I sat down next to her, deciding not to cede control of the best view of the TV. Figuring she’d fall asleep in a few minutes, I leaned back and started up the movie again. Mom took a bite of the pizza and drank some soda. Then she turned her attention to the screen.
“What are we watchin’?” she said, slurring her speech a bit.
“Justice League.”
“Cool… isn’t that an old movie? I thought…”
“Yeah, it came out a while ago but this is a new version.”
“Okay…”
I did think it was kinda cool that mom knew about superhero movies. One of the side effects of having a mother who was this young, I guess. Sitting there next to me, she started watching the movie properly – even though she was three hours late to the party. I wasn’t a huge fan of talking during movies, though.
“I love Wonderwoman, she’s so beautiful… and Aquaman… he’s so hot…” she said.
She put her hand on my thigh. I didn’t think anything of it at first. Mom and I touched each other all the time, hugging and kissing like family members normally do. She moved her hand up and down for a while, stroking me casually while the movie played. Eventually, she looked over at me.
“Can you get me another drink?” she asked, still slurring.
“Sure.”
I leaned across the table to refill her glass when she stopped me.
“No, a real drink – a brandy? Or scotch?”
“Oh… uh… all right…” I replied with a sigh.
She didn’t really need any more alcohol, but she wasn’t completely hammered, so I thought one more couldn’t hurt too much.
I stood up and went to the liquor cabinet, pouring a glass of her favorite whiskey. Not too much, but not a ridiculously small amount either. I brought it over to her, and she tapped her toes excitedly on the floor as I gave it to her.
“Thank yoooou, babe!”
“No problem.”
“I love you sooo much.”
“Love you too, mom.”
She downed the drink in one – I didn’t even have time to sit down. Then she held out the glass and looked at me with her beautiful doe eyes.
“More, please?”
“Moooom… I wanna watch the movie.” I objected.
“Just one! Last one, I promise…”
“All right…”
I got her another one and made sure she didn’t throw it back right away. I sat down beside her and resumed movie night, giving her the glass and letting her enjoy her drink. She drank it a bit slower this time, putting the glass on the table once she was done. Then she leaned over onto me and rested her head against my side.
“God, those men are so hot…” she mumbled, watching the actors on the screen.
She was right, of course, but it was still a bit weird hearing my mother talk like this. It was like hanging out at a party with a drunk party girl. Thinking about it, it was kinda cool that my mom was youthful like this… but it was also kind of strange.
The movie kept playing. I managed to get back into watching as mom stopped talking. Eventually, she put her feet up and lay down on the couch with her head in my lap. The movie was getting really exciting as it built towards the climactic final battle, and mom seemed to fall asleep, letting me watch it in peace.