Work Text:
Hey Mom, it's Trey. We're in Florence. Roxy says hi . . . um. We're fine. We're flying into London tomorrow. Bye.
She deletes the message just like all the other ones Trey leaves. Sometimes Anne hates Roxy Ryan. Her wonderful son is turning into a disaster. Other senators can talk about how their children are campaigning for human rights or enrolled in law school all she has to offer is that her only child is Roxy Ryan's boyfriend (yes that Roxy Ryan, the one with the teeny bopper band) and he's following her around like a faithful puppy. The last time she saw Trey was the day before they (it's always they never just Trey anymore unless she asks) left for Roxy's European tour and his hair was longer than ever. Anne misses the days when she could get him to keep it in a nice short cut like Senator Whitney's son, Kevin, who is going through law school and organizing charity drives for the environment in his spare time. Trey had never warmed to Kevin no matter how hard they tried to get the boys to be friends; Anne wonders if maybe they had tried harder then Trey wouldn't be tagging along after Roxy now. Trey could have been up on the stage with Kevin doing good work and being a credit to the Lipton family instead he's in Italy where the tabloids are printing stories about wild parties in the backrooms of clubs with reputations for supplying whatever is called for; parties that run into the wee hours of the morning; parties that no respectable person should be at and certainly not the son of a senator.
Just landed in London.
It's Trey sounding tired and cheerful. Anne can hear whispering and giggles then Roxy's voice chimes in to assure her they are both fine. She feels her lip curling and forcefully stops it but really only girls with bad breeding giggle. Senator Smyth's girl would never do that. Janet is doing charity work for orphanages in Zimbabwe; she gives good speeches. If only Trey could have fallen for her instead of a wild haired punkette who can barely manage a coherent sentence.
Why couldn't Trey have fallen for Jane Ryan with her meticulous plans and proper sentences? Anne wouldn't have hated her. Jane would have wanted Trey to be studious just like her and Trey would have done it. Anne knows he can, she's his mother after all and she's been through the conferences with his teachers where they fling around words like brilliant, gifted, and highly intelligent. Yet her son, who could have his pick of the best schools, isn't in any of them instead he's letting his potential fail while he plays kept boy to a flash in the pan musician. She emails him application packages hoping to change his mind. She hates Roxy for holding her son where he won't go to school. The son of a senator should be in school, should be pulling good grades in an Ivy League school where people give him awards for scholarship.
Even Reinaldo is different since the Ryan twins fell into her life. Her baby doesn't go near windows anymore and his psychiatrist says he's suffering from anxiety. Anne gives him a combination of paxil and valium for it. She is sure that her poor baby is traumatized from spending so much time with Roxy who tried to feed him table scraps the last time they had lunch together. Trey had laughed and said at least he hadn't eaten another chip. Anne didn't know what they were smiling about. Trey and Roxy have their own short hand when they talk to each other and Anne doesn't know how to decipher it. They still haven't really explained how they met although it has to be funny given how Roxy giggles about it. The London tabloids are printing stories about coke snorting models stripping at the after hours party for Roxy and her band. The next day Roxy sends Anne a picture of her and Trey curled around each kissing on a couch. Trey's eyes are half closed and Roxy's pupils are so big her eyes look black. Anne hates her for corrupting her son.
Hey Mom, we're back in the States tomorrow. Roxy has to be in California for another video shoot so see you soon.
The first time she sees Trey he's got on arm draped protectively around Roxy's shoulders while she leans against his side. Anne is struck by how tiny she is next to Trey.
"Hey Mom." He smiles at her just like when he was little. When he shifts his collar gaps open and Anne has to force herself to ignore the purple bruise-bite on his clavicle. Now she knows the shape for Roxy's teeth. Trey never had those before Roxy.
"We have great news."
Trey is smiling widely and Roxy is grinning like her sister when she got the fellowship. Anne sees Trey's hand rest over Roxy's stomach and she feels sick. If her son has gotten the girl pregnant and they are going to get married she shudders to think of what that will say about her parenting skills. Trey isn't old enough for that.
"Tell me." Her voice doesn't sound enthused even though she tries hard to make it sound like she's going to be happy for them.
"The album is on it's third printing."
That's it? Anne feels like she's never had better news. "That's wonderful."
"Yeah. It's great. We're going to start recording the second one in a couple weeks. It's going to be awesome." Roxy grins at her.
"You'll be very busy I guess."
"Oh yeah, Senator Lipton, you bet I will." Roxy nods hard enough to make her hair bounce.
"Trey must have plans then?"
"He's coming with me."
Roxy is so sure of her son following her to wherever that for a moment all Anne can feel is rage. But Anne is a senator so she knows how to lock things away and she does as she turns to smile at Roxy and tell Trey that sounds lovely. Roxy's hair is streaked with coloured dye and Anne wants to ask Trey what he sees in her when he could have been with perfectly natural Lauren doing a kayaking trip in Canada. Lauren with her love of flavoured tofu had always seemed a bit too free spirited to Anne but now she knows Roxy Lauren seems a beacon of stability. Trey grins and hugs Roxy closer to him as he says they might as well have lunch now. At least his appetite hasn't changed.
That night she mentions that if Roxy is going to be busy then maybe now is the perfect time for Trey to start university. Senator Ketchum has a lovely daughter in Sanford and she likes it there. Maybe Trey could go there? Her son looses his smile when she says that and Anne knows that somehow her pliant boy is gone replaced by someone new. She blames Roxy for that.
"That's not what I want Mom."
"You were always going to do that. Maybe not Stanford, I know we always said east coast Ivy League but Stanford would be close to your girlfriend."
She can compromise so why can't Trey?
"I want to be a writer. Roxy thought my short stories were good. I'm getting some of them published and she likes my idea for a novel."
His smile is fond and Anne knows that he's thinking about Roxy. She never knew Trey wanted to be a writer, he never said anything to her. She's never seen his work but he showed it to his girlfriend of less than a year. Anne hates Roxy for knowing her only son better than she does.