CHAPTER FIVE #2
“Hello. My name is Melissa. It’s nice to meet you, Gabe. And you two as well,” she said, nodding to Ellen and Holly. “Let’s all have a seat and bring me up to speed.”
Liz quickly introduced Ellen and Holly as they got settled.
Melissa studied him, and he studied her back. She definitely looked like Liz, including being kind of tall and kind of jacked. A gray streak in her short, otherwise dark brown hair. Sharp brown eyes. He wondered what she saw when she studied him.
“All right, I’m a very no bullshit person,” she said, straightening up a little and adopting the face of a woman about to tackle a difficult task, “so I want to keep this simple. First, tell me how you met my daughter and began dating her.”
“I already told you all this,” Liz said.
“I know, dear, but I want to hear it from another perspective in case you missed–or omitted–anything.”
Liz sighed. “Fine.”
Gabe told her plainly. At this point, he didn’t think anything else would make sense. They had pretty much all agreed to adhere to a truthful lifestyle, and that extended to others. She asked him questions about finances, work history and degrees–for them all–and future plans.
By the time they were done, Melissa looked...he wasn’t sure. Her expression was hard to read, but he imagined it must be something of a default for her. She had a good poker face. She seemed to be wrestling with something.
“So...do you feel good about this?” Liz asked after an uncomfortable amount of silence went by.
Melissa sighed, long and heavy. She suddenly looked tired, older.
“Yes, Liz. This is fine. You’re smarter than I am and you’ve got an amazing track record.
I feel pretty damn confident you have a grasp on life, and while this isn’t exactly a choice I’d make...
I can understand why you are making it.”
“I know this isn’t what you wanted, that I should be sticking with my current job or at least looking for a new, similar one so I can get a raise but–”
Melissa shook her head. “Liz...I’m going to be honest: the landscape has changed.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, this isn’t the same society it was when I was your age.
It used to be that, for the most part, you could follow the advice we parents kept handing out like candy: work hard, apply yourself, and you can put a life together pretty easily.
But it isn’t like that anymore, and it doesn’t help anyone to pretend it is.
Honestly, it hurts. I didn’t want to believe it, but I have to face facts. ”
“Did something...happen?” Liz asked cautiously, and Gabe had been wondering the same thing.
“No, not really. It’s more just that I can’t ignore everything I’m seeing.
The middle class disappearing. The fucking economy.
The housing market, for Christ’s sake. Everything is tanking but it’s become obvious that the media is going to bullshit us like it isn’t because they’re bought and fucking paid for by the rich shitbags sucking everything up so they can keep playing ‘who has the most money when they die’ while the rest of us fucking starve. ”
She fell silent, then gave her head a bitter shake.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to bring the mood down, I’m just so disappointed in our society.
But also just sad. Liz...I want you to know, and believe, that I do support you in this.
I know we’ve had our differences, but I really did do what I thought made the most sense for you.
I just didn’t think the landscape would change this dramatically. Christ, you aren’t even thirty yet.”
Gabe looked at Liz. She seemed very uncertain, with a bit of surprise thrown in. He also looked at the others. Holly and Krystal were keeping poker faces, Ellen looked sympathetic.
“And to be clear: I support this. You all appear to be what you seem, and by now it’s become obvious to me that Liz has a better bullshit detector than I do.
I want you to be happy, honey. Safe, for sure.
Secure, healthy, motivated. Lots of things.
But happy. And obviously Krystal makes you happy, and clearly Gabe makes you happy. ”
“Is it that clear?” he asked, glancing at Liz, who had begun to blush.
“Let’s just say that she’s managed to cram a lot of gushing about you into this past month.” She paused, an awkward look coming onto her face. “It’s none of my business but...is this really not weird for anyone? Krystal?”
“Oh no, it hasn’t been weird for me. It has been awesome for me. Gabe is really good at–” She stopped herself abruptly, then cleared her throat. “A lot of things. I’m happy.”
Melissa laughed. “Okay, then. I just...I don’t know, I guess I’m just wired to be monogamous.
But this isn’t me dumping on what you have going on.
I know that I don’t get it, but I don’t have to get it.
Now, if there’s no further questions, I can sense that you all have things you’d like to be getting to and I find myself in a similar situation.
So, I’d like to talk with my daughter alone for a few minutes. ”
“Fine by me,” Ellen said, and Krystal and Holly nodded, standing.
“I have one question,” Gabe said.
“Shoot,” Melissa replied.
“What exactly did you mean when you said I cracked her? I mean, I think I get it, but there was some emphasis you had that I couldn’t quite place.”
She smiled a knowing smile, looking at Liz briefly.
“Who you are to Liz is who her father is to me. I didn’t have anything to do with men, dating-wise, until I met him.
And it was like...I was a language that he spoke fluently, an instrument he was already an expert in playing. Like I’d been waiting for him.”
“Those are accurate statements…” Liz murmured.
“Exactly.” She paused. “So are kids completely off the table or…?”
“For me, yes,” Liz said firmly. “I don’t want to be pregnant. Neither does Ellen. The other girls, though…”
“Would you accept them as grandchildren?” Gabe asked.
“I would like to know the answer to that question,” Holly said, speaking up for the first time. “Because I am definitely going to get pregnant by Gabe.”
Melissa took a moment to think about it before saying: “I will most certainly attempt to accept them as grandchildren. And I think it would go pretty well, but I can’t know for sure until we’re actually there.”
“That is a perfectly fine answer for me,” Holly said, smiling broadly.
She was getting increasingly happy about the concept of motherhood.
When it became clear there were no more questions, everyone but Liz headed back to the front door.