Today was a big day and Lexi was pretty nervous. She was going to be meeting Mary's parents. Mary had told them about her when they returned from their cruise but she let Lexi decide if and when she wanted to meet them. Walter and Andy had played a round of golf and were joining Mary, Lexi and Dottie back at Mary's for lunch. Dottie and Mary were going over wedding plans when there was a knock at the door. She knew it was Lexi. She got up and crossed the room to answer it.
"Hi." She greeted Lexi with a smile, "Come on in."
Lexi stepped inside and smiled at the older woman sitting at Mary's table. Mary put a comforting arm around her, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She assured her
Mary guided her over to where Dottie sat, "Mom, this is Lexi."
Dottie stood up and studied her face for a moment, "Oh my." She breathed out, "What a beautiful young lady you are."
Lexi smiled nervously, "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Richards."
"Please call me Dottie." She insisted, "After all we're…" She almost said family, "I mean Mrs. Richards sounds too much like my mother-in-law."
Lexi laughed a little, "My mom says the same thing when people call her Mrs. James."
Dottie sat back down, "Come sit." She gestured to the one of the chairs, "So Mary tells me you have a real knack for journalism."
Mary walked into the kitchen, "It's true."
Lexi shrugged, "I guess so. I really want to go to Columbia. They have a great journalism program."
"Well, keep your grades up and I bet you could get a scholarship." Mary assured her as she got out some meat and cheese for sandwiches, "Did you talk to your counselor?"
"Yeah, but since I'm only a sophomore they won't really start working with me on colleges until next year."
Dottie looked at Lexi , "I'm sorry to stare, sweetheart but you look so much like my mother." She said then turned to Mary, "Doesn't she, Mary?"
Mary froze for a moment. She thought Lexi looked like Nick, "Well, mom, I hadn't noticed it and I think we need to stop inspecting her."
"It's okay, Mary. I like knowing that I look like someone." Lexi told her thinking about how much she had stared at Mary hoping to see a resemblance, "So, uh, did you make any decisions about the wedding?" She asked noticing the magazines on the table
"Well sort of. Mom and I have a little bit different view of how things should go…" She began but was interrupted by Andy and Walter coming through the door
"Son, you should never have missed that shot. It was straight down the line." Walter was instructing Andy on his golf game.
"I'll make sure I remember that, Walter." Andy said patiently and walked over to greet Mary who had just exited the kitchen, "Hi, Babe." He said kissing her
"Hi, yourself." She smiled wrapping her arms around his neck, "I take it my father won?"
He pulled her close, "That depends on what you consider winning." He explained, "I got to come back here to you."
"Ahem." Walter muttered
Mary pulled away, "Sorry, Dad." She said and suddenly remembered Lexi, "Dad, come over here." Walter crossed the room, "This is Lexi."
Lexi stood up, "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Richards."
Walter smiled, "It's nice to finally meet you, young lady." He said, "And please call me Walter."
"Okay, Walter." She said nervously
"Well, now that everyone is here why don't we sit down and eat lunch?" Mary suggested
After her parents and Andy left Lexi helped Mary clean up after lunch. She liked Walter and Dottie very much. They seemed very accepting of her but not pushy. It was certainly going to take some time to get used to this and she really appreciated Mary letting her take the lead.
"I hope that wasn't too overwhelming for you." Mary said rinsing off the dishes
"No, it wasn't. You're parents seem nice, even if they were staring." Lexi joked
Mary smiled, "I guess that's to be expected."
"Do I really look like your grandmother?" She asked
Mary looked at her and the truth was she did notice a resemblance. Her grandmother was also blonde and green eyed, but those green eyes staring back at her were not her grandmother's,"Yes, you do, your hair and eyes." She said not wanting to upset Lexi by telling her she looked like him. She didn't want Lexi to think it was painful to look at her, which it wasn't, "But you're still stuck with my nose and there's no question where you get that mouth."
"I'm glad." Lexi said, "People always tell me I have a pretty smile. My mom says women pay money to have a nose like mine."
Mary smiled, "Lexi, there's something I want to talk to you about and I hope you won't feel like I'm being pushy."
Lexi looked at her, "What is it?"
"Well, you know, my best friend Rhoda in New York is my matron of honor but I still need a maid of honor."
"You want me to be your maid of honor?"
Mary brushed the hair away from Lexi's face, "I would love for you too, but only if you're comfortable."
"Well, won't people wonder who I am? I mean won't there be people there who won't know." Lexi asked
"Well, that will mostly be Andy's family. We're not having anything huge, mostly family and friends from the station." She told her, "Honey, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want you to."
Lexi smiled, "I'd love to."
A MONTH LATER
Mary was on her way to the airport to pick up Rhoda. Joe couldn't leave his business so Rhoda was coming alone. Mary was secretly grateful. It would give them more time alone. She didn't know why but she was terribly nervous about telling her best friend about her daughter. She hoped she would understand why she hadn't told her before. She pulled in and spotted Rhoda waiting by the arriving flights. She got out and popped the trunk.
"Rhoda!" She moved toward and quickly pulled her into an embrace
"Hi Ya, Kid!" Rhoda said pulling back to look at her, "Boy, getting married sure agrees with you. You look fantastic. You've gone from thin to voluptuous. I thought that only happened after marriage."
"You can blame that on Andy's cooking." She said as they put her suitcase in the trunk, "His mother is Italian and taught him how to make lasagna that is out of this world."
They got into the car and Mary looked at her friend, "I can't tell you how good it is to see you."
"Oh, Mare, you too." Rhoda echoed, "Hey, I'm starved, you wanna get some lunch?"
"Sure, but somewhere kind of quiet. I need to talk to you about something." She said as they pulled out into the street
They went to a little deli closed to Rhoda's hotel. They got their sandwiches and sat in a booth toward the back. Rhoda dived in and Mary nervously picked at her food. She looked up and noticed Mary had barely touched hers.
"Hey, kid, what's wrong?"
Mary sighed, "Rhoda, there is something I need to tell you and it's probably the hardest thing I've had to tell anyone."
Rhoda gasped, "You're pregnant!"
"No, Rhoda." She said, "But you're not too far off."
"Huh?"
Mary looked down, "God, this is hard." She looked back up, "There is something I did years ago that I've kept a secret and now it's caught up with me."
"What are you talking about?" Rhoda asked, "What could you have possibly done that was that bad."
"I had a baby, Rhoda." Mary said flatly
Rhoda started laughing, "That's funny, Mare. You're just kidding with me because I said I thought you were pregnant. What is it really?"
"I'm not kidding Rhoda." She said, "I had a baby and gave her up for adoption."
Rhoda put down her sandwich, "You're serious."
"Yes, and she found me." Mary informed her
"Found you?" Rhoda repeated, "You mean she knows who you are?"
Mary nodded, "She lives here and she accidentally came across her adoption papers. She's actually a friend of Bess's and she had heard Bess mention me."
"Oh, Mare. I…I don't know what to say." Rhoda couldn't believe it, "I wish you had told me sooner. It must have been so hard for you keeping that inside."
"It was and it actually feels kind of good to have it out in the open." Mary acknowledged, finally taking a bite of her sandwich
"So, what's she like?"
Mary smiled, "She's a great kid. She's interning at the station and doing a great job."
Rhoda reached across the table and took Mary's hand, "So you're okay with this?"
"Yeah, Rhoda, I am."