Chapter 3
"You two have a very lovely home." Joanne commented later that afternoon at lunch.
"Thank you Joanne." Mr. Johnson smiled, taking a sip of his lemonade.
Mrs. Johnson simply smirked, not really paying attention to what Joanne was saying. Instead her interest was on how close the lawyer was sitting next to Maureen and her arm around her daughter's shoulders.
"So Maur, have any more protests the police had to break up?" Nikki asked with interest.
Maureen's ears perked up, her eyes sparkling, "Well the one that was on the news and another one for Animal Rights. Joanne had to bail me out of jail for that one."
Mrs. Johnson gasped her attention no longer on Joanne, but rather Maureen herself, "Maureen! You've been in jail?"
Nikki suppressed a laugh, "More than a few times." She whispered, wincing when Maureen kicked her under the table.
"Maureen Johnson!" Mrs. Johnson scolded, forcing a frown right onto Maureen's face.
Maureen rolled her eyes, "For nothing serious!" She defended, "The longest I've ever been was over night."
"Oh that makes it all better." Mrs. Johnson huffed, "Eddie, aren't you going to say something? Our daughter has been to jail."
"Maureen she's right, that's not a place for any girl, especially one of my girls." Mr. Johnson said sending her the disappointed glare.
Maureen pouted sinking into her seat, crossing her arms. She was twenty-six and getting in trouble.
"How about you Joanne, ever been to jail?" Mr. Johnson asked.
"Uh no, but it's my job to send people to jail." Joanne replied, rubbing Maureen's shoulder to try and comfort her.
Mr. Johnson's face lit up, "Oh that's right you're a lawyer."
Joanne nodded, "For almost six years now."
"It took you that long to get promoted?" Mrs. Johnson blurted.
"Mom!" Maureen yelled.
"It's tough being a woman in that industry and getting promoted." Nikki supplied coming to Joanne's defensive, her eyes shifting from her mother to Joanne, "You must be one hell of a lawyer."
"I didn't work my butt off at Harvard for nothing." Joanne smiled; thankful she got along with Nikki. She heard sometimes meeting the siblings of your lover was the hardest, but Nikki made it seem like a breeze. The only one she was having trouble with was clearly Mrs. Johnson.
"Okay, well this was a great lunch." Maureen jumped up, not impressed with how her mother was treating Joanne, "But we're going to head upstairs and finish unpacking and then I'm going to show Joanne around. See you for dinner."
"Thanks for the nice meal, it was very delicious." Joanne said, before being dragged off by Maureen.
Nikki sat at the table glaring at her mother.
"What's your problem?" Mrs. Johnson asked while she collected the empty plates.
"You." Nikki said, "You're being really rude right now. That's Maureen's girlfriend who is being nothing but nice to you and all you are doing is putting her down."
"Well maybe I don't think she's right for Maureen." Mrs. Johnson replied.
"Honey, if Maureen wants to be with her, then let them be." Mr. Johnson said. "I thought we were over the fact that Maureen chose to be with a girl?"
"I still think she should have brought Mark with her." Mrs. Johnson began to rant as she headed back into the house, "Our family loved him. What are they going to say when they see Maureen hand in hand with a girl?"
Upstairs Maureen had her arms tightly wrapped around Joanne's waist, her head on her shoulder, "I'm so sorry Pookie, if you want to leave right now I understand."
"Maureen it's okay." Joanne said, running her fingers through Maureen's hair, "It's just your mom, your father and sister are nice. I can handle two more days."
"What about the party tomorrow?" Maureen asked, lifting her head to look in Joanne's eyes, "There are going to be more family members around, more judgmental than my mom and I might have to leave you alone sometimes during the reunion."
"Maureen listen, it's okay." Joanne assured her, cupping her cheek, "This is your family it's who you are. I want to meet them."
"I am nothing like them." Maureen said,
"You may not be, but they still are a part of you." Joanne said, kissing her forehead, "Just stop worrying it doesn't suit you."
"I'm allowed to be worried about you, you're my girlfriend." Maureen said nuzzling the lawyer's neck.
The rest of the night seemed to fly by. Mrs. Johnson and Joanne didn't really speak to each other, but the rest did. Joanne had a good conversation with Mr. Johnson about her job and her parents, Joanne also discussed some legal stuff with Nikki since she wanted to run her own business, while Maureen sat back and smiled, happy Joanne was at least getting along with her sister and father. Maybe one day her mother would finally give in.
Soon everyone went to bed, Maureen parting with Joanne, a huge pout on the diva's lips as Joanne walked down the hall and closed the door to her own bedroom.
"Still pouting?" Nikki smirked, already in bed and under the covers. "God I remember that pout used to work magic on mom and dad."
Maureen smiled, shutting the door. "It works wonders on a lot of people."
"You were always good at getting your way." Nikki said.
Maureen nodded as she climbed into bed, shutting the lights off, "If only I could get my way with mom and make her see how good Joanne is for me."
With that thought the two drifted off to sleep.
The next day after everyone ate breakfast; they all rushed around and began to get ready for the reunion, which was being held at a local park. They were almost ready to leave when there was a knock on the door.
"That's probably my mom. I told her to park her car here and we'd drive her down." Mr. Johnson said, opening the door, greeting his mom with a hug.
The sixty-five year old woman walked in the house, her bright eyes darting around the room. "Where are my grandchildren?"
"Hi Grandma!" Nikki smiled, running down the stairs, throwing her arms around her neck.
"Hi sweetie."
Maureen came down next, smiling as she gave her a hug as well. "Grandma I want you to meet someone."
Mrs. Johnson walked around the corner just in time, worrying splashing her in the face as Joanne walked down the stairs.
"Is this your friend dear?" Grandma Johnson asked Maureen.
"She's more than a friend Grandma." Maureen nervously replied.
Joanne took a step forward offering her hand, "Hi, I'm Joanne, nice to meet you."
Grandma Johnson shook her hand with a friendly smile, and then turned back to Maureen. "What do you mean she's more than a friend?"
"She's my girlfriend." Maureen proudly answered, kissing Joanne on the cheek, wrapping an arm around Joanne's waist, everyone else watching, anxious to see how Grandma Johnson would react.
Grandma Johnson's focus soon turned to her son, her eyes wide with confusion, "You let your daughter turn into one of those lesbians?"
Maureen's face completely fell at the response, not expecting that reaction at all. For the first time ever Maureen actually yelled at her Grandma, "I'm in love with her! So deal with it!" She eyed everyone else in the room, "If this is the reaction I'm going to get from every God damn Johnson then I am not going to this stupid fucking Johnson reunion. If you guys can't accept Joanne and me then I don't accept any of you! You don't deserve our time."
With that Maureen stormed up the stairs, slamming her feet on every step as loud as she could, until she reached her bedroom and slammed the door shut.
"Maureen Elizabeth Johnson come apologize to your Grandmother." Mrs. Johnson yelled from the bottom of the steps.
Grandma Johnson leaned into Joanne, patting her shoulder, "She's your girlfriend dear, go and comfort her."
"Uh, yes right away." Joanne said and hurriedly ran up the stairs, gladly leaving the awkward situation.
"She's still the drama queen that one." Grandma Johnson said, and then turned back to her son, "This isn't just a phase?"
"Uh no mom, they've been dating for almost four years now." Mr. Johnson confirmed.
"And they're in love." Nikki added, hoping that would somehow make things better.
"Things sure have changed since I was a young adult." Grandma Johnson said.
"We're trying to get her back together with that boy Mark Cohen." Mrs. Johnson piped in.
"Oh honey no." Grandma Johnson said, "You can't force love on someone. If Maureen says she's in love with this Joanne then I guess I'll just have to get to know this woman, and see if she's good enough for my grandchild."
Mr. Johnson visibly relaxed, while Mrs. Johnson headed into the kitchen. Soon Grandma Johnson's attention went to Nikki.
"Any boys in your life?"
Nikki smiled, shaking her head. "Nope."
Grandma Johnson sighed; creasing her brow, daring to ask, "Girls?"
Nikki giggled, "No Grandma, I'm straight."
A half hour after that whole situation, Joanne finally managed to settle Maureen down and the six headed to the park. Grandma Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson in one car, and Maureen, Joanne and Nikki in another.
And finally much to Maureen's dismay, the Johnson Family Reunion began.
