“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Foster,” I said with the last bit of air in my lungs.
“Mom, let her go. She can’t breathe,” Chase joked, although it was entirely true.
“I’m sorry, dear. It’s just that Chase hasn’t brought a girl home to meet us in years. It is great to finally get to meet you.”
“Mom, I’ve told you about her for months,” Chase said.
I looked at him baffled as I tried to figure out how he could have told his mother about me for months, before he had actually even met me. But I figured this was part of his plan, and I needed to just go with it.
Chase was really good at improvising in situations, which probably made him a good businessman. It impressed me a lot how quickly he could think on his feet. I was horrible at spontaneously coming up with ideas.
“Oh, yes, dear. The student friend of yours. She sure is pretty,” Mrs. Foster said.
“Mom, you can talk directly to her you know. She speaks perfect English. And, yes, she is beautiful, but she is also a nurse and extremely smart.”
“Oh, honey, I love how you talk about her. I can tell you two are really in love.”
Chase seemed annoyed that his mother kept talking about me in the third person, but he didn’t fight her anymore. Instead, he started laying the groundwork for telling her we were a
ctually married. I suspected it was going to be a very hard thing to sell to his mother. She struck me as the type of person who would want to plan her son’s giant wedding.
“Mom, Jordan and I have some big news that I want to tell you before Dad gets in here.”
Chase’s mom didn’t seem too worried at first, but then she looked over and saw the serious look on his face. She walked over and sat down next to him. I saw some concern in her eyes, and I wondered if she thought the news was bad news or something.
“What is it, Chase?”
“Well, Jordan and I have been dating for a while now. I really love her, Mom,” he said as he squeezed my hand.
“Chase, you are making me nervous, what is it?”
“We got married.”
“Holy hell! Why the heck would you do that? You eloped? Is she pregnant?”
“No, Mom, she isn’t pregnant. We just wanted to get married, and we didn’t want to financially burden our families.”
“Having a wedding isn’t a financial burden. It’s an opportunity for us to share the joyous day with all of our family and friends. What does Jordan’s family think of all this?”
For the first time since I was introduced to her, Mrs. Foster turned and looked at me. I took it as my cue to talk.
“Mrs. Foster, my father is dead and my mother just got remarried. She is very happy that I found a lifelong partner who I love.”
It was a total lie. I had not even talked to my mother since leaving Liechtenstein, but I knew my mother would be happy for me. My mother wouldn’t like that we had gotten married without her there, but she still would be happy for me.
She would have wanted to be with me on my wedding day. She would have wanted me to have a real ceremony. But then again, my mother wouldn’t have wanted me to travel across the world and meet Chase at all. So, I figured it was a good thing my mother hadn’t been around.
Meeting Chase was an adventure that I couldn’t have dreamed of. Until I met Chase, I never would have known what kind of chemistry and attraction there could have been between me and another person.
“I thought you were supposed to be showing your father you could be responsible,” Mrs. Foster said as she turned back to Chase.
“I am. I love her, and we plan to spend the rest of our lives together. I am also responsible because I didn’t let my father spend half a million dollars on a wedding. Instead, we did it quietly.”
His mother seemed to ponder Chase’s explanation for a moment, and then calmed down.
“Chase, I did really want to plan a wedding. Perhaps, we could at least throw a reception to celebrate?”
“Yes, Mother, of course. Whatever makes you happy.”