Throughout she sipped and stirred her tea, spoon never leaving mug an absentminded ritual half a lifetime in the making. Jon could hear it in the background, no doubt. Sound of metal scraping against crockery familiar as the bright zippered fleeces she often wore. Like any sensible mother she ignored mentions of her grown son's sex life - Marjatta was no prude, and so long as he and Jon were happy and got themselves tested at the clinic periodically that was all she cared about, really. AIDS was a scary thing for any mother whose son pursued a lifestyle nothing at all like typical nuclear family of male, female, and 2.5 children.
She didn't begrudge them, though, not in the least, for she was sincerely fond of Jon and their chats about this and that or nothing at all if the moment called for thoughtful silences. He would've been such a good little friend for Robbie growing up. Marjatta wistfully imagined two curly heads bowed over dinner plates; minding their manners only long enough to hear out grace then little lads' mealtime tomfoolery would begin. Pocketfuls of worms dug from the back garden finding their way into Daddy's Wellies or amongst the good table linens. Window broken from a ball kicked a bit too hard and muddy footprints tracked across precious antique Turkish rug loomed back when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were still an item. Robb had been quite the handful growing up but she fantasized someone of Jon's general temperament very well might have balanced him out; filled empty pages of a coloring book only a child of the same age could accomplish.
Caught up in days of future past-style woolgathering weighty emotional shoe dropped only after polite cough echoed through the receiver, making her wince at being so slow and daft. And no, she wasn't going to place blame solely on no longer being a spry lass of twenty. Not today, by God. She had a very good excuse for seeming a touch out of focus.
"Oh," she breathed into mouthpiece, really feeling the complete dafty now. "Oh Jon... he didn't tell you, did he?"
That brought about a fresh set of tears forcing her to blink several times to banish prickling sinus ache. God. It never gets easier, does it?
"He's so sad, dear, because today marks his father's accident..."