Crimson & Clover

Ma Meets Betty

The night at Betty's parents went as well, if not even better, than I could have hoped. I was part of their family now and I liked it. Betty was happy, so I was happy. The problem I had in the near future was figuring out how to tell Ma the good news. She was not going to be happy finding out that she would be officially all alone. Tom's parents, on the other hand, were thrilled for me.

"You're the man, Adam." Mr. Davis said to me with pride. "You see Tom, that's how it's done."

Tom was definitely going to have a hard time living down his disastrous marriage proposal. Oh, I never told you; Tom told the whole thing to his parents, against my advice. For that reason alone, he deserved the comments he received from his parents. 

My father used to say that the man you are today is the result of everything you've ever been through, good and bad. It's strange, but I feel like Pa's had a greater effect on me since he died than when he was alive, not that he was a bad father because he wasn't. It's just that I think about him a lot more now and I always recall his words of wisdom. They're there to help me through tough times.

As I'm writing this story and recalling all of these events it's becoming more and more clear to me that I am the result of Adam's past actions.

Today I am very introverted. I would never dream of treating women the way Adam did and while now I indeed have a love of politics, I am not nearly the orator Adam was. I suppose some of these things issues are punishments for Adam's actions that prevents me from repeating his past indiscretions.

I decided to tell Ma about my marriage proposal the very next day for fear that she would find out from someone else first. That would have only made the anguish worse for her. It was bad enough that I was getting married to a woman she couldn't stand, even though they had never met. Imagine how much worse it would have been if it was someone else who told her?

I also figured that it was probably time to introduce Betty to Ma. I hadn't spoken much about Ma to Betty except that she was upset that I was seeing a Catholic girl. Betty understood, actually she expected her family to be a bit disappointed that I wasn't Catholic. Much to her surprise the subject of my religion never came up.

Ma was home alone as usual when I arrived there with Betty. It was a beautiful afternoon and Ma was tending to the flowers by the front porch. As she heard my car pull into the driveway she glanced up, saw me, then turned and buried her head in her gardening work. I hadn't seen Ma since I walked out of the house on Thanksgiving so I wasn't expecting any sort of grand reception but I figured that with Betty with me, being her future daughter-in-law, a least it would keep her wicked tongue in check. Miracles could happen.

"Hi, Ma" I said as I turned off the engine. She pretended she couldn't hear me. I walked around the car and opened Betty's door. We decided to leave Billy at home today. Imagine the scene we could have had. Ma, this is your future daughter- in-law Betty, and this is your new six year old grandson Billy. I would have loved to see the look on her face. That would have to wait.

Betty wore a long flowing dress that went down to her knees, very conservative. Her matching headband had a fifties appeal that I thought would make Ma happy. This was the first time I had ever helped Betty pick out an outfit. It was fun, like dressing a live Barbie doll.  I took her hand and walked up to Ma who still hadn't turned around.

"I'd like you to meet someone very important to me," I said while Betty squeezed my hand from nerves.
Ma flinched slightly but wouldn't turn around. She pulled out a few weeds from her flower bed and placed them next to her.