed to be. “Huh?” Her hand moved comically as she frantically tried to find where the voice came from.

Arnold touched her hand and she gripped his hand tightly, then she relaxed.

“Don't... leave.” Annie said, barely above a whisper and still half asleep.

“I have to.” Arnold said and a tear came to Annie's eye. “Don't cry.”

“I can't help it.” Annie said and let his hand go as she rolled back onto her side and buried her face into the pillow. “I miss you.”

Arnold pet her head and Annie let out a soft sob. He put his hand on her shoulder and moved her back onto her back. She still had her eyes closed, so he leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

“Goodbye.” Arnold said.

“Good... bye.” Annie responded and took in a shallow breath as a tear dropped from her eye, then she sighed and her head turned slightly to the side and she went back to sleep.

Arnold put the blanket back over her and left the dorm room. He closed the door and was greeted warmly by everyone in the hallway.

“Good morning!” “Hi!” “I hope you slept well!”

Arnold stopped at Janet's open door, because she was almost always out at this time. He looked in and saw that both she and Pam were still in bed. He walked into their room and went to their alarm and saw that it had gone off and they had slept right through it.

“Janet.” Arnold said and shook her by the shoulder.

“Hmm... wha...” Janet opened her eyes a little and saw Arnold hovering over her. “Kiss me.”

Arnold leaned down and gave her a kiss for several seconds. “You're going to be late.”

“I'm... already... in class.” Janet mumbled and closed her eyes for a second, then her eyes snapped open. “You're not in my class!”

“No.” Arnold stood up straight. “It's seven fifteen.”

“Goddammit!” Janet nearly yelled as she sat up. “PAM! We overslept!”

“Huh? Wha... you're too... loud.” Pam groaned from her bed and rolled over to face the other way.

“Arnold! Wake her up!” Janet ordered and hopped out of bed.

“Arn...” Pam started to say when Arnold rolled her over onto her back. Her mouth was open slightly and he kissed her for several seconds. Her arms went around his neck and held him tightly as she kissed him back.

“That's enough, Pam! Get dressed!” Janet said and pulled off her clothes. “We don't even have time to wash our hair, let alone shower!”

Pam broke the kiss and stared at Arnold for a moment. “What a way to wake up.”

“PAM!” Janet yelled.

“Okay, okay.” Pam said and let Arnold go, then she got out of bed. “Ugh, I'm exhausted.”

“Annie warned us.” Janet said and pulled on a fresh pair of panties and clipped her bra in place. “We'll make it to class and have just enough time to brush our hair beforehand. That's it.”

Pam pulled off her jogging pants and underwear, then her sports bra. She did the same thing as Janet and grabbed a fresh pair of underwear and a normal bra. “I hate not showering first.”

“No time.” Janet said and pulled on a pair of jeans and grabbed a nice top that didn't need to be buttoned. She slipped it on over her head in a rush and it kind of got stuck. “Dammit!” She felt firm hands pull the top up slightly, put her arm into the right hole, then pull the top down over her.

Arnold tugged on it to make it straight and nodded.

“Thank you, Arnold.” Janet said and remembered the kiss he gave her to wake her up. She stepped close and gave him a proper kiss this time.

“You just made me stop doing that.” Pam chuckled as she pulled on a skirt. She already had a blouse on and buttoned it up.

Janet broke the kiss. “Arnold! You need to get to work!”

“I know.” Arnold said and started to walk away.

“Thanks for waking us up!” Pam said as he left the room.

“That really was nice of him.” Janet said and picked up her things.

“First his mom makes us eat and reminds us to go to bed, then he wakes us up.” Pam said. “I can't think of a better combo!”

“Grab your stuff and let's go!” Janet said and hung her purse over her shoulder.

“I thought you said we could brush our hair?” Pam asked and grabbed her things, too.

“That's after we get to class that's halfway across the campus! Let's go!” Janet said and they left their room in a rush. They rode the nearly empty elevator down to the ground floor and saw a disappointed and still unkissed Doris, waved to her, then they ran out of the building.

*

Arnold arrived at work and had the lab all set up properly, then just made it to his normal standing position as the lab workers came in. They all gave him a kind of glare, especially Cissily and Amy, then the professor came in.

“Another wonderful day for biology!” Hamil said loudly. “Let the fun begin.”

Everyone gave him an odd look, even Arnold, and he laughed.

“I had a better weekend than the rest of you, apparently.” Hamil said. “No matter. Here come my prized students.” He said as his main biology course students came in.

“You're too kind, Professor.” One of the girls said as she passed his desk, then the room was full and the class started.