These chapters do not stand on their own, so please read chapters 1-5 before this.
To new life!
------[]----[]------
Toni called the clerk's office on Monday, and that night we decided to get married a week from Wednesday. We went to the clerk's office the next day to get our marriage license.
I called Mom and invited her to dinner on Thursday. Toni knew I hadn't said anything to Mom about us, and it worried both of us, but me less than her. I felt my mother would love Toni once she saw how much we loved each other.
------[]----[]------
"Mom, this is Toni Collins, my neighbor next door. Her husband died recently of ALS."
"Toni, this is my mother, Marion Lambert."
"Hi, Toni. I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. That's such a hard experience, even if you know it's coming. I'm glad you two are taking care of each other. Living single again has been a big adjustment for me."
"I'm sorry about your husband as well, Marion. No one understands what it's like unless they've experienced it."
Now I had two women with tears in their eyes!
"Well, dinner is ready, Marion, so have a seat and Tony will help me dish things up."
As we ate, we continued talking. Mom asked Toni about her background, going to school, swimming, how she and Don met.
Moms don't miss much. There was a pause in our conversation. She soon filled it.
"So, Tony and Toni, tell me about your love for each other." She was smiling. "You two are so in love I could be blind and still see it."
"Mom... I, um... "
Now Toni was laughing. "I love it when he gets totally tongue-tied. We weren't trying to hide it from you. Yes, I love your son, but I need to begin with what happened the day he moved in."
Toni told the story about Don and the talk we had. Her decision to deal with the health directive as he wanted. How I was there for her. Her disastrous first night and how I held her as she slept.
Mom was wiping away tears. So was Toni.
Then Toni explained how her feelings for me grew and became love. Her eyes were full of joy as she spoke. Mom listened carefully.
"Tony, have you proposed to her yet? Because you need to hang on to her."
"I asked her to marry me a few days ago, and she said yes. We want you to come with us to the county clerk's office next Wednesday. Can you be there?"
"I'd love to. Look, we all know it's sudden, but I can tell your love for each other is exactly what I miss. Tony, your father and I knew within two weeks we wanted to marry. I'm no stranger to love like you feel."
She turned to my fiancΓ©e and asked the one question most on her mind, as a potential grandmother. "Toni, you told me you and Don couldn't have children. Do the two of you plan to try?"
Toni blushed a little, but there were also tears in her eyes. "Yes, Marion. I've wanted to have children all my life and figured that was now a dream I would never experience. Tony persuaded me the risks are not as great as I thought, and we should try."
"You're obviously happy about the possibility. I hope you two can. I want grandchildren!"
We all laughed. The two women held hands and cried a little.
I sat there, a little surprised at how well it had gone, but I shouldn't have been. Even if Mom felt it was rushed, it would not have been her way to have been anything less than supportive and happy for us.
The real surprise came a few minutes later.
"Which house are you going to live in? The one next door--she pointed--is yours, right Toni?"
"We want to sell both and buy one together. One with a pool, like mine has, but without my memories of Don surrounding me."
"Would you mind showing it to me right now? I might have an idea."
We went over and gave her the tour. It was a three-bedroom home, nicely finished inside with a big yard and the pool. A really nice master bedroom and bath. We walked back over to my house and sat in the living room.
"I have an idea. I don't know whether it would work, but I've wanted to downsize. My home is way too big for me. It has a larger pool and a hot tub, although I think the hot tub is old. It has 4 bedrooms--we thought we would have more children, but my pregnancy with Tony was difficult, to the point of being life-threatening, so my doctor strongly suggested no more children.
"Toni--is that your full name?"
"It's Antoinette."
"If I need clarity, I'll say Antoinette and Anthony. Would you two come look at the home. Anthony knows it, but I want you to see it. If it's what you're looking for--it stands on a hill with a great view over the area and has a full acre of land--if you like it, I think Antoinette's house would be perfect for me. Maybe we can make a deal."
I was stunned, to say the least. My parent's home--the home I grew up in--was a beautiful custom home that had been updated and well maintained. The kitchen remodel was only five years old.
Beyond that, I had no idea Mom was thinking of downsizing.
We agreed to go the next day to see the home.
------[]----[]------
We drove out to Mom's home. It was located a few miles away, but within the city limits.
I tried to hold back and let Toni look and ask questions. In some ways I had forgotten how nicely my parents had finished their home all those years ago. Lots of custom built-ins. Beautiful craftsmanship. The new kitchen was fabulous--better than Toni's or mine.
Toni took one look at the pool and looked at me. Her eyes said it all.
Mom suggested we take a walk outside to talk about it.
"Tony, I love this house! Is it alright with you to buy this?"
"It's a great place. I grew up here and never fully appreciated the view, the privacy, the land--it's a wonderful home. I love the remodeled kitchen."
"I love it! I want to raise our children here. Let's go ask about the furniture."
"Mom, what are you going to do about the furniture?"
"I was thinking about that last night, so I went through and put sticky notes on furniture I would take. You can have any of the rest you want."
We walked through again and took a lot of photos to remember. She had a lot of nice furniture.
Toni asked whether Mom was sure about letting us have the furniture. She was.
After only a little discussion, we agreed on a deal. It was simple in concept but complex in execution. The basic idea was we moved into Mom's house, and she moved into Toni's. I would then sell my house and pay the proceeds to Mom, less the payoff of the mortgage on Tony's house.
The furniture turned out to be a massive project, but Toni's accounting skills came to the fore. She set up a spreadsheet and figured out what furniture from the three houses we would move with and what we would sell or donate.
It made my head hurt to think about! That mess on top of getting married.