CHAPTER 18
"Hey," Mrs. Whitfield said.
"I thought you left a few minutes ago," Mr. Whitfield said to Rick without taking his eyes off of the television.
"I just went out to my truck for a minute."
"Oh, I just heard you go out and assumed you had left."
"I have something to tell you," Mary said.
"What is that, honey?" Mrs. Whitfield asked without looking up from her needlepoint.
"I am pregnant."
Mrs. Whitfield dropped her needlepoint, and Mr. Whitfield dropped his tea glass onto the hardwood floor.
"You are WHAT?" Mrs. Whitfield said.
"I am pregnant, mom."
"You can't be. You aren't married. How could you do this to me?"
Mr. Whitfield just sat there staring blankly at Rick. Rick was afraid that Mr. Whitfield was going to jump up any second and beat him to death.
Mrs. Whitfield just started screaming and crying, "I just don't know what I am going to do. Why?" Then it became unintelligible garble. Suddenly she just looked at Rick, and began to shout, "YOU!" and pointed at him. "This is your fault. You impregnated my daughter. How could you do this. How can you stand in my house after you have done this to me. Do you know what they are going to say?" She then turned to her daughter and said, "We can take care of this honey, and you can forget all about this loser."
"Mom, first of all, I cannot believe your insensitivity to all of this. Second, I have made my decision, and I am going to have this baby. You can either support me or you can not, but you should know that I am just as much to blame as Rick is. I am prepared to live with my actions, and you cannot buy me an abortion the way you did my brother's girlfriend when he was in college."
"You did WHAT?" Mr. Whitfield spoke for the first time.
"When Roger was in college, he got this girl pregnant, and they didn't want it, and Mom didn't want the embarrassment, so she paid for the abortion for the girl."
"And you never told me?"
"I was going to, but I knew you would be upset."
"Why didn't I miss the money. Wasn't it kind of expensive?"
"Well, it was while we were remodeling the kitchen, and so I just lumped it in with the loan."
"You mean to tell me I am still paying for an abortion that happened three years ago for some girl that I never even met?"
"That is about the size of it," Mary said as she looked at her mother with fire in her eyes.
"If you choose not to support me, don't count on seeing a lot of your first grandchild either, though right now you want to kill it."
"You wouldn't."
"I would. Look, I am not against abortion totally. I really did consider it, but I don't think it is right for me. I hope that you and dad can support Rick and me, but if you can't, it isn't going to stop me," Mary said, as she hugged Rick close to her.
Rick didn't know exactly what to say. He had never known about Roger's indiscretions, and he was quite shocked. Roger was a couple years older, and now lived out of town. Rick had always thought he was the perfect kid. He had done great in school and was big into church.
"I am leaving. I will let you think about this, and I will talk about this with you in the morning."
"Just a minute, young lady, I hope you don't think you are going to go and spend the night at his house."
"Mom, first of all, it doesn't really matter what you think, and second of all, I don't think it's any secret that we have already done what you are afraid we might do if I do, so just stuff it. I am leaving." She turned to Rick, "Come on, I will follow you in my car."
Rick turned around and looked at her dad and mouthed, "I'm sorry," and looked toward Mary and her mom.
"Let me speak to Rick a minute before you leave."
"Dad, you leave him alone."
"No, Mary, I am prepared to take whatever he wants to give to me," Rick said, and turned and walked into the other room behind Mr. Whitfield.
Rick stood in front of him and nervously said, "Go ahead, I will take whatever, just please don't do any permanent damage. I still want to be able to be a good father."
"Rick, you are a brave fellow, and I am proud that you are going to marry my daughter. I am not going to hit you. I am not going to even threaten you to treat my daughter right, because I already know you will. I already knew it, but your willingness to come in here with me has cemented it. Don't worry about what her mom says, she is just concerned about what the ladies at the church, and more importantly to her, the country club will say. I am not going to lie to you. I am disappointed about the way that this has happened. I do want to tell you that if you are just marrying her because of the baby, don't. I would rather deal with that than for the two of you to get married and be unhappy because of it."
"Mr. Whitfield, you are not the first person to tell me that. My parents told me the same thing, as did my brother Mark, and I can assure you that that is not the case. I think that this only sped up something that would have happened anyway."
"If that is the case, then you have my blessings."
Just then they heard screaming and wailing in the other room.
Mr. Whitfield said, "No, don't go in there. I don't want you to have to deal with that. I can handle it. I will send Mary in here."
A minute later, Mary came into the room. She was followed by Mrs. Whitfield, who was screaming at the top of her lungs. Mr. Whitfield was running along behind her trying to stop her with no success.
"How could you do this to me?" she said to Mary. "And you," she said turning to Rick, "how can you show your face here."
This really enraged the normally calm and even tempered Rick. "I don't know, Mrs. Whitfield. Maybe it was because I was taught to face my problems rather than running from them. Maybe if you would prefer, I could just leave and never see you, Mary, or my child again. Would you prefer that? That would be some fun for your country club friends. Maybe a better thing would be if Mary and I just left and you never got to see your grandchild. Would you like that? The only way you would even know about it would be if my parents happened to show you a picture. Is that the way you want it? Do you want her to have an abortion so nobody will know? Go ahead, but don't think your friends at the country club won't find out. They will. I will see to it if you try to kill my child. I usually try to hold my tongue, but I do not appreciate you tearing down Mary about this. If you want to blame somebody, go ahead and blame me. You can hate me if you want, but like it or not, I am here because I want to be. I will defend Mary, my child and myself as best I can. You can count on that. Don't think you are going to be walking all over her anymore."
"Well, maybe you should just leave, you disrespectful brat."
"No, mom, I don't think he is the one being disrespectful. He came over here and made an attempt to do what both of us think is the right thing. He and I both know that we made a mistake, but I hope you understand we both intend to make something beautiful out of what is seen as a mistake. Rick has been nothing but respectful to you and Dad. It is very hard to keep from saying something to someone who runs into the room wailing like a banshee, and then turns to you spouting insults. If anyone in this room is a disrespectful brat, it's you. I am tired of this nonsense. You only accepted Todd because he has done just what he was supposed to, and when you talk to your friends, you pretend like Scott is not even alive because he is 27 and unmarried. He doesn't even call you anymore because you are so awful to him. If Todd and Janie didn't keep in touch with him, you wouldn't even know he was alive. You just can't accept the fact that he is gay. Mom, if you would just open your eyes to the fact that life does not always happen the way you plan it, and just accept things as they come to you, this whole family would be much happier. You have run your oldest off. Do you really want your youngest gone too?"
"Scott is gay?" Rick looked at Mary in disbelief.
"No he isn't," Mrs. Whitfield said.
"Mom, if you deny it enough, it doesn't make it any less true. It isn't like he never came out to us. He told us in plain English. Do you think I will be any less pregnant if you just pretend I am not? Will you be any less a grandma? Oh wait -- you will be less a grandma because I will keep you away from my child."
"Ok, that is enough everybody," Mr. Whitfield said. Everyone just stood and looked at him in silence. "I think we all need to get away from one another. All we are doing now is hurting each other, and there is no sense in it."
"I am leaving now."
"Where do you think you are going?"
"I am leaving for the night," Mom.
"Not with him you are not."
"First of all, I am 24 years old. I will come and go as I please. Second, I don't think that it is any secret that I have already done what you seem to be afraid I will do with him, so leave me alone. I will sleep in my car before I sit and listen to you bitch at me all night. Come on, Rick."
As they were leaving, Mr. Whitfield whispered into his only daughter's ear, "Please call me tomorrow. It is ok."
Rick and Mary got outside and Mary broke the silence, "Well, that went better than I expected."
"I would have hated to see worse than you expected."
"That would only have been accomplished with a ride in an ambulance."
"Let's be glad it wasn't, then."
"How did your parents take it?"
"Not like that," Rick said flatly.
"That's good to know, but seriously, what did they say?"
"Not much really. They were really happy and wanted to help all they could. Of course after finding out your middle son is gay one week, finding out your eldest is about to become a father the next week isn't quite as big a shock."
"I see your point. Mom still pretends that Scott is going to come home with a wife any day now. He has told us that he is gay. He has even introduced me and Todd to some of his boyfriends, though none of them seem to have worked out. She just cannot handle things. I think she will be ok after she calms down though. She can't really pretend this isn't happening."
"I am just glad that we got everything out in the open."
"Me too."
"You know what else I am glad about?"
"What's that?"
"That you said yes!" With that, Rick kissed her before she had a chance to respond.
When they finally broke their embrace, "I am glad I said yes too."
After a few minutes of silence, Rick said, "I am exhausted from all of this, how do you want to do this?"
"I would love to spend the night with you, but I don't think it is a good idea. I think that as much as she has processed today, my mom's head might explode if I really do spend the night over there with you. I probably better stay here."
"You do not need to stay here with all of this. You just stay at my house, and I will go to my parents' house."
"I can't kick you out."
"You need your rest. Tomorrow is the last day of school for you, isn't it?"
"It is, thank goodness."
"You have a key to my place, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Just use it. I am going to go on to my family's house. You can come over there first if you want to. I know they will all be really excited to see you."
"I don't know. I am kind of tired."
"Come on. I am tired too, but it's only 8:15."
"Ok, but just for a minute. I will follow you so that I have my car in the morning."
"Ok. See you there."
CHAPTER 19
Mary decided to go back in after storming out and tell her dad where she would be. Her mom, fortunately was in the bathroom bawling at the moment. Mr. Whitfield offered reassurances that everything would be okay. Mary drove over to the Lee house. She was really nervous about going over there. After the way her mom reacted to the news, she was terrified to walk in. She knew Rick told her that they handled it well, but she was nervous nonetheless. She was relieved to see Rick still in the driveway when she drove up.
"I knew you were nervous, so I waited out here on you."
"Thanks."
"You know there is no need to be nervous. My parents are really ok with it. My mom even helped me pick out the ring, and wouldn't let me pay for it. I know it's their store and all, but it was still not free to them."
"Wow, they really must have taken it a lot better than my parents."
"They did, but the person who I owe the most to is Mark. They were all supportive about it, but Mark is the one who kept me from really falling apart."
"I just can't believe that Mark is gay."
"He is. I hope that doesn't bother you."
"I have to say I don't really like it, but I can't really hold it against you."
Rick stopped dead still. "Mary, Mark is my brother, and he is very important to me. I love him because he is Mark. The fact that he is gay is not something that makes me love him any less. I hope you can see past that and accept Mark for the wonderful kid that he is."
Mary just stared at Rick not quite sure what to say.
Rick moved first and said, "Let's go on in."
As they walked into the Lee kitchen they were greeted with huge grins by Mrs. Lee, John and Brad who were sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of hot chocolate.
John looked over to them and didn't say hey. He just said, "Well?"
Rick took one look at him and started laughing.
Brad just said to Rick with a straight face and said, "Well?"
Finally Rick stopped laughing and turned to Mary and said, "I guess its up to you to tell them how it went."
"I'm here, aren't I? That should tell you something," Mary asked.
"I am guessing that means you said yes?" John said.
"Of course, but only on the condition that my youngest brother is sent off to military school," Rick said and then turned to his mom. "Can you handle that for me?"
"I think that is a grand idea. I see Mary is already making a contribution to the family with such good ideas."
"I guess maybe that is a good idea, since the first two of you turned out so bad. A different idea might help me," John said in a tone that was just a little more sarcastic than he meant it to be.
"I'll check with your father about that, but I am sure he will think it's a good idea too. I wonder if we can get him in one far away so that it is too hard for him to find his way back."
"Ok guys, enough of this joking. I am starting to get nervous," John said.
"Who is joking?" Mrs. Lee said. Then she burst out laughing.
"So what is all the fun going on in here about?" Mark said walking into the kitchen. Then he saw Rick and Mary and said, "So can I safely assume that we are looking at the future Mrs. Rick Lee?"
"You can," Mary said to the room.
Mark cheered loudly and ran over and hugged them both. He could tell that Mary was a little hesitant to hug him. John did likewise followed by Brad, who shook Mary's hand and then Rick's. Rick grabbed him and hugged him.
"Congratulations, kids," Mr. Lee said.
"Yes, congratulations," Mrs. Lee said. "I am sure you haven't, but have you thought about a date yet."
"We really haven't, we have been dealing with other crisis," Mary replied.
"I take it that your parents did not take the news with open arms?" Mark said.
"They were excited about the engagement, until my mom found out about the rest."
"Well, I can say that it isn't the way I wanted it to work out for Rick, but you are both good kids, and it is really a wonderful thing. Just look at Rick."
"Hmm, mom, when you put it that way, maybe it wasn't such a great thing after all," Mark said looking over to Rick.
"I can still kick your little college butt."
"In your dreams."
"Maybe we can have a tag team match," John said, never to be left out of the fight. "Mark and I can take on Rick."
"Mary, walk in here with me for a minute," Mrs. Lee said.
"Ok," Mary said nervously.
As they left the room, Mark said to Rick, "I am glad it worked out. How bad did they take it?"
"He was fine, but she completely flipped out when we told her that Mary was pregnant."
"I expected she would. You know she is friends with my mom," Brad said. "They are both socialites, and that upsets the image they want."
"She is going to just have to understand that while things don't always work out they way you plan, they always work out," Rick said.
"And they will, Rick. They will," Mark said.
In the other room, Mrs. Lee said to Mary, "You don't have to be so nervous. I don't bite you know."
"I just don't know. My mom sure did try."
"Well, don't worry about her now. She will eventually accept this and be happy about it. Her love for her grandchildren will overwhelm the problems she has with it. Believe me, I know. I was in your shoes once. That is where Rick came from."
"He mentioned something about that."
"Well, every mother has a plan for her children and my kids have not followed that plan exactly, but I think they are all good honest boys. That is all I can ask of them. I learned a long time ago that you have to accept when things do not go according to plan and love your kids anyway."
"I was just afraid you were going to hate me the way my mom does now."
"I sincerely doubt that your mom hates you, but she is upset right now. It will get better, but you watch out for Rick. She is going to probably blame him and have it in for him for a while. That is what happened with my mother. Of course after a while she finally accepted him and then I was the one who didn't ever do anything right."
"So does that mean that you blame me?"
"Mary, first of all, unless there is something I haven't heard about, the both of you were involved in creating this situation, so if I were going to blame anyone it would have to be both of you equally. I personally don't have any room to blame anyone because I have been there myself. I really think that if I had to blame anyone it would have to be myself and Mr. Lee. History has a tendency to repeat itself in future generations, so that is where you two come in."
"I can't believe you are so understanding."
"Well, I just know that you have to do what you can to support the people your children turn into. I will say that while I love both Mark and Brad, the news of their relationship was much harder for me to accept than this is, if that makes you feel better."
"I hadn't really thought of that."
"Well, don't get me wrong, I really am glad that if Mark was going to be gay that he and Brad found one another. I am also really glad that they were able to come out to us rather than to hide their lives from us. I respect the both of them and have accepted Brad into our family much the same way that I intend to accept you if you will accept us. It was just much harder to take the fact that your son is in love with another man than to find that you are pregnant. It was very easy for me to relate to you because I have been in your shoes before. I hope that this helps you to feel better. I know your mom will come around."
"I don't know. She still pretends my brother isn't gay."
"I had no idea that he was. Has he told her he is?"
"Yes. Todd and I have even met some of his boyfriends, of course none of them were as cute as Mark and Brad."
"It is a lot easier for her to do that because he lives in Atlanta. It will be much harder with you living here for her to act like that."
"I just don't know. I have never seen her like that."
"Would you like me to talk to her tomorrow?"
"I would love that, but that is a lot to ask of you."
"Don't worry about it. I will do it tomorrow while you are at school."
"Thanks."
After a long day and evening, the whole family went to bed. Rick's mom rearranged their plans. She told Mary that she could take Rick's old room, and told Rick to go on to his house. She cornered Brad and Mark in the den and said, "Brad, I hope it is okay, but I gave Mary your room. I know Rick had planned to stay over and he could have just shared Mark's room but I thought it would be better for Mary not to have to go to Rick's little house by herself this time of night."
"That is ok, Mrs. Lee. It is ok. I can just sleep on the couch."
"Well, I have been thinking about it, and while I am not crazy about it, I know you two sleep in the same bed in Athens, don't you?"
"Yes, Mom," Mark said, blushing.
"Well, I think that it is okay if you two sleep in Mark's room."
"Are you sure that is okay, Mrs. Lee? I don't mind sleeping in the den if it isn't."
"I know you don't, Brad. I appreciate your consideration, and that is one reason that I think it is okay for you to sleep there. I wasn't born yesterday and I know certain things might happen in there. I don't really want them to, but just make sure that Mary and John don't hear it."
"Mom?" Mark said, really blushing.
Brad tried to hide it, but Mrs. Lee could tell that he was excited as he spoke. "Thanks, but I really don't mind if it isn't okay. I appreciate all you and Mr. Lee have done, and I don't want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable."
"Brad, it does make me uncomfortable, but at some point I am going to have to get comfortable, and now is just as good a time as any for that to happen."
Brad hugged Mrs. Lee, and whispered in her ear, "Thanks. I love this whole family."
"Thank you, Brad," she whispered back into his ear.
As they broke their embrace, Mrs. Lee said, "Brad, you better run on upstairs and move your things into Mark's room, so you don't disturb Mary later."
"I just need to get a couple of things."
"No Brad, take everything. This is a permanent move."
"Really?" Brad and Mark said in unison.
"Yes, now go!"
"Mom," Mark said, hanging back after Brad went upstairs.
"Thanks."
"You are welcome. I should have let you do that from the start."
"It was okay, and we understood you not, but that isn't what I mean," Brad said.
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Lee asked.
"I mean thank you for loving me in spite of what I am. So many parents don't. I am really lucky, and so is Rick. John too, but he just hasn't had time to make you prove it."
"Lets hope he doesn't make us prove it for a while," she said smiling. "We are lucky to have kids like you. Many parents don't realize how lucky they are."
"Thanks anyway."
"Thank you for being honest with us about yourself. Now get on upstairs and get to bed."
Well guys, I hope you enjoyed this part. I hope that you have had a great holiday. I have really enjoyed writing, and as always, I enjoy hearing from readers. Mark and Brad have plenty more adventures in front of them, but I am not sure if there is a lot of interest still out there for them. Email me and let me know if I should continue the story. Thanks again for your reading, and I hope to post the parts a little more frequently in the new year. Have a Happy 2004!!