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
Dee Dee said, âMrs. Adkins, we are both pregnant. We are in our first trimester, but before long you will be a grandmother again.â
Mom turned to Donnie. âOh my! Well it appears that a marriage is in order. Dee Dee, will you be the one marrying my Andrew? Or will it be the other, whatâs her name again?â
Donnie said âItâs Donnie. Me. Iâm Donnie. Dee Dee is my sister and yes, she will be the one marrying Andrew.â
Mom said, âOh, this is all very confusing, isnât it.â She looked at Dee Dee. âHow do you feel about your sister marrying Andrew? Wonât you be jealous?â
Dee Dee said, âIâm Dee Dee and Iâm marrying Andrew. But Donnie wonât be jealous. It doesnât matter which of us has the legal document. We are both married to him in our hearts even now.â
Mom was talking herself into a circle. âYouâre both married to him? Isnât that illegal? Perhaps you had better check with a lawyer about all of this. Iâm sure I donât know what I would do if I had two husbands to take care of. Andrew are you sure about all of this?â
I said, âMom, Dee Dee was saying that we may as well be married, because we are so committed to each other. Get it? We arenât married yet. I am going to have a legal document saying that I am married to Dee Dee. But Donnie and I will act like we are married because we will be, in our hearts.â
Mom decided to take her usual approach to things that confused her. She punted. âThatâs nice dear. Would anyone like some iced tea?â
Donnieâs Story
We had our first argument the other day. It was more a discussion than an argument, I suppose, but there was certainly a difference of opinion.
Andrew knows perfectly well that Dee Dee and I are vegetarians. Granted, we will eat seafood occasionally, and we will eat dairy. We still consider ourselves vegetarians. We would be pleased if Andrew would join us in this, though we really canât force him to do it.
But I suppose we became a bit strident when Andrew went to the drive-thru at McDonalds and brought home a Big Mac for his lunch. We of course were having a salad: watercress and assorted greens with a light dressing topped with crumbled goat cheese.
Dee Dee was trying to make Andrew understand our feelings about meat. âAndrew, do you realize the number of acres it takes to grow beef? Do you know how many more acres it takes to grow beef than it does to grow an equivalent amount of vegetables?â
Andrew answered, âNo. Do you?â
That wasnât the right answer. âWhat I know or donât know is irrelevant. You are eating yourself into an early grave, supporting the worst excesses of corporate America. This food you are eating is poison! Youâre turning into a junk food junkie, Andrew Adkins!â
Andrew wouldnât take that lying down. He said, âNow hold on, little lady. You can say what you want about me. But you just better watch your tongue about the Big Mac. Iâll have you know that the Big Mac
is