Disclaimer: (Sung to the tune of Frère Jacques)

Are you cancelled?
Are you cancelled?
Do you know?
Do you know?
Disney says "Hiatus,"
Disney says "Hiatus,"
They don't care!
They don't care!

Can I own you?
Can I own you?
Wish I did.
Wish I did.
But I need more money.
Oh, so much more money.
So I don't.
Not a bit.

I Want My Old Phil Back

Chapter Six - Keely's P.O.V.

"The more you tell me about him, Keely, the more this guy of yours sounds like a real 'dog.'"

"No, he's really not, Mom. He's loving, and patient, and ..."

"... and respectful, obedient, dependable, loyal, protective ... face it, Keely, the man's a dog. Now, some women like cats, others prefer dogs. Most young women are attracted to the cat-type, just the opposite of dogs:

° CATS are independent. If you're sad or depressed, they'll leave, only coming back when you're in better spirits and can give them attention they want.

• A DOG is dependent. He care about the feelings of those dear to him. The nuzzling he gives you isn't about begging you for a petting for himself, but to comfort you.

.

° CATS don't care if you come home or not, just as long as dinner is ready when they're hungry; whereas,

• a DOG starts missing you as soon as you step out the door, just waiting for your return. You don't know what that's like yet, Keely, to have someone leave and know the emptiness of that fills up their absences. Mandy was wrong. Keely knew.

.

° Cat circuses aside, obedience is not in CATS' nature. As they see fit, CATS live their own lives, not bothered if you're upset by their actions or not.

• a DOG revels in performing to please you, happily wagging his tail.

.

° CATS are hunters, always on the hunt, whether they're actually hungry or not. For them, it's the thrill of the stalking, right up to finishing off their prey,

• a DOG prefers to follow along at your side, keeping you company, protecting you, going where you go, sharing whatever activity that makes you happy.

.

Loving? They both can be loving and it's you choice, My Love. A mother's place is to let you make your own decision and then back you with total love and support. You'll always be my little girl, Keely. I'll stand back and watch you make your choice, and if it's a cat, so be it, but a mother doesn't wish for her little girl to end up marrying some cat. Keely, as much as I'm a cat person, I'm so happy you've found yourself a real dog! Dependable, someone you can lean on when life gets tough. A man who will stand beside you who is caring, loyal, protective and loving."

Mothers really think like this? No wonder men think women are crazy.

"Mother, I want a normal life. We'll never be normal together ... it'd be so much easier to just find someone my own age."

"Sweetie Pie, everyone does who's being offered something different. Offer someone a normal life and they'll want adventure, fame, and a glamorous life. Kee Kee, you want normal? Look around. Ninety-nine percent of normal marriages are all about growing apart and failure. Normal? You only live once; why on Earth would you settle for normal when you've already found a man you can trust to live and breathe for your health and happiness? Sometimes, you have to put yourself first, instead of thinking about what will make you seem to fit in in the eyes of others." Keely, you're going to have to make so many compromises in life as an adult, and too many sacrifices, but never do it when it comes down to your happiness."

"Make your best grab at happiness, my Angel, and to hell with the rest of the world. They won't be living your life and, what's more, they couldn't care less, so busy living their own lives. The more people you two meet, the more you'll see I'm right. You're stressing out over your own prediction of what other people will do. Keely, there are only two opinions that matter at all -- his and yours. (sigh) Maybe this is my fault. Letting you be in front of the camera all those years, you feel eyes are going to be upon you whenever you consider whatever you're thinking about doing. Sweetie, living life to the fullest isn't about breaking records, getting good grades, or fitting in -- high school isn't real life, it's just the last step in practicing for it with a safety net of some sort."

"Success in life is simple -- it's about being happy. I thought you knew that. Maybe marriage isn't for you, at least not yet. He's pressuring you, isn't he, to marry him?"

"I can't really call it pressuring. He's proposed and I've said, 'Yes'." I've said 'YES' a lot."

"But he wants to rush to have the wedding."

"Yes -- No ... yes and no. He'd marry me today and I've been calling him "Hubby" for months, but I've told him that I'm not ready, even when I used to tell him wouldn't even be eighteen for a few more months." She could almost hear her mother nodding. "Even then, I told him I wanted to wait until I'm in my twenties -- he said he will wait until I'm ready."

"So, you're fighting over this? I'm confused. What are you fighting about?"

"That's just it, Mom. We don't fight about anything. We agree on so much, and when we don't, he goes along with whatever will make me happy, telling me that I'm perfect. That's just too much pressure on me."

Mandy Teslow was able to following her daughter's thought patterns better than most, but even after listening to all this, she couldn't fathom what Keely was calling her for advice about. But this was a crisis for her daughter, so she clenched her jaw for a moment to concentrate.

"It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind --wait, you said you've said 'Yes' a lot. What's 'a lot'?'"

"At least a couple of hundred times. He keeps asking and I keep telling him 'Yes.'"

"200? FOR HOW LONG NOW??!"

"Months and months now."

"Keely! Let's see if I've got all this right:

"You've met a man. CONGRATULATIONS!"

"You love him and he loves and worships you. CONGRATULATIONS!"

"He's asked you to marry him 200 times more often than any woman gets asked. I'll bet it was to check to see if you were happy with the idea and for all those times, you have been. He's a truly a dog, the good breed. CONGRATULATIONS!"

'He places your needs and desires before his own. WOW! CONGRATULATIONS!"

"Does he have any bad habits -- smoking, drinking, gambling or drugs -- a prison record, perhaps?"

"Not a one, Mom."

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

"He's broke, isn't he?"

"No, he's got more money than he knows what to do with, plus he's generous to others, even complete strangers. He doesn't spend much money on himself. He even keeps calling his money, my money."

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

"Where does he work?"

"Well, he's moved into town back in June and hasn't been under the gun to find a job."

"Not living paycheck to paycheck? He's that well off?"

"Pretty much. You're going to congratulate me again, aren't you?

"Actually, I was thinking back to what you said about him focusing all his attention on you. With him not away at a job for most of his day, it's little wonder he's concentrating on my daughter. What? Did you think he was going to just stay home and watch "I Want To Marry A Dentist" and the Weather Network all day long, when he could be daydreaming about the two of you? He's overcompensating, that's all. Men really do need to have some sort of job to do to keep from driving their woman crazy all the time."

"Wait A Second ... MONTHS? You've been telling him 'YES' month after month, stroking his ego about being loved, desired and having a future with you and now?"

"I'm not sure I can have a future with him after all. He loves me unconditionally and I don't see how I contribute anything. I can't make him wait until I'm ready for a man like him. It wouldn't be fair to him."

"Keely, Keely, Keely. If you want to get a man NOT to think about you, I don't think there's a book for that, Sweetheart. Maybe he's not telling you all he's doing and you're reading too much into what you think is happening. I love you, Keely, but even still, your playing at news reporting, little songs, power shopping to feed your overgrown appetite for clothes and shoes? -- By the way, did you take my saffron silk blouse? -- Do you honestly think your life is mesmerizing to a man? I doubt he's interest in any of those things, Honey. You're obviously missing the point."

"Which is?"

"All those parts of your life, they're what you take joy in."

In clouded agreement, Keely replied, "Y-yeahh..."

"Well, isn't it obvious? He's not changing to please you. He just wants to take part in your happiness. He's repeatedly asked you to marry him because he believes in the promise he sees in your eyes, hears the happiness in your voice when you say "yes" each time, and trusts you to love him in return. Most women never give their husband-to-be those signals of trust to fortify him with the strength to propose more than just once. What did you say to him besides 'yes'? I've never heard of a fiancé asking two hundred times! After a suitor receives a 'yes,' he's happy he has what he wants and he stops asking. Your man must love you incredibly to keep asking you to make you happy. However, I can't believe that he has no other interests in life beyond making you happier. That's what you're telling me, you realize; that his every waking moment is all about you. If that were true, then I agree that you could feel smothered. He has absolutely no interests of his own?"

Groaning in her admission of her mother being right, Keely started to admit that she had exaggerated. "He's sort of into music -- the old kind, sometimes breathtakingly romantic -- I think he gets it from his father, along with an interest in fixing stuff. Reading, especially science fiction. Cooking. Gardening. Technology, he's really into next-generation tech -- but at heart, he's a real nerd, who likes to learn, or watch old romantic movies and comedies, -- I guess he does have a few interests."

"Besides you."

"Besides me." Keely had to face the truth of the facts she had ignored, and her mother gave her a moment to let the truth sink in.

"Okay, so his life isn't all about you. He had a life and interests before you two met. Are you impressed by all of those facets in his life?"

"Not all. I like watching romantic comedies with him under a blanket, but some of his interests are just things I'm not into."

"But he still does them. Sort of means that you are not the absolute center of his universe, as you think you are."

"gghhnt" slipped through clenched teeth.

"What was that?"

"I guess not."

"And he yet he really believes it when he tells you that you are perfect."

"Yes."

"I've been telling you that your entire life."

"I know, Mommy, but when he says it, when I see it in his eyes ... I almost feel as though I am."

Mandy Teslow lets this soak in, and while she does, her mind drifts back to the day the two of them were on the car sales lot choosing Keely's first car. There was another mother and daughter also shopping with a technique very different from Keely's. Keely's probable classmate ran from auto to auto, almost always the brand new ones, attracted by color and style, and wanting to know what she looked like sitting inside each one. Both daughter and mother were very enthusiastic. Keely, on the other hand, while she checked out the driver's seat, she also looked under the hood for recent repairs, damage, and wanted the car history report on the few models she had under consideration, not all of them brand new. There was one that she clearly favored, older than the rest, but from her thorough inspection Mandy was confident that she was making the wisest and best decision for her future motoring, and when Keely decided to say "yes" to that dependable classic, Mandy Teslow saw wisdom in her daughter's careful selection; nothing like the cheerleading duo across the lot going gaga over cup holders, who'd likely be returning it often for overheating and factory recalls. Keely knew exactly what she was purchasing. Mrs. T was proud of her daughter, her little girl who was once was so self-conscious about what other people thought about how she looked and who she hung around with ...

"Alright then, then there must be something else about him that you haven't told me yet, Love Muffin. Let's see if we can come up with it."

48/18