Once Within A Lifetime (23 page)

They
entered the dining room shortly before six o’clock and got seated for dinner. Soon Marjolaine brought in the salad and wine to get them started. They both were hungry. Next the main course arrived and they ate it heartily and waited for the dessert and coffee.

“
How about having a little fire after dinner?” Todd asked. “We can sit on the couch a while and talk about our future. I will ask Marjolaine to bring the coffee and dessert into the living room.”

They
got settled on the couch before the fire and begin to talk about some of their plans.

When
she arrived with the coffee and dessert, Todd looked at her and said, “Marjolaine, I want you to know that Triessa and I plan to be wed in about three weeks at her place in New England in the United States. Can you attend?”

She
smiled and said, “I had a feeling you two were serious. I wish I would be able to attend but it is not possible. I do wish you all the best.”

Todd
looked at her and said, “We will have a video made and we can share it with you sometime. It will seem like you were there. How will that be?”

“
I will surely like that. Thank you so much,” she answered.

“
When we get back home we can see what my dad and Reese have done. I am sure they are getting things ready each day. How great it is to have a wonderful family to depend on. Now I will have two. I am doubly blessed.”

“
Me, too,” he replied. “You have had a chance now to meet the rest of my family and we all know each other. I am sure they are abuzz with excitement and plans right now. It is going to be the best wedding ever. How could it be otherwise? Hopefully my mother will get her feelings under control. I am so concerned about that. Oh, I am so restless for time to pass so we can truly be together as one forever. I will relax when it is done.”

“
So will I, my darling.” she sighed.

“
I feel my mother will be just fine. I know her very well and she is really a great and loving person. I will call her and tell her we will be by tomorrow and that we need to talk. You can visit with my dad and we will leave from there for the airport the next day. Maybe Dad will take us in and I can leave my car at his place. That would be nice.”

He
came back and told her that all was fine and that his dad would love to take them to the airport. He told them they would be there late at night.

Triessa
was so relieved and knew she would sleep better now.

“
We still have not gone into any plans yet on the honeymoon. That is going to be something. Deciding where to go will be very difficult but we must begin planning. If we decide on something even after we get back we can plan it in possibly. We can’t go everywhere and as long as we are together we can be anywhere and be happy.”

“
You are so right, my precious,” he agreed. “We may go someplace and look at some brochures. It may give us a better idea of where to go. We must decide what we want to do. Do we want a quiet place, a busy place or what? You know it will be much easier to focus once we get this other situation settled and our mind is free, don’t you agree?”

She
nodded.

“
We can always shop, but the main thing is to spend time with each other. Maybe a more secluded area will be good to start with for our personal privacy.”

“
You are right,” she exclaimed. “Something really quiet and special. It will be special anyway because it is our honeymoon.”

Soon
it was time to go to bed. He made sure the fire was all right, took her hand, walked with her to the stairs, and kissed her goodnight. She went up the stairs. Looking back, she waved at him. After she reached her door, he turned to go to his room and they got ready for a good night’s rest and more excitement tomorrow.

She
awoke eager and excited; they were going home very soon to get things ready for their wedding. She could hardly wait to get there to see what had been done and what was left to be done. She wished they did not have to wait so long for the flight. They simply must get it all together on time. She could not wait a single second longer than planned. She hoped all would go well. She was getting herself all nerved up and knew she must calm down. She showered, dressed, and went downstairs to find Todd. He was sitting in the living room on the couch where they had coffee last night. He saw her, stood up, and offered to get her some, but she told him to sit still. She would get some and join him. He sat back down while she got her coffee and she returned to the couch to sit beside him. They were both very eager, and she told him how she got thinking about it and made herself very nervous. He knew it was customary for women to get this way before major functions, especially their own wedding.

“
There, there, Honey, please take it easy, everything will go just fine. As soon as we eat we will go back to my folk’s place. Once things are settled you can relax more and get your things together so we can leave early enough the following day to get a good seat on the plane. You will feel better once I have talked to her and it is all settled.”

Breakfast
was served and they went over to the table and sat down to eat. She did not feel very hungry and he tried to encourage her to eat but she really could not hold that much today.

“
I will be fine, Darling, I can eat better for lunch I am sure. I am just anxious to go get things ready and am sure things are going fine at home, but I tend to be concerned until I can see it for myself. You understand, don’t you?”

“
Of course, I do,” he replied and patted her on the hand. “Wedding jitters,” he said with a smile. He, too, was losing his appetite in his concern for her.

They
soon finished, then got up to get ready for the trip back to his parent’s house. He already had his bags in the car, so they got in and left after saying goodbye to everyone. She gave a sigh of relief because she was, at least, moving toward her goal, home and the plan for the wedding. She knew she would calm down once she was able to do some things and see how much was left to do.

They
soon arrived, went in and his mother greeted them. She could tell that Triessa was very nervous and understood that her jitters were natural.

“
It will go well, dear, do not worry. Your dad and brother are very capable and understand your eagerness. You will see when you get there that much has been done and you can relax.”

“
Thank you for your concern and understanding. Surely, I am needlessly anxious but do not seem to be able to control it. I will be fine once we are on the way.”

“
Mother, can we take a stroll in the garden? I would like to seek your advice on some things.”

“
Certainly, Dear, let me get a sweater. I feel a little cool sometimes.”

They
went outside and began their walk; the garden was lovely.

“
Mom,” he said, “I would like to talk with you about your reaction to our engagement announcement. I want to truly know what your problem was and the real, deep down feeling now.”

“
I understand, my dear. I guess I was concerned because she was a new person. I wanted to be sure you were doing the right thing and wished you had told me sooner so I could talk to you about these things. Things seemed to be moving so fast. I knew you hadn’t known each other long at all. Mothers worry about things like that. How well did you really know each other and such things. I wondered why you did not like a girl from home. These are women’s normal feelings. I am your mother and guess I may feel a little possessive in the right way because you are my son and your whole happiness is very important to me. I wanted to come back home right away but knew that would not be the right thing to do. I feel better about it now, for I trust your judgment. Your dad and I had a long talk about it and he convinced me that I had a wrong attitude about it and should feel so happy for you. It embarrasses me sometimes to talk to Triessa after my episode. I had no idea I would react like that. It surprised me that I got so upset. That made it really hard to act as I should.”  

“
I think she will forgive you. She, no doubt, already has. As long as she knows how you feel she will be all right. She still fears you are upset if you do not talk much. She fears that our wedding will have to be postponed. She is so eager for us to get married and never have to leave each other again. So many things would be hard, if not impossible, to change now. Surely you can understand that. I want to be sure you feel all right in your heart about this whole thing and that we can go on and know it is all right. I don’t want to start our relationship on a bad note. Triessa is very nervous about this and wants to know if it is fine so we can go ahead. I am very concerned for her, I love her very much. You must know we love each other deeply. I fear she may get ill if she doesn’t calm down. We have been so happy and now this is a fright. We do plan to marry no matter what, but we want it to be agreeable to you and all the family. That will make us very happy. We are so eager to get on the way back to check things out, and as long as everything is fine, we can go ahead with our original plans. You really scared us. I feel bad about shocking you. I was really shocked and surprised that you would feel this way. I felt as if I did not know you. So, please tell me all is well with you and send us off with your blessings.”

He
put his arms around her and held her close for a few minutes and she began to cry.

“
We will be staying here with you tonight, if you agree. Our flight does not leave until tomorrow noon. It may be for the best that it happened this way. This will give us a chance to get things settled and be friendly with each other.”

Meanwhile
Dirje had arrived and she was talking to Triessa. Triessa asked her if she knew about her mother’s reaction.

“
Yes, I did, and I talked strongly to her about it. I could sense something was wrong and asked her what was happening and that she must tell me the truth. Mother did not ever say anything to Todd, but she had plans to discuss with him a girl who had been interested in him for some time. Mother and she had talked about it some. Mother liked her and really hoped she could get them together, so naturally, she was disappointed when she learned that the two of you were already engaged. The disappointment and the shock together really hit her hard. I am so sorry for you and Todd. I know you meant the surprise in the best way. Mother was embarrassed to have to tell this girl about you and Todd getting married. She knew she would be upset.”

“
That makes sense,” Triessa exclaimed, “And actually I wondered if it may be something like that. I did not know if Todd had a girlfriend before we met and I did not ask. I felt if there were someone, he would have told me. Here I come into his life, a total stranger; it was a little frightening, I am sure. I am so sorry it had to happen this way. We should have used a different approach but we felt it was such a wonderful idea. We were so excited we could not even imagine it being a problem in any way. But, I can understand now her strange and sudden upset. She was thrown off balance but she could not talk about it at the time. She is with Todd now. We need to get this cleared up so we can go on with our plans. We talked yesterday after getting my dress and she seemed fine, but I wanted Todd to talk with her, especially since it is his mother. We would not hurt her for the world. Do you think she will tell him about the girl?”

“
I don’t know, but it makes no difference now. I doubt that she will. No point at all. I helped convince her that, as long as the two of you loved each other, it is a very good thing and she should be glad because you will make each other very happy. I think she’s embarrassed at this point because of all that happened and feels uncomfortable with you. Maybe we can get it ironed out this evening. I will help all I can.”

“
Oh, I would truly appreciate that. You are like the sister I never had.”

His
dad came into the room, came over and put his arm around Triessa’s shoulder and patted her on the back. He could remember his own daughter and her feelings at the time of her wedding.

“
We will get there as soon as we can so we can help you also, my dear.”

“
Thank you very much. I really do appreciate it. I need to remember that I have done a lot since I have been here. The major job has been taken care of. I have my dress and accessories. I truly had a wonderful time here with you. You are wonderful people and I love you very much. Todd is talking with his mother. We need to know things are fine with her so we can go back and get things together. We never expected such a jolt as this. But then I guess neither did she. We do not want to have to put off our wedding now that we are so psyched up and ready for it. There are too many plans which cannot be changed at this late date.”

“
I do not think you have a thing to worry about. We have discussed it a few times. She understands her situation and feels very embarrassed, which is understandable.” He smiled and hugged her again.

Todd
and his mother came into the room and looked pleased and happy. They breathed a sigh of relief, feeling all was well. He looked at Triessa and winked.