A Word in Edgewise

'A boy," was all she managed to get out. I inched away from her.

"Yes, Mom. I met a guy. It's not against the law," I snapped. Just because she now hated men didn't mean I had to.

"How do you know he wasn't a demon?" Mom spat. I knew that question was coming. I had of course considered it earlier.

"He's not. He's a mortal. Believe me. I would have kicked his butt if he even so much as shimmered his little toe," I promised her.

""Patricia, you know how dangerous it is to trust strangers…especially men," she grumbled.

"I'm not you, Mom," I shouted. This was ridiculous. How could she expect me to distrust everyone just because her best friend happened to be a warlock?

"Don't take that tone with me," Mom snapped.

"Look can't you just be happy for me? Don't you want me to be happy?" I asked, standing up abruptly. I turned and stormed up the stairs not even giving her a chance to respond. I slammed the door to my room shut and tossed myself on the bed.

"She's so unreasonable," I grumbled to myself as I sat there staring at the ceiling. I know she didn't mean to be that way. I know it was just her talking that way because of how hard she took Dad's death. But did she really have to take it out on me? I heard footsteps on the stairs and I held my breath. I didn't want to talk about this with her…not right now. As quietly as I could I climbed off the bed, scribbled a note to Mom and started to open the window.

"Patty, can we please talk?" I heard Mom call through the locked door. I hoped she wouldn't try and open it.

"No," I shouted as I cautiously climbed out the window. I'd never really done this before. I closed my eyes and reached for a tree branch and miraculously caught one before falling. As quickly as I could I shimmied down the tree and took off up the street at a sprint. I could hear her shouting my name. She was fast that woman. Once I was sure I was far enough away I pulled out the piece of paper with Victor's phone number and address. It didn't seem to be too far but I wanted to make sure I could get there before Mom found me. I clutched the piece of paper and chanted softly under my breath.

"Take me here, let none give chase. Get me safely to this place," I said. It wasn't the best spell in the world but it would have to do. I opened my eyes and looked around. The house number looked right. I made my way up the front stairs and knocked on the door. A girl opened it who appeared be about ten or eleven.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Uh…is Victor here?" I asked, toying with the piece of paper in my hand. She turned and shouted over her shoulder.

"Victor! Some girl is here," she bellowed. At least my spell had worked. I waited outside as footsteps pounded down stairs and Victor appeared.

"Hey," he greeted, looking really surprised to see me.

"Hi…" I mumbled. He pulled the door shut and we sat down on the swing on the front porch.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Not really, no. My Mom and I had a fight…about you," I admitted. I almost wanted to laugh it sounded so absurd.

"I'm sorry," he said, placing a hand on my knee. I smiled a little at him. In my head I was trying to calculate how long it would take Mom to get here.

"She can't stop me from dating. I mean yeah she can try but she won't really stop me," I said after a few seconds of silence.

"I don't want to get your Mom mad at me," he sighed just as we both heard screeching tires.

"And that would be my Mom," I sighed. He raised a brow at me.

"I sort of left a note with your address before I left. Mom jumped out f the car, looking really angry.

"Patricia, don't you ever do that again," she screamed. Please don't send him flying I thought silently.

"I told you were I was going," I muttered.

"Ma'am, I just want to say…" Victor began but Mom cut him off.

"I'm not interested in what you have to say," she snapped.

"Would you just hear him out?" I spat. Mom sighed but looked at Victor.

"I just wanted to say that I respect your decision as her mother, but if you would let me, I'd very much like to get to know your daughter," he said politely. Mom looked at me.

"Well when you put it that way…fine," she said, looking rather shocked.

"Thanks Mom," I said and gave her a hug.

One Year and Four Months Later

I was setting the table for Victor to come over for dinner. It had been almost a year and a half since we'd met. I'd graduated from high school gotten into a local college. Mom had seemed to accept Victor. She still didn't like the fact that he was mortal but I kept reminding her that Dad was mortal too.

"What time is getting here?" she asked as I finished setting the table.

"Five," I muttered.

"That's twenty minutes!" Mom exclaimed.

"Calm down. Everything is ready," I sighed.

"You're right. Why am I the one worrying. It's not my boyfriend coming to dinner," she muttered.

"Demons are going to attack," I said to try and allay her worries. Of course I shouldn't have said anything. At that moment and very ugly looking demon shimmered into the dining room.

"Oh give me a break," Mom groaned, sending it flying. It went tumbling towards the table and I shot a hand out. He froze midair.

"Couldn't you have sent him the other direction," I snapped. With another flick of my wrist he burst into flame and disintegrated to nothing. Not two seconds later the doorbell rang. I rushed down the hall and yanked it open.

"Hey, I know I'm a little early," he said, sounding like he was trying to apologize.

"Oh don't be silly, come in," I said. He stepped over the threshold and I shut the door. Some ten minutes later we were sitting at the table, enjoying dinner.

"I made it. Do you like it?" I asked, blushing a little.

"It's amazing," he said, patting my hand. I go the feeling he was hiding something from me.

I caught Victor looking at Mom. She seemed to nod at him and he turned his chair to face me straight on. I looked at Mom but she didn't say a word.

"There's something I was hoping I could ask you," he said, clearing his throat a little in between words.

"Are you ok?" I asked, pushing the pitcher of ice tea towards him.

"I'm fine," he assured me as he started up his speech again.

"So I was hoping to ask you something," he repeated.

"Ok…sure," I said with a nod. He took a deep breath and shoved one of his hands into his pants pocket. I got a feeling I knew what he was going to ask me but I didn't want to jump the gun.

"Patty…would you do me the honor of marrying me?" he asked, presenting me with a simple diamond engagement ring.

I couldn't speak. I just looked at the ring and then at Victor and back to the ring. I must have been making some sort of noise because Mom was by my side, rubbing my back. It finally registered why they'd been sharing strange looks all through dinner.

"Did…you know?" I asked of Mom in a raspy whisper.

"He was polite enough to ask me to grant him permission," she said. I flung my arms around her. I was definitely proud of my Mom that she was able to accept Victor into the family. I had totally forgotten about Victor sitting across from me, hand still extending the ring box.

"Oh…of course I'll marry you," I added, allowing him to place the ring on my finger. He leaned over and gave me a small kiss on the cheek. I smiled widely as I gazed at the winking stone. After allowing me to stare at the ring for a few minutes more, Mom pulled me away, collecting dishes as she went.

"Don't tell me I have to dishes with my new ring on," I complained. Mom started the water running and plopped the dishes into the sink.

"Have you told him you're a witch?' she asked. I hadn't been expecting that.

"Uh…no," I answered.

"You might want to do that. Don't want to scare the boy," she said. I let out a little laugh.

"Thanks Mom," I said, still chuckling as I went back to join my fiancé.