The Greatest of These is Love Pt. 07

"What does...?" Susan began, and John shook the stick, vigorously, making the bell sound.

"It signifies that whoever is holding it is the only one permitted to speak. I'm holding it now, so you and Dad and Owen must listen quietly and not interrupt."

"The nerve..." she started and John shook the stick, making the bell jingle, and kept shaking it for fifteen seconds.

"One last time: I'm holding the Talking Stick, so only I may talk."

"John..."

"Mom, SHUT UP!" John roared, shaking the stick. Susan looked over at Henry, who was sitting back in his recliner with his arms crossed and nodding his head slowly. Owen just sat at his end of the sofa, eyes bugging out, mouth shut.

"I never..." she began once more.

"Mom, either you close your mouth, or I walk out the door and NEVER come back and NEVER speak to you again!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me," John said flatly, his eyes narrowing with his hatred. Henry cleared his throat, causing John to look at him. Henry held out his hand, pleading with his eyes, silently asking to hold the Talking Stick. John stepped over to his father and relinquished the scepter of speech.

"Susan, this is exactly the scenario I warned you about last night. Do you remember? I've seen that his suitcases are packed and ready to go. You are standing at the precipice of an abyss of your own making. Please step away." Henry made the bell jingle softly and returned control of the stick to John when his son looked at him.

Susan knew that tears weren't going to cut the mustard tonight. Pressing her lips tightly together, she nodded and narrowed her eyes at her rebellious child.

"'So, has Little Miss Daisy Mae gone back to the farm?' Do you admit these words came from your mouth as soon as you walked in the door from work? I do have a witness," John stated, pointing at his brother. Henry's mouth opened in his surprise at his wife's words as she nodded her head once but kept her mouth closed.

"Her name is Dawn Michelle Louise Taggart, not Daisy Mae. I have every hope and expectation that it will one day be Dawn Michelle Louise Wilson. We're good for each other, made for each other. We make each other better and our strengths shore up the other's weaknesses." Susan's eyes narrowed further at this declaration.

"She does not live on a farm. Her family's house is larger and better than ours and has larger front and back yards. Her parents, sisters, aunt, and even her dog accepted me graciously and without reservation when I visited them at Halloween and Thanksgiving. She was both head cheerleader and class president all four years in high school, she's fluent in both French and Spanish, and she wants to be a Foreign Languages teacher. She is NOT a dizzy blonde, no matter WHAT you may think!" He paused for ten seconds to let that sink in before continuing.

"To top it all off, her inheritance from her grandmother, who passed last January, is worth north of a quarter million. She's not after my money. She's after my mind and my body, and she's very good to me! She's so beautiful and she could have her pick of almost anyone, yet she chooses me. I would have thought that you would be happy for me like the rest of our family is."

John stood in front of his mother, glaring at her, almost daring her to say something to the contrary. Susan seemed to shrink in on herself a little, thinking about the accusations her son had laid out before her. John slowly turned to face his father.

"One key piece of advice that Dawn's father gave me that very first weekend I visited them was this: 'Treat her like a Queen, but don't let her treat you like a subject. If she's your Queen, then you need to step up and be her King.' To that, I would add: The queen may be the most powerful piece on the chessboard, but the king wins or loses the game". John's tone turned gentle, "Dad, I think you let Mom treat you like her subject. What will it be like once Owen's away at college and it's just the two of you?"

Henry cast his eyes to the floor, absorbing what John had just said and hunching up a little at the accuracy of his son's words. Henry didn't ask for the Talking Stick; he had no response to John and nothing else to say.

John turned back to look at Susan and declared, "I'm staying the night in my bed, Mom. My suitcases are packed. Where I stay tomorrow night depends almost totally on you."

Since no one indicated they wanted the Talking Stick, John laid it on the coffee table. He mouthed, "I love you" to Owen, and then quietly returned to his bedroom. He was shaking with unspent adrenaline as he mounted the stairs. He entered his room and closed the door. He moved his suitcase to the floor next to the door and lay on his bed.

Laying on his back, John slid his hands under his pillow and heard an unexpected crinkling sound. Puzzled, he sat up and turned his pillow over so the cool side was up. He soon found a sealed plastic bag inside his pillowcase, and he was quite surprised by the contents. He opened the seal and the wonderful scent of an excited Dawn wafted out. John quickly resealed the bag after pressing all the air out. He needed to speak with Dawn about what happened in the family forum, but it wasn't yet 9 o'clock.

Downstairs in the living room, everyone was silent and nobody had moved from their seats. Finally, Owen got to his feet, picked up the Talking Stick, and moved to the doorway.

"This is an interesting thing. How come John had one but I didn't?" Owen inquired.

With Susan remaining mute, Henry responded, "John joined Cub Scouts for one year but you weren't old enough then. We never signed you up for Cub Scouts when you were old enough."

"I see. Was there any particular reason why not?"

"Your mother and I simply did not have enough time, I guess. Looking back, I suppose we were rather selfish with our time," Henry admitted.

"Hmmm. Well, the past is the past and cannot be changed. I'll return this to John. Good night," Owen said as he left the room.

"What do you think he meant by 'I see' and 'Hmmm'?" Susan quietly asked Henry. He silently rose and sat next to her on the sofa.

"I think he was acknowledging that John has had different experiences than he has. Perhaps he's a little upset that we did less with and for him in comparison to John. Tonight is not the night to worry about that. Like he said, 'the past is the past'."

"Have I ruined our relationship with John?" she asked. "I am finally starting to understand what you've been trying to tell me. I've driven him away, haven't I?" Susan reached with her hand to hold Henry's.

"Maybe, maybe not, although I would say the cliff edge you're standing on is crumbling beneath your feet. It seems to me that you've been doing everything you could to break them up, and it's only drawing them closer together, unifying them against you. If we don't try to make it up to John first thing in the morning, he could very easily not be here when we get home. From the sounds of things, he would be welcomed at Dawn's home with open arms.

"You're only alienating John by calling her 'Daisy Mae'. Were you listening to what he said? Sure, she's very pretty and quite intelligent. She seems to be as smart as John is in many ways. They back each other up, filling in the weaknesses in the other person, very much like we were when we got together. To top it all off, she and her family have some money."

Susan laid her head on Henry's shoulder and sniffled. "But how do I fix it?" she asked softly.

"I think it's just going to take time, Suzie Q, maybe a long time. We need to make some time for our sons, and this holiday break could make for a decent starting point. Let's go upstairs and discuss this in a less traumatic venue." Henry waggled his eyebrows and Susan blushed slightly. Holding hands, they climbed their staircase.

They undressed, got into the bed, and lay facing each other. Henry pulled Susan's hand to his mouth and kissed the back of her knuckles.

"How much time were you planning to take off between now and New Year's?" he asked. "Better still, how much time can you take off?"

"I wasn't planning on taking any time off. I was looking forward to having the office nearly empty for the week between Christmas and New Year's. Why do you ask?" she responded.

"I will hold off going in tomorrow morning so I can speak with John. We need to talk him down from the ledge. I think I can do that better than you can right now. But we need time together as a family, so I need you to ask for the week between the holidays off from work. I'll do the same. We can decide then what we want to do together. We also need to spread a bit more love in Owen's direction, if you didn't clue into what he said. We will not want a repeat of all this with him. And you need to figure out why you hate Dawn so much."

Susan wept a bit more and nodded her acceptance of Henry's plan.

= [] = [] =

"Mamma, would it be okay if John were to come and stay with us for a few weeks, just until school starts?" Dawn asked Emily while they were washing and drying the dishes that could not fit into the dishwasher. The menfolk and her sisters had quietly vanished after the meal.

Emily paused her washing to look at her eldest. She twisted her mouth, considering the request and the requestor.

"It's been less than twelve hours since you two parted, and now you're askin' if he can come stay for nearly four weeks?"

Dawn pursed her lips, considering her mother's question. Emily continued her thoughts.

"Tell me, darlin', what happened while you two were visiting John's family?"

Dawn started slowly, talking about their drive from school and meeting John's father, brother, and critical mother. As Dawn finished the drying, Emily suggested they head down to Dawn's room to get comfortable and to have a little privacy. Once her bedroom door was shut and they were lounging on her bed, Dawn resumed her narrative.

Dawn related her conversation with John's mother, Susan, and her declaration that there was to be no 'hot monkey sex in her house.' That drew a big grin from Emily who knew that Dawn would find a way around that moratorium. Dawn shared how she provided a neutral sounding board for John's brother, Owen. Emily covered her mouth as she snorted when she realized that John's brother was named Owen Wilson. The actor was one of Emily's secret favorites. Dawn knew this and added, "And Owen likes to say 'Wow' a lot." They both laughed at this fact.

Continuing her narrative, Dawn related how both sets of John's grandparents verbally approved of her and her relationship with John. "His Grandpa Smith and Grandma Wilson were a little standoffish, but I soon reeled them in with my charm, good looks, and approachability. To top it all off, I've been asked to call them 'Grandma Smith' and 'Grandpa Smith'."

"Very nicely done, Dawnie. You always get more flies with honey than with vinegar."

"Yeah, too bad that doesn't seem to work with John's mother. Please forgive my language, Mamma, but she's a cast iron bitch, and the only serious problem in my relationship with John. Fortunately, his father and brother seem to like me a lot."

"Well, if'n you're gonna hitch your wagon to his star, you're gonna have to deal with her for the rest of your life," Emily advised.

"Yeah, I know that," Dawn said a bit disconsolately.

"But, how often and for how long are other questions altogether. And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, she'll have a 'Road to Damascus' conversion. We can hope for the best.

"It's good to have you home now for the holidays, Dawn. I'm a little surprised at myself for having missed you for a few days, but I did." Emily pulled her daughter in for a very warm, loving, and long‑lasting hug.

"Now, back to the question that started all this upstairs: can John come and stay until it's time for you two to go back to school? Let's puzzle through that, shall we?

"For this week, I would strongly discourage that and for these reasons: he just spent a recent family holiday here away from his folks; he doesn't have a great way to get here, outside of Dawn's taxi service; and we have family coming in and out. So, this is probably not the best time to be adding him into the mix. But," and Emily forestalled Dawn by raising a hand when Dawn was going to object, "maybe he could come and visit us for a week after New Year's Day.

"I think you need to encourage him to stick things out with his family at least for the rest of December. Maybe with you not stoking the fires by your presence, things might calm down a bit. But John coming here before New Year's would be like throwing gasoline on a fire. You two are gonna talk tonight, right? Yeah, like I don't know my own flesh‑and‑blood."

"Okay, Mamma, you're right as usual. He was gonna have a discussion, something called a 'family forum', this evenin', then he was going to call me at 9:00. I'll try to soothe him from here. We had planned not to see each other until we went back to school in January and talked about how bein' apart for this break should be good for us. His mother must have done something horrendous to derail our plan." Dawn's temper was beginning to rise a little.

"Honey child, here's something to put in your back pocket: Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it. Stop and think about that." Emily kissed Dawn's forehead and stroked her daughter's hair. "I've got to put a little more work into the afghan that's almost finished. We can talk some more in the morning if you're of a mind to."

"Thanks, Mamma. It's good to be home," as Gypsy pushed open the bedroom door and trotted in. Emily grinned as Dawn patted the bed and Gypsy quickly jumped up, turned around three times, and lay down to look at Dawn with an adoring gaze. Dawn could not resist and her hand stroked the collie's head with great affection. Gypsy's tongue lolled in her happiness. Her person was home where she belonged! All was now right with the world.

= [] = [] =

Time simply could not pass quickly enough for John. He got up and repeatedly paced in his room. He still had a lot of adrenaline in his system from when he told off his mother. His hands still trembled slightly. He had never been this angry and infuriated with his parents. Finally, at a quarter 'til nine, he gave up, put on his coat, and marched outside. The cold December night air made him grateful that he usually stuffed his gloves and a stocking hat into the coat's pockets.

When John closed the front door with a little more force than was needed, Henry and Owen came out of their rooms and quickly checked to verify that John's suitcases were still in his room. With a faint exhalation of relief, they grinned and nodded to each other, returning to their respective bedrooms. John would be back; he just needed some fresh air.

At long last, his phone's alarm went off. He had to remove a glove to silence it, but he needed a bare finger to press the *2 anyway. He barely heard the phone ring before Dawn answered.

"Hi, my love. How are you?" she asked.

John hesitated only a couple of seconds before launching into his recap of his mother's slurs and his father's seeming tolerance of them. Dawn would give an occasional, "Uh-huh" or "go on", but she had anticipated John's need to vent and knew that she was the only outlet for his frustrations despite being at the opposite corner of the state. When his words began to peter out, she then began asking her questions.

"So, how did you leave things with your family?"

"I said that I'd stay the night, but that my bags were packed. Where things go from here is entirely up to them. Did you remember to ask if I could come?"

Dawn bit her lip, then responded truthfully.

"Mamma thinks you should spend this family holiday with your family since you spent Thanksgiving here with us. She mentioned the possibility of you coming for a week before we head back to school, though. We may have some family coming in from out of town and you know how every bedroom is in use. Out of curiosity, how were you planning to get here?"

John's breath gusted from his lungs at her last question. He didn't have any transportation of his own, and he had not looked at the bus schedule from Springfield to Phelps Bluff. With his recent spate of luck, he'd have to overnight in Springfield, which was not something he wished to do.

"Listen and hear me good, my love," she resumed. "I agree with Mamma; you need some time at home to reconnect with your family. I think that my presence just added fuel to an unnecessary flame. Certain things went very well: your brother and father, as well as your grandparents and Aunt Jewel, all accepted me with open arms. But I think there are unresolved issues with your mother that will impact your future relationships. Maybe you two could use this time to work things out."

Dawn's voice was a balm for his frayed soul. He knew that she was as committed to him as he was to her. Her words rang clearly with the truth, and he found himself agreeing with her assessment and advice.

"Okay, once again you're probably right about this. But I won't stand for her badmouthing you and belittling your more rural background. It's not like you had a choice of where you grew up or where your family is from."

"I love you so much, John, even more now for defending me in my absence, not that I ever expected anything different. You are just now realizing your inner strength. That makes me all tingly inside." John snorted softly at her words.

"I've got to get inside. I'm getting cold, even with a coat and hat on. I'll sleep on things tonight and try to talk with Mom tomorrow. Shall we set up a regular 9:00 PM call schedule?"

"That would be very nice, my sweet man. Oh, did you find the 'gift' I left for you?"

"Oh, yeah, I did." The smile on his face was audible to her.

"Good. I left you my softest, silkiest ones. Don't 'use them' too much, but I do expect them clean when you return them to me," she said, pretending to be stern with her 'command'.

"I've already pressed the air out of the bag and resealed it. I will hand wash them before I give them back to you," he promised.

"Good. Now get inside before something important freezes 'hard'. I love you, so very much."

"And I love and adore you, Dawn. We'll talk again tomorrow night. Good night."

"Good night, my love."

John headed for the warm indoors. As he was mounting the front steps, he realized that he had a spring in his step and that he wasn't dreading going back inside. He mulled over those realizations as he hung up his coat, locked the front door, and climbed the stairs. He gently closed his bedroom door and prepared for bed.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

"Now remember, Susan, you need to request to have next week off from work."

"Yes, Henry," Susan replied quietly.

"Also, be sure to say goodbye to John before you leave for work. At the very least, let him know you'd like to speak with him and that we're both taking next week off to be home. Gauge his emotional state by his response. I won't tell you what else to say, but you need to make some time to talk with him. I mean, really talk with him, not to him or at him. You've dug yourself a serious hole and only you can dig yourself out of it. I've got to go in early today to get a jump on the year-end reports. I'll see you for supper, okay?"

"Absolutely, my dear." Susan wrapped her arms around Henry's neck and pulled him into a kiss. He expected her usual perfunctory peck on the lips but got a whole lot more than that. "I need to make up things to you as well," she admitted.

Henry added, "The first step to fixing a problem is acknowledging there is a problem. I do love you, Susan, and we both need next week off. I've got to go." Henry quietly slipped out the door, noting the time was 7:00 AM. That should give him over half an hour of undisturbed work.