Andrewâs Story-Meeting Mom
I may look back on this year and say âthatâs when it all startedâ. It might be the year that things changed just for me. Or it might be the year that things changed for the whole world.
This might be the Year Zero. This could be our Genesis. Some future historians will look back and mark 2003 A.D. as the start of the new calendar, the third era of mankind. Naahh!
If I talk to people about this they will think I am nuts. They already think Iâm nuts, going from no woman to two women almost overnight.
My Mother! Oh, boy was this a shock to her? I thought of introducing Dee Dee and Donnie to her separately to lessen the surprise, make things go down a little more smoothly. But I realized that she just wouldnât believe that there were two different women involved. She would think I was making some strange joke at her expense, yanking her chain for no apparent reason.
Now she knows Iâm not joking. We walked into the old homestead up in Canton. It was never much, and it looks even less now. Mom owns one of those duplex-type houses on about a half-acre of land. Itâs the kind that you own both halves, but live in one half and rent out the other.
After Dad died, that income came in real handy for Mom. Itâs a nice setup for her, but bringing the girls home to Mom isnât an exercise in affluence. One canât pretend that my other house is a mansion.
The girls seemed perfectly happy with my old digs. But âperfectly happyâ is not the term I would apply to Mom when I brought these two beautiful but identical girls into her living room and told her that I was spending the rest of my life with both of them.
I had called and told her I was coming; told her I was bringing guests; told her it was very important. I have no idea what she expected, but I bet it wasnât this.
Mom greeted us at the door. I gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, then led all four of us into the living room. I wanted Mom sitting down for this one. We took seats, Mom in her favorite chair, the girls on the couch, and me in the recliner that my Dad used to watch football games in.
âMom I want to introduce Deirdre and Donnie Martin.â
Mom looked a little unsure of herself, but smiled and said âOh, arenât you lovely! Are you twins?â She was always a few cans short of a six-pack.
Dee Dee said, âYes, Mrs. Adkins, we are. This is my sister, Donnie, and Iâm Deirdre. Please call me Dee Dee.â
Well that was a lost cause. Mom would probably end up calling them both Dee Dee. She had trouble remembering
my
name, and there is only one of me.
I could see Mom was confused â not an unusual state for her. âAndrew, Iâve always wondered if you would ever bring a girl home. Iâve never wondered if you would bring two girls home at the same time. Is there something I should know?â
Maybe sheâs not so dumb after all. It could have been that both girls were looking at me with a bit of a possessive air. They appeared serenely calm and lovely. I on the other hand was a nervous wreck.
âEh, Mom, Dee Dee and Donnie and I are like, uh, a permanent thing, if you know what I mean.â
Mom said, âNo, Andrew, I donât know what you mean. What exactly does âa permanent thingâ mean?â
The girls took over, seeing that I was uncomfortable and coming across as if I were a teenager meeting his girlâs father for the first time. This was
my
mother after all. Iâm the one who has to tell her that her son is a pervert.
Donnie said, âMrs. Adkins, Dee Dee and I have fallen in love with your son.â
Dee Dee said, âWe know itâs unconventional, but it just happened, and we are too in love with him to end it because it doesnât adhere to convention.â
âConventionâ, âunconventionalâ, âadhereâ â I wasnât sure this was the approach to take with my mother who sometimes gets confused by Bob Barker on
The Price is Right
. But Mom seemed to be following. Maybe itâs a woman thing.
Mom appeared to be catching on. âThere are two of you. Andrew wants you both? Isnât that a bit greedy, Andrew? You are both very lovely, but, ahem, isnât there an age difference?â
I said âMom, there isnât anything you can say that we havenât already thought of. We know thereâs an age difference. We know that there are in fact two women involved. Those are things we are going to have to live with. Iâm very happily living with them right now.â
âYou are already living together? Oh my! Are there, well, are there marriage plans in the future. Please, Andrew, tell me you only plan to marry one of them. No offense, ladies.â
The girls smiled that eye-lighting smile of theirs. Donnie said âDonât worry Mrs. Adkins, Andrew will only marry Dee Dee. But I will still be living with him. We are going to be legal, so donât worry about that. But I will be giving birth to your grandchildren too.â
Donnie said the right thing as always. Mom had been worrying about me for years: no girlfriend, no wife, no children, no grandchildren. She might have been overwhelmed by the sudden abundance of girlfriends, but the thought of grandchildren was enough to slow down the judgment process.
Mom said âOh. Grandchildren! You girls plan on having children? I thought that you were perhaps a little old, no offense, but maybe the biological clock was winding down.â