Yonkers, New York, late October...

“Aren’t you taking this a bit far?”

“No, Mom. We’re just fine,” Tommy called from the bathroom.

“I swear to god, Tommy. You two are just asking for trouble!”

“No worse than any other day, Mrs. White.” Ginnie piped up; earning a frustrated frown from Tommy’s mother. She was not too far off in her assessment; however defeatist it sounded.

“Everybody dresses up for a ComicCon, Mom!” Tommy added.

“I’m not an idiot, Tommy!” Roberta replied. She relented and said,

"I'm sorry."

She had every right to be worried, but Ginnie had a point that was all too accurate as well. Every day was risky. Today might go one of several ways, but no matter how things played out, there would always be someone who got angry at Tommy and Ginnie’ just because,’ as Roberta’s mother Christine would say.

“I’m ready, Mom. At least come and look,” Tommy pleaded. Roberta sighed; not so much in surrender as in frustration over how things might go. She loved her son but her worry was well-placed. She got up from the kitchen table and walked toward the bathroom..

“Whaddya think?” Ginnie asked. Two perfectly attired figures stood in the hallway. The tallish young man was resplendent in a navy blue suit; complete with a dark red tie and a brilliant white button-down shirt. He held a light grey fedora in his right hand and adjusted black horned-rimmed glasses with his left hand.

“Pretty neat, huh?” her son asked as he stepped out from behind the young man. Tommy wore a dark grey skirt suit and a silver pillbox hat over a short black pageboy cut. He teetered only a bit on two-inch black pumps.

“What???” Roberta stammered as her son took Ginnie’s hand away from fiddling with her glasses and squeezed it gently.

“Dear god in heaven, Tommy!” Roberta practically pleaded as her son kissed her; leaving a bright red lipstick mark on her cheek.

"You have to know what it is Ginnie does to me, right?" Tommy glanced back at his handsome fiancee and grinned.

"She sees right through me." Roberta nodded slowly. Tommy and Ginnie were made for each other, if in a slightly odd way.

“What else could go wrong,” Roberta thought. A moment later her question was answered as a teenage boy emerged from the bathroom. He wore a dark green sweater vest over a white, short-sleeved shirt. His tan slacks were complemented by Oxblood loafers and argyle socks.

“WHAT THE???” Roberta stammered again as the red-haired 'boy' kissed her as well.

“Jeepers, Mommy.” Jaimie White remarked as she grabbed Roberta’s hand.

“Oh...you know...you...”

“You just want us to be safe, Mom,” Tommy said as he grabbed his mother’s hands in his.” Roberta gasped, but a cautious smile began to emerge.

"We're going to Ignites for Karaoke later," Ginnie said with a slight laugh.

“You three just be sure to stay with all of your friends and call me if you’re going to be late, okay?” She sighed again as Ginnie stepped close.

“Sure thing, Mom,” her son’s fiancée said before donning her fedora.

“Just one other request, Tommy?” Roberta said with one last cautious sigh. Tommy and Ginnie and Jamie all tilted their heads in question.

“Stay safe!" she said before adding, "Have fun!” She smiled wryly and the three continued to stare until she said at last,

"And don't call me chief!"

*"Clark Kent And Karaoke. Isn't That One Of The Signs Of The Apocalypse?" Lois Lane, from the television show, Smallville.

Can You Read My Mind?
from the motion picture Superman
Music by John Williams
Words by Leslie Bricusse
as sung by Maureen McGovern
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_loUAl3Cks