Toward the end of the movie I realized that Mom had fallen asleep on me. She wasn’t snoring, but her eyes were closed and her mouth hung partway open. I was amused to discover that she’d drooled a little bit on my shirt.
Somehow I managed to slip away from her without waking her up. I stopped the movie while the credits were rolling and turned off the TV. Then I turned back to my unconscious mother. I could wake her up so she could go to bed, but I felt kind of bad about the idea. It wasn’t really that far. There was a chance I could get her there without disturbing her rest.
I carefully picked Mom up in my arms without waking her. She was kind of awkward to carry, but I was able to manage okay. As I walked slowly down the hallway to her room, I felt her arms snake around my neck so she could help hold herself.
“Sorry, I tried not to wake you,” I said.
“That’s okay,” she said. “I shouldn’t have fallen asleep. It’s been a long time since I’ve been carried to bed. It’s kind of nice.”
I tried not to think about the implications of some other man carrying my mother to bed. I was sure it hadn’t been her intent to bring up that sort of topic.
We made it to her bed and I set her down. She hung onto me for a second before letting go. She was lying partly on top of her blanket, and I wasn’t sure whether I should help her get her bedding straightened out or just leave her to it.
“Well, good night,” I said.
Mom smiled. “Good night, sweetie. Try not to worry about that girl too much. You’ll find a better one some day.”
“I’m going to regret ever saying anything. I can sense it.”
“Sorry, honey. I wasn’t going to bring it up again. I just want you to be happy. That’s all. I want you to find someone who will love you as much as I do.”
“I think you’re tired and you need to go back to sleep.”
“M’not gonna argue with that.”
Mom lay her head back on her pillow with her eyes closed. I knew she wasn’t actually asleep, but it looked like she might not bother with getting herself under her covers properly. I sighed and reached over her to tug her blanket out from underneath her.
It took some work, but I managed to get Mom’s blanket and sheet unstuck. The extent of her help was to roll toward me slightly so that less of her body was in the way. I finally got her under her covers and ready for sleep. It was the first time I’d ever had to tuck her in. I smiled a little at the role reversal.
“Good night,” I said for the second time.
“Aren’t you going to read me a story?” Mom asked sleepily, just before bursting into a fit of quiet giggling.
“Ha ha. Very funny.”
I turned around and left the room. I slipped into my bed and got settled with much less effort than Mom had required. I closed my eyes and lay still for a while, hoping for unconsciousness to claim me. It didn’t work. Instead, I was forced to admit that I was kind of horny and probably needed to masturbate if I wanted to get to sleep any time in the near future.
My door was open and I had to climb out of bed for long enough to close it. I didn’t expect Mom to be wandering around any time soon, but there was no point in taking the risk. I lay back down with a box of tissues handy and started jerking off.