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Bo's Journey Home - Chapter 25 When Bo arrived at Nora’s that night, he knocked on the door, waiting. When no one seemed to hear him, he looked through the glass window of the front door. Seeing no one in the living room, he checked the door and found it unlocked. He heaved an annoyed sigh and let himself in. Nora never locked the door. He would have to get on her about that, again. As he walked through the living room, he heard their voices coming from the kitchen. “Things had changed,” Bo thought to himself. He and Nora had never eaten pizza in the kitchen. As he got to the kitchen door, he caught the last end of their conversation. He waited behind the door, listening to them.   “Mom?” Matthew called again. “Do you have a special bond with someone like the Chinese Proverb says? Did you ever save someone’s life? You know, like me and Harry?”   Nora pulled back from that memory of Bo on the ledge of the Banner building. “Um, it was a long time ago, Matthew. I don’t even think about it anymore,” she lied. “And I think my friend forgot all about it by now.”   Matthew shook his head. “I could never forget Harry. Do you think Harry would forget about me like your friend forgot about you?” Matthew asked, concerned.   Nora shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.” Nora looked at her watch, getting uncomfortable with the conversation. Talking about all of this was stirring up old feelings along with the pain that she couldn’t always control. She moved the subject away from saving lives. “I wonder what’s keeping Bo. Maybe I’ll go try and call him.” She stood and started out the swinging kitchen door.   Bo was still standing on the other side of her kitchen door. He had heard what she had said. Nora thought he had forgotten how she had saved his life; his soul really. That one moment had changed the course of his life forever and brought her to him. How could she think that he would forget that? Were things that different between them now? How did they get from where they had been - to the here and now? And better yet, how was he going to get them to where they needed to be? He was just about to push open the kitchen door when the door slammed into him.   “Ow!” Bo called, rubbing his forehead.   Nora peeked around the swinging door. “What are you doing skulking behind the door?”   Bo continued to rub his forehead. “I was just coming to join you two.”   Nora looked at him suspiciously. “How long have you been standing there? And how did you get in?”   Bo ignored the first part of her question. “The door was unlocked, again.” He gave her a warning look with his eyes with that comment. “So, are you going to let me in the kitchen?”   Nora stepped back from the door and Bo pushed it open, smiling at Matthew. “Hey buddy. Sorry I’m late,” he apologized. “Last minute problems at the police station.”   “Hi Bo,” Matthew greeted, relieved Bo had finally made it. “I’m just glad that you’re here now. But we started eating without you.”   Bo smiled, taking comfort in Matthew’s admission that he was glad Bo was there. Nora was still staring at Bo. “How long were you standing behind the door?” Nora asked him again.   Bo shrugged. “Not long.” He turned his attention back to Matthew. “Any pizza left?”   Matthew looked back and forth between his mother and Bo. Something weird was going on between them. So Matthew nodded at Bo with a smile. “We saved you one slice.”   Bo made a face at him before smiling. “Gee, thanks bud.”   Matthew chuckled as Bo sat down at the table across from him. Bo grabbed a slice of pizza from the pizza box. Nora continued to stare at Bo. “So just how much of our conversation did you hear?” she asked him, going to the kitchen cabinet and pulling down a glass, filling it with ice and pouring some root beer into it.   “Not much,” he lied. And then he added softly. “At least I didn’t hear anything I didn’t all ready know.” He turned and looked at Matthew. “So, you told your mom about Harry?” Matthew nodded. “I’m glad, son. And I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you told her. She wasn’t too mad, was she?”   Before Matthew could respond, Nora banged down the glass of root beer in front of Bo, a little louder than she had wanted, some of the contents spilling out. Bo had heard their conversation and she was annoyed. Bo and Matthew looked up at her.   “Something wrong, Nora?” Bo asked.   “No, not a thing,” she answered, part sarcastically, part angrily.   Bo looked back at Matthew. “I guess she’s mad,” he whispered loudly.   Matthew shrugged, whispering back softly. “Yeah, but at who? You or me?”   Bo shrugged back at Matthew, looking to where Nora had just disappeared, continuing to eat the pizza, sipping at the root beer she had poured him. He was tempted to follow her but thought better of it. Nora walked into the pantry closet, lingering there. She had gone to get napkins but also to remove herself from both of them. She needed space from both of them all of a sudden. She knew Bo had heard what she had said to Matthew. He could have at least admitted that.   She took a deep breath. Every time she allowed herself to go back to their past, recent or distant, she couldn’t control her emotions. And lately, their past had been up front and in her face. Every mistake, every sin, every word she had ever uttered wrong between them had seemed to be thrown right back at her. It was as if their entire past had been her fault. “What if she had never walked into his house that night with Sarah’s will?” she thought to herself. “What if?” she thought again. But she had, and her future had been sealed. Bo was the one; her soul mate. And she had thrown it all away with one careless act. And now she was alone, except for Matthew. She took a few more deep breaths and then returned from the pantry closet with more napkins, quickly wiping the spill she had caused.   Bo looked up at her. She seemed rattled. “Nora, are you all right?”   She gave him her best fake smile. “Sure. I’m fine.” She looked at Matthew. “Are you finished here?”   Matthew nodded, looking at her. “Mom, are you mad?”   Nora shook her head, gently touching his cheek. “No, sweetheart. I’m fine. Just no more walking off with strangers, okay?”   Matthew nodded, looking over at Bo. Bo was still staring at Nora. He knew her well enough to know when she was doing avoidance. “Is that what’s really wrong? Matthew telling you about Harry?”   Nora’s back was to them as she tossed the paper plates and napkins into the trash. “Well, it certainly didn’t thrill me to hear my son tell me he went off with some stranger after falling into the river and nearly drowning. So, if I’m a little rattled, forgive me.” She turned to Matthew, trying to distract herself and them from her raw emotions. Their past was like an open wound for her, and the pain of it was overwhelming her again and she was finding it hard to breathe. “Besides, this dinner was Matthew’s invitation. So what’s going on, Matthew? We’re both here now. Talk to us.”   Bo was forced to turn his attention away from Nora to look at his son. Matthew squirmed a little in his chair. He knew they were both there because he had asked them, telling them he needed to talk to both of them; that he had something to say. Matthew knew what he wanted from them, what he needed from them. He had to convince them it was what they needed as well. But now that their attention was on him, his courage to tell them started to waver. He tried to stall for time. “Maybe we can go into the living room,” Matthew said, standing and leaving the kitchen quickly.   Bo looked at Nora who shrugged her shoulders and followed her son. Bo pushed himself from the table and went to join them. Nora was sitting on the sofa; Matthew was sitting on the coffee table in front of her. Bo joined Nora on the sofa, looking at his son. Matthew seemed nervous.   “Matthew, what’s going on?” Bo asked gently. “You can tell us anything.”   Matthew looked from Bo to Nora before standing and moving away from them. He paced the length of the coffee table a few times before he stopped and faced them both again. “I’ve been thinking about everything you said.” He looked from Nora to Bo. “Both of you.” Nora spoke first. “Are you okay?”   Matthew shrugged, nodding slightly. “I still don’t understand everything that happened between you and Bo, why he wasn’t my father from the beginning.”   Nora spoke to him gently. “What can we do to help you?”   Matthew heaved a sigh, looking at Bo. “I know I’ll never understand about you leaving before.” Bo attempted to speak, to try and reassure him but Matthew stopped him, cutting him off. “Wait. Let me finish.” Bo stopped and Matthew continued. “We had a deal, you and me. And I’ve thought about it. And I want you to be my father. I don’t want you to leave me again.” Bo heaved a sigh of relief and Matthew continued. “But I don’t want it to be like tonight.”   Bo and Nora were both confused. “What do you mean?” Bo asked.   “Not knowing when I’m going to see you.” Matthew tried to explain. “Like tonight. I was worried that you weren’t coming.”   Nora spoke before Bo. “Honey, Bo said he would be here.”   Matthew shrugged, looking at his mother. “But what if work kept him?” He turned to Bo. “What if something came up? When would I see you again?”   Bo looked at Matthew. “What are you trying to say, Matthew?”   Matthew took a deep breath. “I want to make a new deal with you.” He looked over at his mother. “With both of you.”   “What kind of deal?” Bo asked.   Matthew let his feelings come out quickly. “I want a real family, with a father that helps me with my homework after dinner, and plays catch with me and and tucks me into bed, and does all the things a real father is supposed to do.”   Bo nodded. “I can do all of those things, Matthew.”   Matthew disagreed with him. “No you can’t,” he paused, before adding, “Unless.”   Nora jumped in, continuing Matthew’s thought. “Unless what, Matthew?”   Matthew said it quickly, looking at his mother. “Unless Bo lives here with us.” Nora and Bo were taken back at his simple statement. They looked from Matthew, to each other. “Its all or nothing,” Matthew added simply, looking right at Bo. “That’s the deal.”   “Matthew, honey, its not that simple, “Nora tried to explain.   Matthew didn’t understand. “Why not?” He looked at his mother. “You told me you didn’t want Bo to leave before, that you missed him.” Now he looked at Bo. “And you told me that you still loved mom when you left. So why can’t you live here if we both want you here and you still love mom?”   Bo sat forward on the sofa. “Matthew, I can still be your father without living here with you.”   Matthew was getting angry. “No, you can’t. Real fathers should live with their kids.”   Nora also sat forward, so she was next to Bo. “Matthew, sweetheart, we can work it out that you can see Bo whenever you want.”   Matthew shook his head. “No,” he disagreed. “It won’t be the same.” He looked at both of them again. “You both said you would do whatever it would take to make me happy, but you really didn’t mean it, did you? I knew I shouldn’t have trusted either of you.” He ran to the steps, stopping half way up, his voice full of anger. “Fine then. If you two can get a divorce when you’re mad at each other, then so can I and I want to divorce both of you. I’m calling Rachel.” He ran the rest of the way up the steps. Bo and Nora both stood, both calling for him, but he answered them by slamming his bedroom door.   Nora turned and looked at Bo and together they spoke. “He’s as stubborn as you are!” they both said in unison. They both heaved sighs and spoke in unison again, each pointing at themselves. “Me?!”   Nora spoke quickly before she and Bo continued this game. “Stop!” She paused, looking up the stairs to where Matthew had just run and then over to Bo. She was annoyed with both of them and she wasn’t even sure why. Maybe it was because they were so much a like. “I can’t believe I ever thought he wasn’t your son. Matthew’s inbred Buchanan stubbornness is enough to rival Asa’s.”   Bo was just as annoyed, working towards angry. He thought he had made progress with both of them. “Is that a fact? The Buchanan stubbornness? What about that display of logic he just threw our way? If we can get a divorce, then so can he. Where do you think that argument came from,” Bo paused, adding sarcastically, “Counselor?”   That exchange put Nora’s anger over the edge. Since finding out that Bo was Matthew’s father, their entire past had been in her face. All of the hurt that her mistakes had caused had been simmering just under the surface, waiting for something to let the pain start again. And then her conversation with Matthew about Harry, and knowing Bo had heard their conversation had left her emotions raw. She spoke before she had a chance to think. “Well, whose behavior did he just display, huh? Things don’t go his way, what does he do? He up and leaves!” She regretted the words the minute she said them. “Bo, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”   Bo’s eyes clouded over and he spoke softly. “Well, why don’t I just stay true to that character and leave now, before I say something I don’t mean.” He turned from her and left the house, slamming the door to rival that of his son. Nora just stood there, her hands covering her face, sliding them up over her head. “Damn you Bo Buchanan!” she yelled, picking up a pillow from the sofa and flinging it towards the door he just left through. To be continued…