"Oh Greg", cried Alice as soon as she saw him. "I don't think I can ever forgive myself."
"Alice, don't be silly", smiled Greg, and kissed her cheek. "I forgive you."
"Greg, I should have known better", sighed Carol.
"Mom, don't worry about it", Greg replied, kissing her cheek in turn. "Just be glad that we're a family again.
"It's all my fault", frowned Cindy. "I should have gone to you first instead of blabbing to all the others."
Greg laughed. "Never mind, Cindy, you'll know how to handle secrets another time", he told her, and kissed her cheek too.
"Greg, I'm sorry for shooting my mouth off – hey, don't kiss me!" Bobby protested as Greg kissed his brother on the cheek.
At that moment, the doorbell rang. Jan went to answer it. "It's our delivery!" she called excitedly, and nearly everyone rushed to take the food over to the dining table. "Greg, Marcia, can you come with me a minute?" asked Carol, beckoning the two oldest kids over to the den.
Inside the den, Carol took down a file from one of the shelves and opened it up. She took out a folded sheet of paper and carried it over to the desk. Greg and Marcia followed after her.
"This is my marriage certificate from my first wedding", she told them as she unfolded the paper.
"You got married at St. Bartholomew's!" cried Marcia. "That's such a pretty church."
"But it wasn't everything I'd hoped for, Marcia", said Carol. "Look at the date."
Marcia looked. "Why", she exclaimed. "That's only five months before I was born!"
"That's right", Carol told them. "Marcia, your first Dad and I had a shotgun wedding. He took a lot of persuading to do the right thing, and it was only after I went and dropped out of college that he agreed to marry me." She shook her head. "If there's one thing I don't want for any of you kids, or for anyone you might get involved with, it's for you to have to grow up too quickly like I did."
"Well, I'm not about to do that", replied Greg. "I like being a teenager too much to suddenly become a married man." Marcia sighed. "This is such a groovy time to be young", she said. "I would never want to spoil any of my opportunities by becoming pregnant. I mean, there are some girls who say I go home every afternoon and polish my halo but the most important thing for me isn't reputation, or hanging onto some kind of purity – it's being able to do everything I want to while I still can."
Greg gave Carol a hug. "You must have been through a lot", he told her. Marcia joined in the hug. "I guess that's why you were so angry at Greg, huh?" she said to her mother. Carol nodded. "Well, you may not have had a good time being Mrs. Martin but you've always been a wonderful mother, and I love you."