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Charlie came into the house, acting as if he owned the place.
"Hey!" He gave us a cursory glance and went back to work.
"Charlie!" I got his attention. "Either you clean this up in three hours, or so help me God; I will throw it all away!" I was only bluffing, as destroying either of my sons' things would be painful, but Charlie didn't know that.
"Dad! Don't you realize ...
"Work on this at your own place!" I snapped at him impatiently.
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I angrily started to pick up my stuff. Dad was only on my case because of Nat. Before, he would have only complained a little, now here he was making threats.
"Alan and I can't live in a hotel for an indefinite amount of time" Natalie said in apology, though I didn't know if she meant it. "And our pets might hurt themselves or eat something by mistake."
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Charlie finally moved his junk, after apologizing. Alan and I finally had our house back!
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On Tuesday, my mother called, like she usually did a few times a week. Having been born when my sister was ten and my brother was fifteen, I had been raised almost as an only child. She had, like my sister, expressed concern over the age thing, especially when Alan moved in, but changed her mind, when she got a chance to talk to Alan once or twice over the phone.
"Taking care of yourself?" she asked first thing.
"Yes! Alan sees to that!" I said. My mother thought I neglected my health.
"Well, I look forward to meeting him" she said. "Actually, your father and I are planning on going out West next week. Would it be a good time to visit?
"Sure!" I agreed happily.
"We'll spend a night with at your place, rent a car to see your sister in San Jose, and then take a plane to Seattle to see Tom." she said.
Mom and I chatted some more, and then she had to go. In their eighties, my parents had a busy schedule.
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At dinner Nat told me "My folks are coming next week. Maybe we could go out or something."
"That's wonderful" I tried to sound casual, but worried. I hadn't gone through a meet the parents dinner since I got serious with Margaret.
"They'll like you! Don't worry"
"Why don't I cook something?" I offered. "Here at the house?"
"Sounds like a plan!" she agreed.
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I went to meet them at LAX. From there, they'd follow me in a rented car. Alan stayed home to cook a delicious meal.
Before I knew it, they were walking towards me in the area close to the baggage claim. We did a group hug.
"Where's the famous Alan?" Mom asked.
"He's whipping up a wonderful dinner for us!" I assured them.
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Nervously, I checked the living room again, to make sure that it was nice and neat. Then,I returned to the kitchen. All too soon, Nat came through the door, with her parents, who looked to be in their eighties.
"Guys! This is Alan" she introduced me. "Alan, these are my folks, Zack and Hannah."
"It's a pleasure." I said, and shook each of their hands. "Welcome!"
"Smells delicious!" her father said.
I served dinner after a bit. Both of them loved it.
"So...Nat tells me that you were a city planner" her father remarked.
"Yeah I was" I said.
"Alan was on the board" Nat added.
"That's impressive!" her father said. "And now you do consulting?"
I said yes, and explained exactly what my consulting entailed.
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"Those young men, those are your sons?" Mom asked, having seen the pictures in the living room.
"Don and Charlie" Alan said." Charlie's a mathematician and Don's in the F.B.I."
"That must be hard, knowing that he puts his life on the line everyday" Dad commented.
"It is, but I figured that he was raised well." Alan said.
I was nervous. Both of them had looked surprised when they had first saw Alan. I guess they had expected him to be a little older than Steven, who had been ten years my senior, but not twenty some years older. I had told them that Alan was older than Steven.
"They sound perfect for some lucky, single girl" Dad said to my chagrin. I knew that comment was directed at me. He hinted that I should be dating one of them, not Alan. Yeah right. As if.
"Don't I know it!" Alan agreed, apparently not having gotten the hint. "But they're too busy with their careers.."
"Young adults are marrying later these days." Dad said.
"I know" Alan sighed.
"You want grandchildren don't you?" Mom asked.
"I sure do!" he admitted.
Things started to get awkward as dinner progressed and more wine was consumed.
"You know..." Dad began. "Before Nat was born, her mother and I were content with just two. After all, we had gotten one of each ..model."
"Then, there I was at forty three, pregnant!" Mom emphasized the last word like she did every time she told this story. However, I soon figured out that they had a different reason for telling the story this time: To scare Alan!
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I figured out quickly that Nat's parents had something up their sleeve and tried to be patient.
"My brother was born when my mother was in her late thirties." her mother continued.
"Really, Hannah?" I asked, pretending I didn't know what she was getting at..
"Didn't your sister have Zia when she was thirty seven, Zack?" she asked her husband..
"Yes she did!"
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What was with them? Mom seemed fine over the phone. Alan handled the situation with class.
"How's Miami?" I asked to change the subject.
"Wonderful as always!" Dad said. "You two should pay a visit!"
"Alan has a new business, and won't be able to leave it for a while" I commented.
"I know what that's like!" Dad said. He had been a dentist.
"Your boys, of course, are invited too!" Mom turned to Alan, then joked. "Maybe they can find themselves a couple of pretty Argentinean girls. "
"Argentinean girls?" I asked.
"Argentineans are coming to Miami in droves, even buying some of the Cuban businesses!" Dad explained.
"How old are your boys?" Mom asked.
"Don is thirty five, and Charlie just turned thirty." Alan answered. I saw Mom gulp her wine.
"Seems like a misnomer to call them boys" Dad teased, though he too had gulped his wine.
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On one hand, it bothered me that they were making prejudgments just because of the age thing, but on the other, I admitted to myself reluctantly that if, before I had met Nat, one of the boys had started to date a woman who was twenty years older, I'd probably have some concerns too.
Eventually, after some more talking of this and that, they retired to the guest room
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I went to talk to my parents in the guest room.
"What was that about?" I demanded, then turned to mom "You're were cool about this over the phone!"
"Your mother and I underestimated the age difference. We thought it was in the mid teens,at most." Dad explained.
"Alan's a great guy! You didn't even give him a chance!" I snapped, and was very annoyed at them.
"He seems subtly officious" Mom said.
"What?" I looked at her as if she had told me that two and two made five.
"When I went into the kitchen to get cinnamon for my coffee, it took me a while to find it. He rearranged it!"
"I don't tie up my ego in the kitchen, mom" I reminded her. "Besides, he uses it more than I do"
"It may look wonderful in movies and romantic novels, but intergenerational relationships are not what they are cracked up to be." Mom continued.
"I dont' even read romantic novels!" I interrupted her.
"And his kids sound like spoiled Daddy's boys" my father added.
"Huh?"
"Most men don't go out and buy their childhood home just because daddy's selling it." Father continued.
"Not the mention the fact that Alan made you stay at the a hotel, just so his baby boy, who has his own home, can work on some project!" Mom remarked with an eye roll and she looked bothered.
"It was at the Ritz, and it was just for one night." I told them.
"The principal's the same. I would never allow any of you kids to even start on a project, at our place, that would be noisy enough to force your mother and me to sleep in a hotel" Dad said.
After some more arguing, I excused myself before anyone could say something they regretted.
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The next day, I called Don to see how he was doing.
"How'd the dinner go?" he asked.
"They tried to scare me"
"What?"
"Her mother mentioned that she was in her early forties like Nat when she had her." I replied. "I guess that was her subtle way of saying that they felt that I was too old for her daughter."
" Nat's lucky to have you!" Don argued, and seemed angry.
"I was annoyed, but wouldn't you be concerned if your daughter dated someone twenty years older?"
"Not if he was like you!" Don replied, and I felt flattered.
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My conversation with Dad soon ended. I had dinner with Charlie, and told him what happened. He was pissed too. While we agreed that the relationship was wrong, it bothered us that anyone would think Dad wasn't good enough for their daughter.
"Natalie's lucky to have Dad!" Charlie protested.
"That's what I say!" I agreed.
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"Ah man!" I groaned when I opened the mailbox of my apartment to see an wedding invitation from my cuz, Greg two weeks later. This was the third time! I had been able to get out of the second one because I had been in fugitive recovery at the time.
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There were three things in life you could count on: Death, Taxes, and my cousin Greg getting married. So, I wasn't surprised, when I found a wedding invitation when I came home from teaching. Maybe Amita could come with me?
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Nat and I got an invitation to the third wedding of Gregory, one of Rach's sons about a day after Don did. I smiled when I saw that it said that I could bring a guest.
"Third time's the charm" I joked.
"The wedding's going to be in San Francisco!" Natalie noticed, and I looked forward to introducing her to the extended family.
TBC