Midge and Lenny both found it incredibly difficult to get out of bed when the sun rose the next morning. She still had to check her parents into their new hotel room though, and was eventually supposed to do a sound check before the show tonight. Hopefully letting her parents stay in her room for the night meant that they would be more understanding about her news and willing to attend the show. Her mother hadn't seen her perform yet, and her father hadn't seen her on stage since that horrible night in the Catskills. Abe had every reason to be hesitant, but Midge allowed herself to be hopeful anyway. She also hoped that they would be in bright enough spirits to not absolutely melt down at the news of her unexpected marriage. Somehow the later seemed less likely, and she'd even had a nightmare about them attempting to ground her like a child.
As soon as she had the key in hand, Midge rushed out to the poolside where she'd agreed to meet her parents. Lenny agreed to lag behind a bit in order to pick up his mail and make a few calls before joining them. Hopefully she would be able to tell her parents about their marriage before he arrived. Telling them news always seemed to go better when the person in question was still a relatively unseen figure. Her father had met him that night in jail, but Midge hardly counted that. As far as she was concerned, neither of her parents knew Lenny. Without really knowing him then, they hopefully wouldn't be able to direct their anger at anyone but herself. That was her theory anyway. She just hoped that her journey through room change hadn't taken up too much time.
"All set," Midge set the hotel room key down on the patio table as though she'd won some great prize. "Here's your key. I had your luggage moved to your new room, so by the time you're done with breakfast you'll be all settled in."
Her mother took a bite of her food and smiled brightly across the table, "Done with breakfast? Why would we ever be done breakfast?"
"I'll be done with breakfast when I'm starting lunch," Abe joked along with his wife while Midge watched in mild shock at her parent's happy moods.
"Breakfast is perfect and this hotel is perfect."
"I slept like a baby. Not a fussy baby. One of those quiet babies."
"I slept like I was on Seconal," Rose looked towards Midge like she'd just told the most brilliant of jokes. "Because I was on Seconal."
Midge felt a hand touch the small of her back and turned to see Lenny looking down at her with wide eyes. She gestured towards her parents continuing their conversation about their apparently delicious breakfast and rolled her eyes.
"These pancakes have coconut in them. You have to try them." Abe lifted one of them and set it on Rose's plate as she held it across the table.
"I believe I will."
"Mama, Papa!" Midge tried to get their attention, grabbing Lenny's hand and pulling him slightly forward. "This is Lenny Bruce. Lenny, these are my parents, Abe and Rose Weissman."
"Yes, yes," Abe gestured towards the two empty seats at the table, "Sit, eat some pancakes; there's coconut in them."
Midge and Lenny looked at each other as they took their seats, neither daring to say a word. Even without having met her parents before, Lenny knew that meeting a male friend of their only daughter's warranted a more dramatic reaction than they were currently exhibiting.
"So what's on the agenda for today?" The nervousness in Midge's voice was obvious, at least to those paying attention; Rose and Abe could not be included among those people.
"Well," Abe swallowed his bite of food and smiled at his wife. "I plan to spend the day not being around Moishe and Shirley."
"Oh, that sounds wonderful. I'll join you."
"I have to say," Midge looked up at Lenny and tapped his foot with hers under the table. "It's nice to see you guys so happy and relaxed. Maybe you can try and stay that way for the news I have to tell you."
"Miriam, you should try the coconut pancake." Rose gestured towards the half eaten pancake on her plate.
"I don't like coconut."
Rose cut off a piece of the pancake and motioned like she was going to force Midge to take the food. "Oh, you can't taste the coconut. It just tastes like pancake."
"So, guys," Midge took a deep breath and looked between her parents. She hoped that they were paying enough attention for her to tell them. "I have some big news, and I promise I-"
"I can taste the coconut." Abe chewed thoughtfully, not at all indicating that was giving his daughter even an ounce of his attention.
"Can you? Maybe I should try it again." Rose pulled her hand back and took the bite for herself, taking a moment to chew and contemplate the flavour like it was the biggest decision of her life.
"Mama? Papa?" Midge saw that they still weren't paying any attention. Lenny watched in frustration at her own anger, wishing he could do something to help. Unfortunately, he had at least enough foresight to know that opening his mouth right now was probably not the best idea.
"Nope. Still can't taste it." Rose was oblivious to her daughter trying to get their attention. She continued to chew and contemplate the food while her husband did the same.
Midge finally had enough and stood to take their plates away from them. Abe and Rose both called out in confused protest, and Lenny tried his best not to chuckle. The plates were held in the air precariously, and no one present would think it odd if they made their way into the nearby pool.
"I got married!"
There was always something unbelievable in those scenes in movies where something dramatic happens, and everything goes silent. A hint of the fantastical in a bomb falling and everyone nearby being so stunned, (even if the news has nothing to do with them) that there is absolute silence. Well, a bomb just fell in the middle of Miami, and Rose and Abe Weissman's reactions had the whole dining area waiting with bated breath.
"I thought you weren't in love with her," Abe said, breaking the silence with a question directed unexpectedly at Lenny. He had a finger held up at his wife, who looked like she herself was going to explode if she didn't say something.
"That's not what I said," Lenny finally spoke. He didn't meet Midge's eyes, but instead stared at Abe as though he was trying to communicate a deeper meaning. "I said that nothing was going on between us and there was nothing."
"Well, not nothing," Midge reasoned as she kept an eye on her mother. "I mean, there's always been something between us. Well, not something, something, but something. And I know you're going to freak out and I know I just got divorced from Joel and-"
"Miriam."
Rose was standing at the table now as well. She snatched the plates of food that Midge had been waving everywhere and slammed them down on the table. Her face was red, but not from the sun, and there was a vein in her forehead that would horrify her if she could see it. Abe put his hand up and was going to speak again, until Rose shook her head and walked away.
"Mama!" Midge left the rest of the table ignored as she started towards her mother.
Lenny looked at Abe, silently asking if they should follow their wives, but the more experienced of the two shook his head. It was an uncomfortable few minutes before either men said anything. Abe grabbed his plate of food with every intention of eating again, then handed Lenny Rose's unfinished breakfast. Lenny wasn't feeling particularly hungry, but shoveled the eggs in anyway.
"Here," Abe flopped a pancake from his seemingly endless stack onto Lenny's plate. "There's coconut in them."
"Mama! Mama, please!" Midge was out of breath as she tried to keep up with her mother's unexpected speed. "At least slow down while you ignore me!"
To the naked eye it wouldn't seem like Rose was aware of anything, but Midge noticed her slightly slower gait and was able to catch up to her mother. They walked in silence together until they'd reached the boardwalk Lenny and Midge had walked along only a few hours before. There were far more people here, but both women were too wrapped up in their thoughts.
"I've bailed that man out of jail, Miriam."
"To be fair, it was when you were bailing Papa out of jail," she couldn't help the jab towards her father. "You aren't really reacting the way I thought. I was expecting flying silverware and a sermon even the Pope would take notes on."
"Don't be foolish. We were in a public place," Rose scoffed at the thought. "You said you weren't dating this, Lenny Bruce. Now you come to breakfast only a few weeks later and you're married to the man!"
"Mama, I-"
"Married to that delinquent. I don't know why I expected anything else from you, Miriam. After the things you've put us through, not surprised at all. A true disappointment to both myself and your father. I can't believe you'd do something like this to us after Joel."
"LISTEN TO ME!"
"Look, Abe," Lenny paused and waited to see if it was okay. "I know what I said that night about Midge. Obviously I couldn't tell the man I'd just been thrown into a cell with that-"
"That you're in love with his daughter."
Lenny shrugged and nodded and ate the last piece of his breakfast. Abe was finished a few moments later, but instead of getting up he ordered them both coffees. It wasn't until the streaming drinks were set on the table and their plates were taken away that either spoke again.
"It was a few weeks ago. We got drunk and got married at a casino chapel in Vegas." Lenny resisted the urge to drop the situation altogether and leave. "I know that none of this is something a father wants to hear, but I care about Midge. I'd do anything for that woman, and I plan on it. I can be a good man, record aside."
"Are you a strong man, Lenny?"
Assuming he didn't mean physically, Lenny shrugged his shoulders and said the first thing that came to mind: "Not when it comes to her."
Abe seemed to consider his answer for a while. If Lenny wasn't so unnerved by the older man, he would have been proud of the answer he gave. Instead he was left worried that it was the opposite of what he wanted to hear, and that Abe Weissman was about to toss him in with the alligators. Or worse, call his mother.
"I would have done the same thing." Abe took a sip of his coffee and nodded as if agreeing with himself.
"Pardon?"
"If, hypothetically, I was you and Rose was Miriam," at Lenny's continued confusion, Abe continued. "If I'd been in love with a woman like her for years, and I was convinced that I'd never have her…. At the first glimmer of hope I would have grabbed her and ran."
"I-"
"Now, I'm not saying I agree with what happened by any stretch of the imagination. But I heard the way you talked about her that night and I see the way you look at her now. I'm not happy and I don't suspect I will be for a very long time. But I understand."
The last thing Midge had expected out of today was to end up drinking before noon with her mother. But here they were, sipping on frozen margaritas while Midge found it in herself to explain herself to her mother. Rose found the words first.
"When he sent you the flowers…"
"I wasn't lying, Mama. I had just gone to support him as a friend. He was on The Steve Allen Show, and was feeling nervous." Midge knew that this wasn't fully about the unexpected marriage. She was well trained in the art of reading Rose Weissman's tone and expressions. "If there was anything going on, I promise you would have been the first to know. I told you no more secrets and I meant it."
Rose sipped her sugary drink thoughtfully while Midge waited nervously for a reply.
"So this is real then? You're truly married to this… this thug." Her expression indicated that it was the kindest descriptor she could use. Midge simply nodded her head. "Do you love him?"
"When has that ever mattered to you?"
"You drunkenly married a strange man at a dirty Vegas hotel. I should hope it was with good reason. His good looks won't support you or your children."
"He has a daughter too," Midge smiled. "Wait, did you say he was good looking?"
"Well, I'm not blind, Miriam."
Both women laughed until their stomachs hurt, and Midge had a few tears on her cheeks. Rose seemed caught off guard and reached over to wipe the stray droplets away. Midge sniffed. Not even realising that she had been crying. Rose didn't ask any questions, just hugged her daughter closer until the unexpected tears had run themselves out.
"I didn't want to disappoint you again," Midge admitted quietly. She took a loose tissue that her mother held out from her purse and dabbled at her tear-streaked face. "I promise that this wasn't part of the plan. There was no agenda to find the quickest way to give my parents heart attacks. I just...I do though. I love Lenny Bruce."
"I'm not happy, and I'm not sure I'll be able to fully accept this for quite a while. But I understand."
"You do?"
"I was young and in love once too. As hard as I'm sure it is to imagine your father and I as young." They both laughed, and Midge finished off the end of her drink, cringing when it ended up tasting more like a snow cone than anything resembling alcohol. "If this point in our lives has shown me anything though, it is that I love your father more than ever. His effort means more to me than he will ever know. If he makes you feel like that, then I'll work towards being okay with all of this."
"You're being incredibly insightful and emotional today, Mama."
"It's the drinks and the pancakes."
A/N: So there you have it, folks! Two very unexpected reactions to Midge's news. As I wrote I realised that I couldn't have them be full on, ignoring her angry... so this is what came out. Cautious understanding.
Let me know what you think!
