Steeling The Bliss

Chapter 5

Remington and Laura, returning home from Ireland, had gone to the Freeland Hotel to see her family after the meeting with the INS agent at Remington's apartment.

As her mother and sister waited for Laura to speak finally, she gave her husband a nervous glance, and then stated, "Mother, Frances...We can't imagine what you must have thought, hearing the news about our wedding. But we do apologize for not having you there in any case-"

Abigail was about to speak, when Frances responded with a shrug, "Well, I for one, just never saw you getting married. It was like you were always married to your career, such as it was-although, you had lived with that Wilson Jefferies for a while, so then, I didn't know what to think-"

Suddenly, Abgail, stunned, had trouble breathing at hearing the news, and Laura and Frances rushed to help by getting her inhaler, and settling her on the bed to rest!

Laura shook her head as she grasped Abigail's hand and remarked quickly, "I-I'm so sorry, Mother! I was going to tell you about it one day, but he and I didn't work out after all, so I just didn't see the point in upsetting you so-"

Then with a glare at Frances, Laura commented tartly, "Thanks so much, Sis! I was going to talk to her about it someday, but as usual-"

Frances answered tiredly with a tilt of her head, "Sorry, Laura! I just thought you had told her already. But then, that's just like you, isn't it? To sweep things under the rug that make you the least bit uncomfortable-"

Laura retorted angrily, "What do you mean by that, Frances?"

Frances, with a wave of her hand, gestured towards Laura, "You never invite either of us here for a visit! We practically have to force ourselves on you to get you to remember that we're your family-"

As Laura shook her head at Frances, Abigail, taking the inhaler out finally, put up a hand remarking quickly, " I'm alright now! Stop it, both of you! We'll get to the bottom of this whole thing right now! Mr. Steele? Will you please start us off?"

-RS-

Clearing his throat as everyone got comfortable, Remington nodded answering, "Of course, Abigail...But please do call me Remington, hmm? Now, let me start by saying that your daughter Laura, did me a tremendous favor five years ago by allowing me to join her detective agency when I was at a crossroads in my life then."

Frances, puzzled, asked Remington, "Her agency?"

Laura commented to Frances and Abigail, "Yes, Frances, it was my idea to name the Agency when I only knew his name was Harry, but you see, we only recently discovered while in Ireland, that Remington's father was actually the late Daniel Chalmers. You met him once, Mother, remember?"

Abigail nodded and sighed responding with a sad expression towards Remington, "Oh, yes. He seemed like a very nice man. And I remember seeing the news report...I'm so sorry for your loss, Remington."

With a half smile, Remington touched Abigail's hand as he had sat near her and commented, "Thank you. Well, Laura, in her inventive way, simply came up with the Remington Steele moniker back when we met, and I went with it, all the while up to this most recent month in time, trying to figure out my past...So, in Ireland, I found out from Daniel upon his deathbed that he was indeed my father, but he died before I learned anything else..."

Abigail shook her head answering, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but what does this all have to do with your wedding?"

Laura sighed remarking, "Well, some time ago, the INS came around to investigate Remington. Seems an insurance agent sent a report to them saying that Remington was a fraud, and that my license should be revoked-"

Remington added as he gently smiled at his wife, "Yes, which meant I would be deported back to Ireland...But we realized we had developed something special between us that we couldn't bear to lose, so-"

Abigail bewilderedly looked at the two and queried, "Wait just a minute! Are you saying that you married illegally? But Laura! You could go to jail! What on earth were you thinking?!"

Laura swallowed, her eyes filling with unshed tears as she answered softly looking at Remington, "I was thinking then, that for the very first time in my life, that I was truly in love, and that I'd do anything for him, come what may..."

Laura, then looking at her mother and sister, cleared her throat, stating, "With that being said, I'd like to ask you both for your blessing, and to please support us with our decision, because the INS will be watching us for the next two years, so for all intents and purposes, we fell in love and chose to spend the rest of our lives together. End of story...All right?"

The room fell silent for a moment, but finally, Abigail, reaching for both her daughter's hands, held them, remarking gently, "Girls...All I can say at this moment is that I'm truly sorry about what happened with your father years ago, but I'm very glad that it didn't discourage you from finding your own happiness..."

Hugging Laura, she then stated, "Of course you have my blessing, Darling. And don't worry. We'll help you with the INS...Whatever you need, hmm?"

Frances, then hugging Laura, responded, "Mother's right, and if you need help finding a house-"

Laura quickly gave a nervous glance towards Remington, who got her signal, and answered swiftly as he guided Laura suddenly towards the door to leave after hugging Abigail and Frances himself, "We- We need a bit of a breather now that we're home, but we appreciate it all the same, believe me..."

After a promise to Abigail and Frances that they would join them for dinner that evening, Remington and Laura headed back to Remington's place in a cab, with Remington answering to Laura, "Well, that went smoother than I thought it would...I don't know what you were worried about..."

Laura gave a peculiar look to Remington, commenting with a gesture, "Spoken like a man without any true concept of my family, Mr. Steele...Wait until Thanksgiving, and then Christmas! You'll be begging to find more caseloads then!"

Remington absorbed the extent of Laura's statement, and shaking his head, then answered, changing the subject, "That reminds me...When we get home, I have to call Mildred...She still didn't tell me what happened to Fred and our limo..."

TBC