Theirs and mine, our inside joke.

She was in the talking mood, and he, completely enervated, kept dozing off in bouts.

She sat on top of him and went on and on about her day, or the way she currently felt, or about something funny she saw on the television, or about something her coworker had shared, or something about her future errands. Suddenly interested by something he was reminded of, he jolted and inquired, "Have you talked to your mother lately?"

And she got real relaxed and sort of sat back further into his stomach. She was surprised for two reasons: the subject of her mother became a sensitive issue for her after she decided to stop talking to her some time ago, and his only response was apathy. Although the argument was now water under the bridge (respectively), she always felt it best to not bring it up on account of some conditioning that the response may be repeated. But even deeper than that, she had been thinking about her mother as she turned down his street earlier that evening. And in the past she'd have to call with some reason: a bill needed payment, a piece of furniture needed to be purchased, the car needed gas. But for no reason at all, she had a deep desire to call her mother and just talk.

"It's funny you ask," she replied. "I thought to call her today for no reason." "You should," he interjected. "Well, I have no reason to call other than to just talk," she continued, "but it makes me feel a lot older. You know, to not have to have a reason to call my mother. To call her just like an old friend would. To call just to catch up on her life. Or to call maybe so that she can catch up on mine. It just... makes me feel so much older."

He smiled gently and took her face in his hand. She had showered earlier, and her hair began to dry in soft waves. She blinked with her doe eyes and there was nothing covering her face. He thought she looked beautiful and mature: she really had begun to grow up and it was starting to show. He took her face in his hand, brought her real close to his mouth and whispered, "And you grows up, and you grows up, and you grows up."