On the Other Hand Ch. 07-08

"I know this isn't the traditional way, Nicole, but will you marry me?"

"Uh huh. When?"

"Yesterday?"

She smiled and her eyes sparkled just the way they always did when she was happy.

"Okay."

"I do have a couple of things I have to do first," I said.

"Like what?"

"Well, I need to ask your father's and Jimmy's permission first."

"You're kidding," she giggled.

"Nope. I'm not worried that they'll turn me down, but it's a courtesy I owe them."

She gave me a thousand watt smile, then, "What else?"

"Why find a ring, of course. Something special for your left hand."

"Of course," she repeated, rolling over on top of me.

"There is something else we should consider," I said.

"And that is?"

"Children."

"We already have one."

"What about another?"

"I thought you told me that you couldn't father a child," she said, looking at me quizzically.

"I said probably, not definitely."

She looked into my eyes, never blinking. "Maybe I'm already pregnant," she ventured tentatively.

"So ... you didn't have any protection then?"

"Nope. Didn't worry about it for a second."

"And you're okay with having another child ... or two?"

"You're awfully confident for someone who didn't think he could become a father."

"That was before I fell in love with a left-handed woman. Besides, I'm an optimist. You could very well be pregnant already."

"Uh huh, could be," she grinned.

"Does your father own a shot gun?"

That brought about genuine laughter.

"Yes, as a matter fact, I think he still does."

"Well, then I guess the wedding date might have to be moved up if we're lucky."

"It just might."

We made love once more before showering together and then getting dressed. We were expected for breakfast and Nicole warned me that her mother would probably put on an old-style breakfast: oatmeal, eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, fried tomatoes, and toast.

When we arrived at the Carlisle home we were greeted by Mary, who immediately gave both Nicole and me a hug and a kiss. There was no pretense about that woman and it made me feel both relieved and welcome. Jimmy was just getting out of bed, so he likely wouldn't have known his mother wasn't in her own bed last night. He wandered into the living room and saw me.

"How come you're here so early," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, I just wanted to spend the whole day with you and your Mom. She's been away for a long time."

He nodded and shrugged, heading for the kitchen as Mary poured him a glass of apple juice. Mom was home now and it was nothing to get excited about.

"When you finish that, go get washed and dressed, Jimmy," Nicole said.

"Okay." Simple instructions, simple answer.

I was offered a coffee by Angus and I accepted.

"Can I have a moment with you, Angus?" I asked.

He nodded with a knowing look. He was pretty sure what this was about.

"Last night I proposed to Nicole. Before we did anything, I wanted your permission to marry your daughter. I love her and Jimmy very much and I will look after them with my life."

He smiled. "It might be that the tradition is for you to ask me first before asking my daughter, but I'll give you thanks for your courtesy and gladly grant you her hand."

"Thank you, Angus. You and Mary have been wonderful to me and I will make you proud that you gave your blessing."

"I know you will, Lad," he smiled.

"I'm going to ask Jimmy too," I told him.

"Good lad. He's going to be as happy as his mother. You've already won his heart. It makes my old ticker race with joy to see this family whole at last."

Nicole hadn't been kidding about her mother's breakfast. There was enough food for twice the people and I pushed myself back before I was tempted to eat any more.

"That was wonderful, Mary, but I couldn't handle another like that for a couple of months."

"It's a special occasion, is it not?"

"It is. I suppose Nicole has told you?"

"Yes, but she really didn't need to. I knew the moment I saw both of you this morning."

"Told you what?" Jimmy asked, confused by the conversation.

"Uhhm, Jimmy, can you and I go to the living room and have a talk?"

"I guess so. Is it okay, Mom?"

"Of course," she said with a smile.

He followed me into the living room and moved to the sofa where he usually sat.

"Jimmy, you know I like your Mom, right?"

"Sure."

"And you and I are good pals, right?"

He nodded agreement.

"Uhhm ... Jimmy, I'm in love with your Mom and I want to marry her. Would that be okay with you?"

"Sure," he said immediately without thinking.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I think that was harder than asking Nicole or Angus.

"Does that mean you'd be my dad?"

This time I nodded. "Yes, I'd be your dad. You okay with that too?"

"Sure. Can I have a bike? Most of the kids at school have a bike."

"Yes, I think you can have a bike if it's okay with your mother."

"Cool. Do I get to go to the place where you get married?"

"Yes, of course. You and Nana and Grandad and my mom and dad will all be there."

"When?"

"Well, we haven't decided yet. Nana and your mom are going to work on that. You know your mom has to go away again for a couple of weeks, don't you?"

"Yeah. But she said this is the last time. Are you going to live here?"

"Well, I think your mom and I will look for a place all our own."

"Does that mean I won't see Nana and Grandad again?" he asked, looking worried.

"Oh no, we'd never do that. In fact, if we're lucky, we might find a place not far away so you can still go to the same school."

"Yeah. That would be good. I have lots of friends at school. I'm in grade one, you know."

"Yes, I do know, and I'm glad you like school. That's important."

"Do your mom and dad live here?" he asked.

"Not too far away. I'm going to take you and your mom to meet them. I'm pretty sure they're going to really like you. They'll be your new Grampa and Grandma."

"Yaay! Extra presents at Christmas."

"I guess so," I laughed. Kids boiled things down to the essentials I remembered.

I followed Jimmy back to the kitchen and gave the "OK" sign to everyone, unbeknownst to the boy.

"So, he was fine with it?" Nicole asked quietly when Jimmy had gone off to watch TV.

"Yeah, he was fine. It only cost me a bicycle."

"What?" Nicole reacted.

"He horse-traded you for a bicycle," I chuckled.

Angus broke out into laughter and Mary was suppressing her mirth as well. Nicole was shaking her head, but smiling. Everything was fine and Jimmy would get his bicycle while I got his mother. Not a bad trade at all.

Nicole and I spent the balance of the morning looking for a ring after promising Jimmy we would do something with him that afternoon. It took a while, but Nicole finally settled on a half-carat diamond with two smaller diamonds, one on each side. Nicole's hands were small and a large diamond wouldn't look right on her hand. I agreed with her choice and all that remained would be to have it sized. It would be ready before she left at the end of the week.

It was cold and raw that afternoon and after some discussion with Jimmy, we settled on a movie. Nicole and I held hands throughout the picture while Jimmy watched in fascination at the special effects as the good guys tried to stop something called Megatron. It seemed pretty violent to me and the women were scantily dressed, but the place was packed with kids along with a few parent-victims like us. I learned later that it was all part of some franchise called Transformers and Jimmy had a few action figures to show me how they could be changed from a car into a creature or even a plane.

"I think I like live theater better," I said quietly to Nicole.

"Me too," she agreed. "But he and his friends all collect the toys, so I guess I'm out of step with the times."

"I think that's the fate of all parents throughout time. The kids race ahead of us to whatever the future is. You want to fix your computer? Call a high school kid. He knows how. You want to program your DVR, call a ten-year old. They know how."

She was nodding, knowing it was so.

"I've taken this week off so we can be together," I told her.

"Wonderful! Oh, I'm so glad. This is perfect."

"Yeah, everything is perfect except that I'm going to lose you for another three weeks again. Surely you'll be home for Christmas?"

"Yes, I'm sure. We're not leaving until Monday afternoon because of Thanksgiving. Oh! That reminds me, do you think your parents would come to Thanksgiving dinner at our house. It will give them a chance to get to know my family."

"I'll call when we get home. I haven't heard about any special plans, so I'm hoping they will come. They want to meet you and see who stole my heart. I've been telling them about Jimmy as well. I think they'd be excited to come. At least, I hope so."

I called them late that afternoon and got an enthusiastic "Yes" to the invitation. They had no plans for Thanksgiving and were worried that they wouldn't see me with Nicole being home for this particular week. I had been keeping them informed about our courtship and I was sure they expected us to marry, but it wasn't until I told them about the ring and getting Jimmy's acceptance that it was official.

I know my mother was extremely interested in meeting Nicole. She had been lukewarm at best to Leona. They never did quite click. The big bonus, of course, was Jimmy, a ready-made grandson. I had been praising him to the skies as well, so I hoped he would accept my parents the way he had accepted me.

To be continued