Some time passed. About thirty minutes. The sounds of cars passing by. The sound of each car came with a new blast for anxiety for him.

"Was that her? No. No, it was not."

Finally, his mother appeared. Max's eyes turned to the direction of the driveway. It was his mom's car alright.

She parked the car on the driveway as Max watched from the distance. He slowly got up and walked to the front door to welcome her home.

A painful sinking feeling covered his heart. An almost suffocating one.

Each step he made in that direction came with a bit of doubt. Should he just not open the door? He had no clue. But, irregardless, he walked to the door, his pace slowed by his own mental turmoil.

Meanwhile, Julianne Hunter remotely closed her car doors after taking something massive out of her own car. It was in a massive box with the words Billiard's Confectionery.

She carried it with her own physical strength to the front door and unlocked it herself. She made it there before Max.

Max stopped only a few feet from the front door as he heard his mother unlock it from the other side.

She opened the door, and her eyes came upon her son.

Julianne: Hey, champ.

Max: Hey mom.

Julianne: I saw what happened in the news. Are you ok?

Max: Yeah, I'm fine.

Julianne: Alright.

There was a moment of silence between the two afterwards before Julianne simply started.

Julianne: Max, could you help me carry this?

Max: Sure.

He walked to her and got the box from her. He could read the contents of the box. Confectionery meant cake, or something approximating that.

Julianne: Be careful. It's delicate.

Max: Ok.

He knew this trick all too well. A tasty treat to butter him up before the bad news came. He'd experienced it all too often.

Max: Is it cake?

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Julianne: Well, something like that. But don't open it just yet.

She hurriedly walked upstairs and went to her room as Max started at the cake. It was almost as if it was mocking him. Some kind of, "You're gonna eat me, and then you're gonna do what she says."

He couldn't stand it. It annoyed him to no end. There was no way out of this, he thought.

It was several minutes later after Julianne Hunter finally made it back downstairs. She'd gone to change her clothes.

Julianne: Sorry about that, champ. I just needed to unwind a bit.

Max: Sure. It's fine.

She noticed the uncaring tone from her son, and her eyes simmered. Did he already know what to expect? Had she done this to her son all this time? Was her son's suffering because of her decisions?

Julianne had no idea, but, irregardless, she walked up to her son and took a long, hard look at his face.

Max: Mom?

Julianne: Sorry, champ. Just making sure nothing is wrong.

Max: Mmmmm.

Julianne: Have a seat.

The pair sat down on the dining table. The giant cake box in between them.

An odd silence between the two of them.

Julianne: You can open the cake now.

Max: Huh?

Julianne: It's ok. It's a surprise.

Max looked at the cake again. It served as a reminder to him.

A reminder that this was just another trojan horse to cool him off before she told him about his worries. And so, he hesitated to open it.

Julianne: Champ?

She noticed his hesitance.

Max: Ummm... mom.... I....

He searched hard for the words he wanted to say to his mother.

"I'll be fine." That wouldnt work.

"I like it." She'll talk about the danger he will be in.

"I have friends now." You can find others. No, there was nothing he could say.

Max: Mom... I... I just wanna say that...

Julianne Hunter had caught on and instinctively opened the cake box herself to reveal a massive and expensive looking cake with long candles and little figurines.

It was so colourful that Max couldn't help but look away. But there was one more thing that hed noticed.

On the cake, written in bright red, was "HERO." He couldn't miss it.

Max: Huh.....

He hadn't noticed at the time, but from the moment he had sat down, he hadn't looked at his mom once.

Her face wasn't one full of worry and despair. It was one full of happiness and pride. There were tear marks, but those were tears of joy.

Max: Mom....

Julianne: I saw what happened on the news.

She stood up and went to him with a tear in her eyes and gave him a massive hug.

Julianne: Your father would be so proud.

Max: Mom....

Max hugged her back, and his heart immediately let all defences down. She was ok with it. He was finally certain. She was ok with it.

There, they remained for about a minute before slowly letting go of each other.

Max: Mom... I...

Julianne: It's alright, sweetie. On and this cake is for you. So, enjoy it.

Max: Thanks...

It was an odd sensation. The cake he'd just so deeply hated was now one he was welcoming into his mouth so happily.

Julianne: But before you take a bite...

Max: Huh.

Julianne: I want to hear everything.

The look in her eyes was not bitter or scared. It was genuinely excited.

Max paused for a minute before excitedly starting while taking bites out of the cake.

Max: Ok. So, it all started at around lunchtime....

Julianne Hunter listened with glee. Not once in her son's life had he spoken of something with so much excitement. Not video games, not skateboarding, not even food.

This experience. Seeing her son so happy filled a certain piece of her heart. What joy to a mother to see her son so excited about something!