Home was a simple and small house in San Bruno – a fifteen minute drive from work, and a source of pride for Linda. She had bought it when Rick was ten, and she had worked hard to make the house comfortable for them. It was in a typical suburban neighborhood and ordinary, but it was the center of her life efforts… the symbol of all that she worked to achieve.

"Rick, I'm home," she called as she entered the house. There was no answer, but she heard the sound of water running and realized that her son was in the shower. She had her coat off and hung in the closet when the running water stopped, and as she walked down the hall toward the kitchen, she called out again while passing the bathroom. "Hi, I'm home!"

"Hey, Mom?"

Linda stopped and turned around as the bathroom door opened, and she saw her handsome young son standing in the hallway, a towel wrapped around his slender waist. His head and broad, muscular shoulders were still wet from the shower, and he had a hopeful gleam in his eyes that she recognized immediately. He was going to ask a favor.

"There's something important I want to talk to you about, Mom…"

"O.K., dear…"

"I'll join you in the kitchen in just a minute," he said smiling, and he hurried back into the bathroom.

Linda smiled, only slightly annoyed by his mysteriousness; and, as she walked to the kitchen to start dinner, she couldn't help thinking about how mature Rick had become. Standing in front of her almost naked, he looked far more man than boy: his shoulders broad, waist narrow, and long muscular legs definitely those of a young man. It was as though he had suddenly grown away from her to enter his own world, a world where he was less dependent on her. That disturbed her! She found herself wishing he hadn't been wearing the towel around his hips so that she could have looked upon his manhood and make sure he was completely normal, but she blushed for having such a shameful thought and quickly put it out of her mind.