Arthur looked to Bloberta as she rose from her seat in a hurry to escape the church before most anyone. Arthur ran soon after, and the reverend Putty did the same, in the midst of the crowd of people outside Putty himself to Bloberta and obnoxiously asked:

"Say Bloberta, where's Clay?"

Reverend Putty was the one person she wouldn't be able to lie to.

"Well I believe he was tired of seeing you to be honest."

"Ouch that stings. Ha ha"

Beside them Arthur was watching. He was unsure to approach them. Reverend Putty towards him, away from Bloberta for one moment and lit up, reverend Putty yelled:

"Hey! Mr. Puppington!"

Bloberta's eyes widened and she smiled looking behind her expecting Clay...
But it wasn't...

"Um hello..."

The mysterious man said quietly.

Bloberta's mind was in all sorts of places looking at this man behind her. This man was named Puppington? Reverend Putty outstretched his arms directing them to Bloberta.

"If I could be so bold to introduce you to your new daughter in law?"

"Daughter...in law?"

Bloberta coughed in between words looking towards this man.

"Ahem Mr. Putty if I could have a little privacy...I would really appreciate it..."

Arthur said as he glared at Putty. Reverend Putty simply walked away whistling.
Bloberta turned from reverend Putty to the older gentlemen, eyes wide and trembling lips.

"Bloberta..."

Arthur spoke softly.

"H-How do you know my name?"

Bloberta stammered.

"I've known you for quite a long time...I saw you in church while I attended throughout the years..."

"Your...Your name is Puppington? You are related to my husband aren't you?"

"Clay...Yes. I am his father."

Bloberta flinched. This couldn't be...Clay lied to her about his parents? How...How could he?

"This...This can't be right, Clay...He told me both his parents died..."

"I can imagine why he said that."

Arthur looked to the ground and Bloberta blinked a few times not believing what she was seeing.

"Bloberta I've come out all this way to ask you something."

Bloberta snapped.

"Ask me something?! I'm the one who should be asking questions around here!"

"By all means, but I'll expect you'll answer mine as well."

"Clay told me you killed yourself, where have you been all these years?! If you weren't dead all this time why didn't you even attend our wedding?!"

"I didn't know any of that."

"Why did Clay tell me you were dead?"

Arthur grimaced and looked to the ground, Bloberta took note and her angry look turned to one of sadness.

"I...I turned my back on him, I don't blame him for wanting to believe I was dead."

"Clay told me you killed yourself after accidentally killing his mother..."

Arthur shut his eyes tight and ignored what Bloberta said.

"I shouldn't have blamed him for that...What happened was purely an accident."

"That's what he told me. So did you blame him for shooting his mother or shooting you in the head?"

"Clay...he was only 11 at the time, he pulled a thoughtless prank pretending to have shot HIMSELF with one of my guns, blood splattered everywhere. My wife...His mother and I thought we lost our only boy, before I noticed a bottle of ketchup opened, and after smelling the aroma of the room I discovered Clay was seeking attention."

"And what happened to Clay's mom?"

Bloberta asked.

"After I told Clay to stop playing around, Angela, his mother had been praying to God to 'bring him back' when in fact there was no one to bring back...Her heart was weak, her shock or maybe excitement might have gotten the best of her, and she died..."

"And just who am I supposed to believe here? The man I married a week ago or the man I met just now?"

"Look, Bloberta, I don't care who you believe. All I care about is fixing the rift between my son and I so that just maybe I can be there for him...and by proxy, you as well..."

Bloberta was at a loss and stared beyond all the people in her way. The sky the clouds...What did God have to say about all this? she pleaded to God to give her an answer on what to believe.

"For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. " - Luke 8:17

"This might take some time to bring up to him..."

Bloberta ended up concluding.

"I understand. This was years of our family dynamic after all..."

Arthur responded.

Bloberta realized regardless of who was really telling the truth there was this bridge between a father and son that had been hurt and she wanted to mend it. She wanted to help Clay.

A small shed of hope from this weird turnabout grew within her. Maybe this was the one block needed in the relationship between Clay and Bloberta to create a truly loving and loyal marriage. The extra mile of trying to better Clay's relationship with his father that he would appreciate. To fully commit to her.

And maybe just maybe...he would finally make love to her and give her that son she sorely desired from him.
Bloberta overcame all shyness over the subject matter and figured she realized Clay's conundrum. This must be the way to his heart she thought!

Bloberta went home in a rush, she needed to get this off of her chest before she lost confidence. She arrived home and sure enough Clay was there on the couch bottle in hand. Her smile fell to a frown.