My mother-in-law had the most stunned expression. I didn't know whether I should laugh, or say "Nice to see you again," or act like I'd never seen her before. Cassie only knew I had picked up an older woman; she didn't know it had been her mother. Hell, I didn't know either until that moment. "You're married?" she said as she made eye contact with me.
"Mom, are you all right?" Cassie said.
"Yes," she replied. "I wasn't prepared for such an announcement. When did you get married?"
"Last Friday," I said. "We're on our honeymoon."
"Except for Tuesday night when had to go to work for a while," Cassie added.
"One of our clients had a quarterly report to finish. Anyway, Cassie insisted we stop by. I'm very happy to meet you, Mrs. Harper."
"Please call me Ann."
"And I'm Tom," her husband said. "Let's not just stand here. Come in."
"Yes," Ann said, "this calls for a celebration. Cassie, why don't you put your things in your room? We'll get some wine. Tom, would you give me a hand?"
Tom and Ann disappeared into the kitchen. I followed Cassie upstairs with our luggage.
"I wish I knew why Mom's so jumpy," Cassie said after she closed the bedroom door. "She's acting like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar."
"She's probably shocked by your announcement," I said. "Didn't you tell her we were married?"
"No, I wanted it to be a surprise. I thought she'd be jumping for joy. And the way she hustled Dad into the kitchen. It's not like her to want him to help with anything."
"Maybe they're discussing what to get us for a wedding gift."
"You may be right. Maybe my expectations were wrong. Let's go downstairs before they think we are acting like newlyweds." I chuckled.
Cassie turned on the television set while I looked through the books on the shelves and on the coffee table. Almost everything was either engineering or nursing, which Cassie explained were her parents' professions. I thought I was good at math, but when I looked at the formulae in "Structural Load Analysis," I gave up. I vowed never to complain about a spreadsheet again.
A half hour passed, and Tom and Ann were still in the kitchen. "Are they crushing the grapes?" Cassie wondered aloud. Cassie's patience wore out. She barged into the kitchen, then stopped abruptly. They were locked in a very passionate kiss. "You two!" Cassie said disgustedly. "Eric, look at this. You'd think they were the newlyweds instead of us." They laughed and broke their kiss."
"I think this celebration calls for champagne," Ann said. "Our little girl doesn't get married every day. Cassie, why don't you and your father get a bottle of the best, and Eric and I can get acquainted." I have to admit the woman had a way with words. I had fucked her only three days before. How much better acquainted could we get?
"Okay," Cassie said. "Come on, Dad. We'll be back in half an hour." She gave me a quick kiss, and she and Tom went out the front door.