Some people have said that the original left some holes or just needed a little more. So I re-read it and decided to expand it a little. Still, no sex, just a love story, with some family angst thrown in. Hopefully, it will satisfy some people's curiosities. Again, no sex; for those of you looking for some depravity, sorry. May I suggest "The Perfect Crime, Parts 1-7." It should satisfy anyone.
Enjoy!!
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So our life was moving along with few bumps in the road. One of them was her family. Her mother, Samantha, was the biggest in question. So Celeste thought we should visit them. There was a family meeting/party this Saturday, but we were left off the invite list. So we decided to crash the party. At her parent's house. Uninvited. Do you get the picture??
We showed up, went into her folk's house, and strode up to her mom and dad. Her dad saw us coming, and his face split into a wide grin. He hugged his daughter and kissed her cheek.
"So, you must be Sean," he said.
"I am, sir."
"Nice to finally meet you, son. I'm Donald Forsane. Where's your little boy?"
"He's at my parents, sir. We didn't know how this would go."
He looked down and muttered, "I can understand that."
His daughter piped up, "Well, dad, no one informed us of this little get-together. And yet, here we are." She turned and stared at her mother.
I stepped up, turned to her mother, and said, "Mrs. Forsane, so nice to finally meet you."
She looked at me like I had forgotten to wash my hands and face.
"Hello, Mr. Riley? Is it?"
"Yes, ma'am. Sean, if you would."
"Yes, quite." She turned back to her daughter.
"We did not know if you would be available to be here, dear. I'm sorry you didn't get the invite."
"Oh, that's all right. Pop-pop told us about it." Pop-pop was Celest's pet name for her grandfather.
With that, the esteemed man announced his presence. He reached over, kissed Celeste on the cheek, and extended his hand to me.
"Nice to meet you, son. Our girl has only spoken wonderful things about you."
I dropped my eyes and blushed a little.
"Don't give him a big head, pop-pop," said Celeste, with a grin of her own.
"Yes, well, whatever," said her mother, "You're here now, so let's discuss this proposed marriage."
"There is nothing to discuss, mother. We are going to get married, and that's all there is to it."
"Celeste, think of your standing in the community. How can you show your face at the country club? What will the newspapers say of it? And what about all our friends?"
"It's simple, mother. I just won't go to the country club anymore. Our standing in the community will be by my attendance and work at my church and charitable functions. The newspapers will say, Celeste who??, and if our friends don't like it, then they weren't my friends, to begin with."
I was so proud of this woman.
"But he is only a mechanic, a common grease monkey."
'You really know how to make points, lady,' I thought.
"Yes, mother, and I can afford to stay at home with my husband and son."
"And the child!! Do we even know who the mother or the father is??"
That's it. Mother just crossed the line. I bowed up and rounded on her, but Celeste grabbed my arm and gave me a slight shake of the head.
She got up in her mother's face, slapped her with an open hand, and shook her index finger right in front of her nose.
"DON'T YOU EVER, EVER TALK ABOT MY SON LIKE THAT AGAIN, BITCH!!" she spit out.
Her mother, holding her jaw, screamed at her father, "Control your daughter, Donald!!"
Celeste's dad looked at his daughter, and turned to his wife, and said, "Shut the fuck up, Samantha!"
It had got deathly quiet in the room, and people were staring.
Samantha exploded, "I'll have your job for this, Donald!!!"
A quiet, calm voice from behind me said, "No, you won't, Samantha."
I turned, and there stood Celeste's grandfather, bourbon and branch in his hand. Samantha spluttered, burst into tears, and fled the room.
"Nice move, sweetheart," said her grandfather.
I muttered a bit and said, "I could have handled that."
"I'm sure you could have son. And then it would have been an assault, and we would have to come bail you out. This way, it's just a family disagreement."
I have to admit the old guy was probably right.
Celeste's dad came over and extended his hand to his father-in-law. "I'm sorry, dad. She shouldn't have said what she said."
"It's o.k., son. She deserved what she got."
Grandpa took Celeste's arm and said, "I'm hungry. Let's eat."
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The party had gotten back to normal, and Grandpa led us to the buffet line. We got some food and drinks and went to find a table. We found a small table for two on the patio and sat down. Celeste smiled at me, and all was right with the world.
Several relatives came and offered congratulations. Two of her female friends came over to say she was lucky and that she had definitely done better this time around. It appears no one liked Richard, her first husband.
"You really were remarkable back there, with your mother. I'm very proud of you. Also, a little scared."
She giggled and looked me in the eyes.
"NO ONE talks about my boys like that. NO ONE."
GOD, I do love this woman.
"My mother instigated my first marriage to Richard. Social standing, family considerations, and money all entered into it. If it were up to her, I would be married to be someone like this." She nodded her head over my shoulder to indicate the approach of Jeffery Lawson.
This guy had been sniffing around Celeste since she became a widow. He was interested in her money, or more precisely, how he could spend her money.
I didn't like him. At all. Can you imagine why??
He strode up with a dismissive attitude and said to Celeste, "Well, are you done wasting your time with carboy here??"
Prick.
Celeste put her hand possessively on my forearm and said, ".howWhat did you have in mind, Jefferey?"
"I just thought it would be time to hook up with a real man."
Like I said, "Prick."
"Oh, you mean someone with a gambling problem, a drug problem, two pending paternity suits, four different divorce actions filed naming him a respondent, severe bankruptcy issues because his father just fired him, and being a social pariah? Or are you talking about a pussy hound who can't keep it in his pants? I've already been married to one of those, Jefferey. So who are we talking about?"
The color was draining from Jeffery's face during Celeste's dissertation, and he was bordering on passing out.
'"How..how...how do you know all that?"
"The old adage, 'Know thine enemy'; and you are definitely the enemy, Jeffery. Now I think it would be best if you left- NOW."
" 'Bye, Jeffy," I said. He hates that nickname. (Heh, Heh, Heh!)
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He turned and beat a hasty retreat as Celeste watched him leave. I was beginning to think I was no match for this woman. She was way out of my league. Then she turned and stared at me with those beautiful blue eyes.
"And don't you go getting cold feet on me. We are a perfect match, and our love is better than anything I could ever hope to have. SO suck it up, bucko, and let's go talk to my grandpa." She was smiling like a lunatic.
Cripes, she was also psychic.
She held out her hand and led me to see pop-pop.
He was sitting at the edge of the patio, by the goldfish pond. He was talking to three of his older buddies. They saw us coming over and rose and shook his hand, smiled at us, and excused themselves. He rose as we got to him and took Celeste's arm to help her to a seat. I sat down facing him, with Celeste to his left. He looked at us and chuckled.
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
