Chapter 97: Hath's Parents Settle In

Ang arrived on Hath’s doorstep late the next morning with three suitcases and a smile.

“Ang!” Hath exclaimed, wrapping her friend in a hug. “Why didn’t you call me? I would have come to get you.”

“Aw, I didn’t want to bother you. Who’s that?” she asked, looking over Hath’s shoulder.

“That is my father. Ang, my dad, John Gengras. Daddy, this is Angel Jamieson, fresh from the UK.”

Hath’s father was surprised that Ang was nearly as tall as he was, and she was in sneakers. “Nice to meetcha,” he said, putting out his hand.

Ang laughed. “Nice to meet you too, Dad,” she said, and launched herself at him. John was not really a touchy-feely kind of person, unlike his wife and daughter. He awkwardly patted her shoulders. Ang laughed and gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek.

Ang and Hath played catch-up, then Ang spent a part of the afternoon getting settled in her room. Once she had her stuff put away, she sauntered down to the kitchen, looking for a snack. She found John sitting there with a beer and the newspaper.

“Hey,” she said, and stuck her nose in the fridge. She came out with a plate of cold cuts. “You want a sandwich?” she asked him.

“I could eat,” he said, putting the paper aside. “So, England, huh? That’s a long flight.”

“Not that bad,” she said, making two thick sandwiches.

John looked at her and went to the fridge, and came out with mustard and pickles and put them on the table. “So, what do you do there?”

“Ah, I own a pub,” she answered. “Was my dear ol’ dad’s and now it’s mine. Love the place,” she said.

“You got darts at your pub?”

“Hell yeah, what do you think? Pool, too.”

John’s eyes widened. “You seen David’s setup?”

Ang’s eyes gleamed. “No, I haven’t. Let’s take our snack for a walk, why don’t we?”

They went down to David’s game room. “Jee-zuz,” Ang said. She took in David’s mahogany table, and ran her hand along the rails. “This is gorgeous.”

“That it is,” John agreed. “Ladies first?”

Ang just smiled. “You’re on.”

* * * * *

Hath was trying to relax when her phone rang.

“Lo?”

“Hath, she’s driving me nuts.”

“Hey Sam. Again? What she done today?”

“Just the constant, I don’t know…”

“Mothering?” Hath smiled. Sometimes she forgot that she had more than 35 years to get used to her mother’s brand of love. It was in your face and you never for a moment doubted it was there.

“She hugged me this morning.” That was all she said.

“Okay-y-y-y, and that was bad because…”

Sam sighed, clearly exasperated that Hath didn’t get it. “She’s annoying as shit, sorry, Hath, and just when I’m getting a good mad up, she comes in with a hug or a little pat or something else that makes me feel like an ass for getting mad!”

“It’s called ‘survival’ Sam. Mom’s not an idiot. She knows you don’t like her. Well, she knows you don’t want anyone in your house but you, at any rate.”

“I don’t hate her,” Sam said, feeling a little bad.

Hath chuckled. “I’m glad for that, but still, she can sense you’re not happy. She’s not going to leave; she’s not a quitter. She’s just going to try different things until you stop being – erm…”

Now Sam chuckled. “Churlish? Angry? Petty?”

“Your words, Sam, not mine,” Hath said with a laugh. “Don’t worry about it. The women in this family have thick skin. And a stubborn streak that makes a mule look amiable. I’m sure you resemble that remark.” Sam laughed. “So,” Hath continued, “you’re gonna have conflict. She’s just trying to diffuse it differently than you, that’s all.”

Sam sighed. “Okay. Ugh. Alright, I have to go. You can bet I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye Sam.”

Hath went looking for her father and friend, and found them in the nursery. “What’re you guys doing?”

John answered, “We were thinking about doing the nursery for you while David was away.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Ang said. “We know we’ll do it right,” she added smugly.

“I already talked to David about it,” John said, and Hath nearly fell down.

“You what?” Hath shook her head. Her father hated the phone. In fact, he hadn’t voluntarily made a phone call to someone other than family in the last 25 years.

John shrugged. “I called him earlier, and told him Ang was here, and we wanted to do this for you. He was really quite wiling to let us do the painting. He said to say he’d call you later, by the way. So, what do you say?”

All Hath could do was nod. Ang and John smiled, and started chattering about what they wanted to do. Shaking her head, she went back downstairs. Her dad. Making a voluntary phone call. Will wonders never cease.



Later that evening, Hath was online, and Sam was not happy. “Your mom came in here 30 minutes ago while I was watching ‘Old Christine’,” she typed, “and told me it was time for lights out. I put my foot down and said I was watching my show...it was the season finale. She told me fine. I had to go to sleep when it went off. So...when she came in here to check on me a few minutes ago I acted like I was asleep and let her turn off the TV.”

Hath had to laugh at the thought of Sam, a high-powered attorney, hiding from her mother. She remembered doing the same thing when she was a kid. As if Sam could read her thoughts, she fired off another message. “Geez, I feel like a freakin' teenager again! When she told me it was time for lights out...I said...fine...turn the dayum lights out. I can watch TV in the dark. She didn't take too kindly to that. Ask me if I care.”

Hath sighed. “Sam,” she typed back, fingers flying, “she doesn't care how old you are. Shit, I'm 37 and she still expects a phone call when I get back from a trip. To her, we're all just little kids. Ask her to ease up a bit. Tell her you're not used to it, and it makes you uncomfortable. She really is quite reasonable. Well, sometimes.” Hath was snickering to herself. She wished she could be there to see her mother and Sam facing off.

Sam was getting exasperated. She called Hath, and picked up the conversation where the board left off. “Hath, I tried that shit. The conversation went something like this.... ‘Pauline, you really need to give me a break. I'm not use to having someone bossing me around. It makes me very uncomfortable.’ Then your mother says, ‘But, Sam honey, I'm not bossing you around. Why would you be uncomfortable?’ Thick as a brick, she acts like. So I told her. ‘Because you're telling me when to eat, and what to eat. When to go to sleep. Hell, the only thing you haven't told me is when to shit.”

Hath burst out laughing, knowing what came next.

Sam continued, "All she had to say was ‘Samantha, language!’"

Hath got herself under control. “Really, I’ll talk to her. She doesn’t mean to be a pain in the ass, she’s just taking care of you the only way she knows how.”

“Thanks, Hath, I’d hate to kill your mother and have Marchie bury her in the garden.”

Hath laughed. “Thanks, Sam, for not murdering my mom. Besides, if you buried her in the garden, she’d haunt you. You think her in the flesh is bad? Just wait until the haunting.”

“No thanks,” Sam said, chuckling, then sighed. “I suppose I’d better get to sleep before she comes in here and demands it from me.”

“I should, too. Sam, it’ll be okay.”

“I know, I just need someone to vent to who knows what I’m going through.”

“Yeah, I certainly feel your pain. G’night, Sam.”

“Bye Hath.”

* * * * *
Ang called Hath the next day at work. “David left me a present,” she said.

“And what might that be?” She had no idea what Ang was talking about.

Ang laughed. “I'm in the process of washing ALL my damn clothes that you brought back with you. Bastard put itching powder in everything!”

Hath couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. She had to cover her mouth and nearly dropped the phone. Oh, Ang was pissed. David better watch out.

“Itching powder's a BITCH!,” she said. “I looked like Balloo out of The Jungle Book rubbing up and down the damn doorjamb!” She told Hath how the only thing she had that didn’t have itching powder all over was her pajamas. So, she was painting with my dad in her pajamas while her clothes hummed happily along in the washing machine. “Hath you're gonna be bring those babies up without a daddy!”

Hath got her laughter down to a dull roar. “Sorry, sweetie,” she told her friend. “Fiancée secret trumps girlfriend secret; he made me swear not to tell. Just be grateful he didn't do what he wanted to do with your babies.”

Ang gasped. “And what did he want to do? Or do I not want to know?”

“Let's just say, you'd have seen WAY more of my brother and his friends than you'd care to.”

“Fuck me,” Ang said.

“Yep a full gig of pictures of their asses and other parts.” Hath rolled her eyes. “Not that you’d be able to tell one from the other, but they were all up for it, stupid asses. David promised them CASES of Jack if they helped him with this prank. I said NO WAY. You’re welcome.”

Ang smiled. Hath could hear it in her voice. “I’d’ve been able to tell David. I’d recognize that ass and those thighs anywhere. Clothed or not.”

“You’re so bad,” Hath said, laughing. “Now, I need to get back to work. Hey. I just thought of something. He hasn't played a prank on me – not that I've found out anyway. Crap; I probably shouldn't have said anything.”

“Probably not,” Ang agreed. “Alright, I’ll let you go. See you when you get home.”