Chapter 14 Full of stuffing
“Well, that went… well…” Leah said to Gabe once his parents had tasted their pie, politely helped clear the table, and then rushed out the door.
“Worse than expected?” Gabe continued her sentence as he washed dishes. Savannah insisted he leave the dishes to her, but then she excused herself, saying she needed a moment, and Gabe found his way to the sink.
“I didn’t know your family was so religious,” Leah said.
“Me neither,” Gabe responded. “When we stopped going to church, I just figured they didn’t care anymore. We never talked about it. We never even talked about it when we did go to church.”
“They never talked to you about marrying a Catholic?” Leah asked, remembering the hundreds—if not thousands—of times Savannah had drilled into her the importance of marrying a Jewish person. Leah had never thought she’d do otherwise until she had met Gabe. Gabe shook his head.
“It’s not as big of a deal for non-Jews,” Savannah said as she stepped into the kitchen. “Gabe, move from the sink, I got it.” She nudged her way next to the sink. She stared at the dishes as she continued speaking. “With Jews, there are so few of us left in this world. After all the persecutions we’ve been through, and the Holocaust, we have to actively seek out other Jews to make sure we marry them and carry on our traditions. For Christians, it’s much simpler. Most people are Christian and so, most likely whomever they meet are also Christian. They don’t need to be as active as we do in seeking out the right partner. You understand?” She looked up at Leah and Leah nodded. “When you choose not to marry a Jew, you are contributing to the persecution of our people, eliminating our traditions yourself, doing exactly what the Nazis wanted to do. Your way will take longer and it’s less violent, but the end result is the same.”
“That’s not true,” Leah insisted.
“It’s not?” Savannah continued. “How can you teach your children to marry Jewish when you didn’t? How can you teach your children to follow traditions their father doesn’t? How will you explain to them that their grandparents think they are going to hell? You haven’t thought all of this through! Now, I understand you love Gabe. Gabe, you are a truly good person, and I hope you understand, just as Leah should, this isn’t personal. But these are big decisions you two are making and you may not fully understand the repercussions. This is bigger than just you two being in love.”
Savannah paused and Shira came into the kitchen wearing pajamas.
“Shira! You look like you had quite a lot of turkey tonight, but I didn’t see you eat that much!” Savannah said. Shira looked right at Leah as though she had been caught red-handed.
“Uh, yeah, I’m stuffed full of stuffing,” Shira said.
“And you didn’t drink wine,” Savannah commented. “Oh my god! Shira! Do you have something to tell me? How did I miss this!! Is this why you are home? I am a terrible mother! I’ve failed you both!” Savannah dropped the sponge and dish she was washing in the sink, letting it clang as she stormed out of the kitchen.
Gabe, Leah, and Shira looked at each other silently until Gabe went back to washing the dishes in Savannah’s place.
“So who do you think wins?” Shira said, grabbing herself a glass of water. “Who’s the worse daughter?”
Leah rolled her eyes and shook her head. There was no winning here. The three of them stayed in the kitchen, silently cleaning up the dishes and leftovers from the meal. When everything was clean, they said goodnight and went to their bedrooms.
Once they were ready for bed with their teeth brushed, Leah snuggled into Gabe’s nook between his arm and torso. He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head.
“Do you think our religion is such a big deal?” she asked him.
“No,” he responded quickly. “But we’ll always have to deal with our families. It’s not something that will go away.”
“Maybe we should just elope,” Leah said, completely joking. She did not want to elope.
“No way,” he said. “You’re getting married once, you should have the wedding of your dreams.”
She lifted her head to kiss him. She didn’t tell him the wedding of her dreams included a Chuppah and him breaking a glass with his foot. Maybe she would need to alter her dreams.
Gabe dozed off, but Leah had trouble sleeping that night. All she could think about was how disappointed her mom was in her and in Shira, how she wished one of them could have made their mom proud. She knew conversion wasn’t an option for Gabe, but there had to be some way her mother could be proud of her, happy for her. Or at least not believe that she had completely failed her.
Eventually, she drifted off to sleep. She woke up to her mother’s voice bellowing from the kitchen down below. Leah freed herself from Gabe’s arm still snuggling her and went downstairs.
“This is the most irresponsible thing you could have ever done!” Savannah yelled. “Do you understand the repercussions? Do you understand there is no going back? That another person is now relying on you for survival?”
“I know,” Shira responded quietly as Leah entered the kitchen. “You’re welcome,” Shira said to Leah with a smirk.
“Have you considered your options?” Savannah said. “I guess it’s too late for an abortion, but maybe a nice family who can’t have children would take your baby!”
“I’m going to raise it…her,” Shira responded.
“You think motherhood is easy? You’re just going to raise…” Savannah stopped. “It’s a girl?”
Shira nodded. “I don’t think motherhood is easy, but I think I can do it.”
“When are you due?” Savannah asked. “Leah needs to plan her wedding around it! We can’t have you in labor and Leah getting married! And think about how you will look as the maid of honor! Either hugely pregnant or still holding onto your baby weight!”
“I’m due in March,” Shira said. “If Leah gets married in the fall, that’s plenty of time for me to drop the baby weight before Leah’s wedding.”
Savannah looked back and forth between her daughters. “OK,” she said. “This is all going to work out. We’re going to figure it out. First things first, Shira, you need some new clothes. You look ridiculous. And it’s black Friday. Let’s go.”
Shira did sort of look ridiculous. The girls listened to their mother, as they had always done after a reprimanding when they knew they had disappointed her, and got dressed. Leah told Gabe she was going out for a little, and he nodded, grabbing his book and heading downstairs to the kitchen for coffee.
A girl’s shopping trip would be good for them, Leah thought. She could convince her mother that her interfaith marriage wasn’t the end. Maybe they’d start looking at wedding dresses even. Maybe.