THE MOMENT
"Morning, Mom," Maxwell walked into the kitchen to find his mother, Debbie, sipping coffee at the table. She turned and smiled at him.
"Morning, honey! How was it?" she asked. She set her coffee down and stood before he answered. "Want some breakfast?"
"Please," he nodded as he took a seat by the table. "I got a promotion at work, I'm a manager now!" he said.
"Aww that's fantastic," Debbie smiled at him with pride. "My baby boy's all grown up," she giggled, then focused on preparing his meal.
"AND....," he stressed the word to get her attention. She looked back at him.
"Annnnd..?" she asked.
"A new company appeared; they came from...," he paused for effect. "...an alternate universe," he said. Debbie gasped and rushed to the table.
"Really?" she asked. Maxwell nodded.
"Chroma Corp. has branches on hundreds of thousands of Earths, they claim... I'm going to try and see if I can meet with anyone that might know something about me....," he gestured at himself with a shrug.
"Oh honey... that's exciting... I think."
"You think?" Maxwell was a little surprised his mother wasn't more excited.
"You know I want you happy and safe...," she touched his shoulder with love, then returned to the counter. "It's just... it took a lot for me to get used to this dynamic. I'm worried about it changing. I'll lose my baby...,"
"Mom, you know I'll always be your baby boy, no matter what I look like," he said.
"I know...," she sighed as she mixed the ingredients. "...I'm just not as quick to adapt as you are; I will though," she said. She knew she had to let him go and grow up into a self-sufficient, responsible man. Unfortunately, his condition made it feel a lot sooner than she was ready for. The only thing she could do was try and be a good mother every day that he was there.
"I know," Maxwell nodded. "Besides, who knows how it'll work out, or if they can even help me at all. Right now all I'm hoping for is maybe they can find a way to connect this Earth to the other one; everyone at work really wants to meet you," he said.
"You talk about me at work?" Debbie asked.
"Of course! You're the best mom ever," he answered.
"Thanks," she smiled as she finished with his breakfast and took it to the table.
"And have you told them anything else about your life over here?" she asked and set down his meal.
"Not much...," Maxwell shook his head. He raised his arms but couldn't quite reach it.
"Sorry," Debbie chuckled as she moved the bottle closer to his tiny hands.
"It's okay," Maxwell smiled as he gripped the bottle with both hands. He brought the nipple up to his mouth but finished his thought before he began drinking. "I wouldn't even know how to tell them I'm only three weeks old over here."