The Jag veered off of the road into the grassy knoll as Mona swerved to avoid a semi-truck coming towards them. The car hit a snow bank, then crashed into a row of pine trees. "Mother, Mother, can you hear me?"
"Yes I can hear you, but I can't feel my left leg."
"Let me see if I can get out and around to you. Just hang on a second."
"Angela, I'm feeling something weird by my right foot. Can you go for help? We aren't too far from the house."
"I don't want to leave you alone."
"I'm not going anywhere, dear. JoAnne and Walt are on the next block, aren't they?"
"Yes, they are. I'll go see if they are home. I'll be back soon, Mother."
Thankfully Walt was home, and was able to call for an ambulance. He also called Paul Ferguson who came to help Mona while they waited on the ambulance. The car was totaled, but luckily it appeared that Mona only had a pinched nerve in her left leg and a small cut on her right one. Angela walked away with just a bit of bruising and a few scratches.
Once they got to the hospital and she knew that Mona would be okay, Angela called Tony. "Are you okay, sweetheart? And how's Mona?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a few bumps and bruises. And Mother will be fine as well. They're just keeping her for observation as she had hit her head also."
"And our baby?"
"All seems good there too, Tony."
"Good to hear. I heard that the Jag is totaled."
"How do you know that? I hadn't even said anything yet."
"Well, Angela, Walt is our insurance agent."
"Oh, that's right! How could I have forgotten about that? Yes, sweetheart, the car is totaled. I know there's a lot going on right now, and this doesn't help, but it really was an accident."
"It's okay, mi amore. I know it was. Do you need me to bring you anything? I'm flying out tomorrow. Gotta make sure my girls are taken care of."
"I'll be back next week, honey. No need for you to fly out. I'm fine. I may take an extra day or two depending on how Mother is doing, but I'll be back by mid-week at the latest."
"I want to see for myself everyone's okay. I will see you tomorrow afternoon. I love you, Angela."
"I love you too, Tony. I'll see you then."
After Angela saw that Mona was admitted into a private room, she headed home to assess the damage for herself. She'd had the Jag towed to the house until they figured out what they were going to do (and because of her luggage and her Mother's things in the car as well). Samantha and Hank were waiting at the house when she came in. "Hi, Mom. How are you doing? And how is Mona?"
"She's admitted for a night or two, but otherwise is doing fine. Thanks for asking, Samantha. And I'm doing okay too. Just a few scrapes and bruises."
"Dad called to make sure that we get you fed some dinner, as he figured you hadn't eaten yet. He sounded a little weird about it, but I'm guessing that he was just worried about you and Mona."
"Yes, Hank, that's probably it." she answered sheepishly. "But he's right, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast. Do you mind grabbing me something? Just some noodles with some chicken would be great."
"Honey, can you grab me some too? Chicken fettuccine sounds delicious right now, with some garlic bread and a salad."
"Here, Hank, take my credit card, and get something for yourself too. And some dessert as well."
"Do either of you need anything else? I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Nope, we'll be fine. I can talk to Mom then."
"Sounds good," he said winking at his wife. "Love you!"
"Okay, now what was that all about, Samantha Marie Thomopoulus?"
"Well, we were hoping to wait until we came out for a visit in a few weeks, but I figure you could use some good news now."
"Yes..."
"You're gonna be a grandma!"
"What? You're pregnant? Oh, honey, I'm so happy for you!"
"Mom, why are you crying? I know it's early in our marriage, but we've discussed how we will work things."
"I'm not crying about that, Sam. I need to tell you something too. Please sit down."
"You're really worrying me right now, Mom. Does it have anything to do with why Dad was being so insistent that we make sure you eat? Are you sick? Are you dying like my first mom did?"
"No, honey, I'm not sick or dying. I'm pregnant."
"You're what? Oh, Mom, that's amazing news! Does Mona know?"
"Right before the accident she was grilling me about it but I was trying to hold off telling anyone until your dad and I could do it together. But with you sharing your news, I couldn't not tell you."
"So when are you due? I'm due around Memorial Day."
"I'm at around seven weeks right now, so my due date is mid-June."
"That's so great! We'll find out the baby's gender in a few weeks. Hank is hoping for a boy, but secretly I'm hoping for a girl. I can't wait to buy baby clothes and get decorations for the baby's room."
"I'll definitely want to be in on that shopping trip, Sam! This grandma will spoil that little one!"
"And I'm so excited to have a little brother or sister coming too! Jonathan will be so excited to hear the news. We've been hoping for this for you and Dad for the longest time!"
"Really? You've talked about us having a baby?"
"Of course! We knew you'd eventually get together, it was just a matter of when."
"Come here, my daughter." Angela gave her a huge hug. "You know that I love you as if you're my own."
"I know. And you really have become a mom to me over the past eight years. I've wanted to call you Mom for so long, but didn't want to make assumptions about you and Dad too early."
"I remember one time when you did call me 'Mother'. It was when you and Bonnie kept switching jobs during the work-study program between me and your father."
"And you said that you thought I thought you were 'Kind of a drag'."
"And then you said that 'all my friends think that of their moms sometimes'."
"I really felt that cemented me being your mom-like figure. And that was around the time I realized I was in love with your dad."
"Wow, Mom, I didn't realize you'd felt that way back then. I could've been calling you 'Mom' for quite a while."
"Food's here!" shouted Hank as he came in the door.
"Let's go eat, mama-to-be!"
"You too, Mom!"