Chapter 27 – In-Laws

I checked my watch, and winced at the time, for I was running late. "Blast! Morwenna will skin me!" I pressed harder on the accelerator and the road went by faster. Eventually I got to Bodmin Station and pulled into the car park, just as the train was slowing to a stop. "Better to be just on time then to be late." I stopped the car and climbed out just as the couches stopped. I went around the station to the platform and saw jack and Tara Newcross alight, carrying actual cases, rather than backpacks, but her dad held a large duffel and Tara carried a big handbag. "Figures," I muttered. "Wedding and all. More stuff."

I saw Morwenna's dad turn his head and when he saw me gave me a big smile, so I hurried over and stuck out my hand, which he shook warmly. I'd worried about this bit, since Mor' and I had talked about it a bit.

"I'll admit they scare me a little, especially after the last time," I told her. We were in bed, and this had been eating me, cuz they were due in the next day.

Mor' shook her head. "Scare you?"

"Right."

"So, mum and dad give you a fright?" she said. "Do I scare you?" She chuckled as she ran a hand across my neck and down to my chest where she ran her fingers in a circle. "Glad to know, before our wedding."

I pushed her exciting hand away. "No, no. I… well, I suppose they're not crazy about me, or my dad, and then there's the fact I got you preggers."

She shook her head and put her hand back on my chest. "Al Large, you stop it. I didn't get myself pregnant for heaven's sake, and I love you! And mum and dad…" she shook her head. "They… just needed time to get used to things is all."

I sighed. "I suppose. So, what do I call them? Mister and Missus Newcross? Jack and Tara? Dad and mum?" They seemed sort of super-human to me, I suppose, going off on missions and all that, but I knew they'd ditched their daughter while they went globe trotting doing 'good works.'

"How about you start with the mister and misses, and see how that goes? I bet they'll want dad and mum soon enough. Me and your dad? He's just Bert, I guess. Always will be." She smiled as she snuggled close.

I rubbed my neck and thought it over. "Okay."

Mor' turned out her light, rolled back towards me, and said, "Give us a kiss."

I did so, but she had more… wide-ranging… ideas beyond a peck on the lips. So here I was shaking her dad's hand the next afternoon and trying to not think that I was the man who'd shagged his daughter often enough, and well enough, it seemed, to give her a baby. And as for last night… we were both insatiable.

"Uhm, Mr. Newcross…" I started to say.

Her dad immediately threw his other arm around me, gave me a man hug, and said, "No, no, call me Jack, or dad, if you prefer."

"Right, sure. Jack." Then I turned towards her mum. "Hello Mrs. Newcross."

She too hugged me and then after a moment's hesitation, kissed my cheek. "Call me Tara… or mum." She looked up at me for a moment, with a brief smile.

She seemed less friendly than Jack, but maybe it was from travel. Oh well, push on. "I'll get your cases." Their cases were new-looking roller bags, one large, and one medium, I got the handles before they could make a move. "My car is just around the corner."

I'd gotten my hands on a slightly newer car recently, a Vauxhall Corsa hatchback. With the little one coming we'd need room for a baby carrier plus a fold-up buggy and all that. The Corsa had fairly low mileage and the paint was in good shape, only needing some cleanup and then a good coat of wax, plus a full tune-up, most of which I'd done myself. Plugs and filters were easy but there was a cracked cooling hose that gave me fits, until I got the new one fitted.

I saw the look of approval in Jack and Tara's eyes. The Corsa was much better than the beat-up Toyota Tercel I had the last time they were in the village. I opened doors for them, and got the luggage into the back, while trying not to let her dad help. "No, no... Jack. Let me. You're my guests."

"Family, nearly," he corrected after he clambered into the back seat.

Tara forced a smile. "And how is Morwenna?" she asked from the front seat. She sighed. "I imagine… that her… uhm… well… she… must be." Her voice stopped but then she waved her hand over her abdomen.

I took the bull by the horns. "Yes, Morwenna is showing, a little, but not that you'd really notice. And her weddin' dress is smashing! You'll like it! It's quite beautiful, just like your daughter."

She blew air out of her nose. "I know that… things are… different, from when Jack and I were young."

I bit my tongue for Morwenna had shared with me her mum's confession.

Jack stepped into the awkward moment. "It's just that people do talk."

I peered into his eyes through the rear-view mirror. "Been thinking about that. My dad knows and the vicar, and the village doc and his wife. But it's all good. And you do know that Morwenna and I love one another and I was planning on asking her to marry anyway, and then when we… we found out… it kinda moved things along."

I saw her dad nod. "These things happen," he said. "Families come in all sorts, don't they?" he said half-grimly. "As long as you two young people love each other it will all come out right."

Tara reached over and patted my arm. "How's it feel with the wedding coming up?"

"Nerve wracking," I confessed. "Sorta scared stiff."

That made both of them laugh, as Jack commented, "Just like us, eh, Tara?" That made them both chuckle.

I knew at that moment that things would be alright with her mum and dad. "Good to know," I muttered. "Good to know." I guess they were human after all.