Chapter 3: Sunday With the Parents

The next day, Danny and his mum were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast. Towards the end, Danny said, “Mum, I won’t be here for lunch, but is it ok if I bring a friend back for tea?” “Of course,” his mum replied, “Is it anyone I know?” Danny smiled at her as he got up, went round the table and put his arm around her. “No mum, you’ve never met her.” He told her giving her a hug.

“Her?” his mum said agog, “Tell me more?” Danny sat back down and told her, “Her name is Lorraine, she’s the same age as me, she’s the cousin of a mate of mine. We’ve only been out once so far, but we expect to be seeing a lot of each other. We haven’t told a soul yet as we wanted our parents to be the first to know. I’m going to meet Lorraine’s parents this morning, then we’re coming back here so Lorraine can meet you.”

“Well, this is a shock,” his mum said, “How long have you known her?” “Two weeks yesterday,” Danny told her, “Wayne, that’s her cousin, and Lorraine were out for a cycle ride, so Wayne called at John Williams’s to see me. That’s how we met. We spent the day together last Sunday walking the old railway line linear park.” “And you’re meeting the parents already?” his mum said. “Is there anything else I need to know?” Danny twigged what she meant right away. He smiled at her and told her, “Relax mum, no she’s not pregnant and we have no intention of having a child until we’re married, or at least living together.”

“It all seems to be moving a bit fast,” his mum said. Danny looked at her and asked, “How long after you met dad did you know he was the one for you?” His mum smiled as she remembered, then she told him, “We may have known in our hearts, but we didn’t move as fast as you seem to be.” “Things move much quicker nowadays,” Danny told her, “But we’re not rushing into anything, we have school to finish and a career to sort out first. It’s only because we ourselves are so sure about our feelings that we’re telling our parents. We just wanted you to know first. There’s no other reason.”

“Well, I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve met this wonderful girl,” his mum said, “But as long as your happy and you seem to be being sensible, then I’m happy.”

Danny gave her a big hug and a kiss. “Thanks mum, I’m sure you’ll like her,” he said. He gave her another hug and went to get ready for his cycle ride to Lorraine’s.

Meanwhile at Lorraine’s house things weren’t going quite so well. Like Danny, Lorraine had waited until near the end of breakfast, then she said, “Mum and Dad, I’ve something to tell you.” Her dad looked over his Sunday paper enquiringly, whilst her mum looked worried.

Seeing she had their attention, Lorraine announced, “I have a boyfriend and I’ve asked him to call this morning to meet you.”

Her dad put his paper down and said,” So who is he, how long have you known him, where does he live. Her mum just sat quiet, looking worried still. Lorraine answered, “His name is Danny, he’s the same age as me, I’ve known him two weeks and he lives over near aunty Evelyn.” “Hrump, came from her dad, well I’ll have a talk with him when he comes, he better understand from the start that I’ll not stand for you coming home pregnant.”

Lorraine’s mum chipped in then, still looking worried, “You’re not, are you?” Her dad looked horrified, “I’ll kill him,” he said, “I... “DAD, Lorraine shouted, stop that right now. I am NOT pregnant and what’s more Danny is so considerate that I’m sure that I never will be unless it’s my choice. I have the decency to tell you I have a boyfriend and even invite him to meet you before we tell another living soul. I didn’t expect you to like him before you met him, but I didn’t expect you to behave like this. I’ll go and tell him not to bother coming.”

She stormed out of the room and ran up to her bedroom sobbing. Her parents looked at each other, Lorraine’s mum said, “Now look what you’ve done,” and went after her.

Going upstairs, she found Lorraine in her bedroom sobbing. She put her arms around her and said, “Don’t get so upset love, it’s just that we’re concerned about you, although perhaps we could have handled it better.”

“Oh mum, I was so happy at meeting Danny,” Lorraine told her, “It’s been such a struggle not to tell anyone, but we both wanted to tell our parents first, today was supposed to be so good, Danny coming here to meet you and dad, then I’m going back with Danny to meet his mum.” She looked at her watch, “He’ll be leaving soon, I better tell him not to come.” She reached for her phone, but her mum said, “Wait, love, let him come. If he means so much to you, we want to meet him. Don’t worry, I’ll go and lay the law down to your father.” She gave her a hug and went downstairs.

Going back downstairs, she closed the door firmly behind her before sitting down at the table. “I’ve told Lorraine to let him come,” she said looking sternly at her husband. “Before you say anything, just listen to me. You have just convinced your daughter that she should hide any boyfriend she may have from us. Which means she is twice as likely to end up pregnant or at least leaving home and having nothing to do with us. Now, I have promised her that when this boy arrives, we will make him welcome and not subject him to a third degree. Just remember that if he is a terrible person, your behaviour will drive her into his arms. You can ask him reasonable questions in a polite manner. Unless he’s totally thick, he will expect that, but just make sure they don’t sound like you are grilling him. If you don’t, she said glaring at him, you’ll have me to deal with. Now go upstairs and apologise to your daughter and reassure her you will act like a gentleman.”

“Hrump,” came again, then, “Perhaps I did overreact,” he said as he got up and headed for the stairs. Getting a “come in,” when he knocked on Lorraine’s door, he went in, sat beside her on the bed and put his arm around her. “I’m sorry my love,” he told her, “I love you so much and I overreacted. I promise I’ll be polite to young Danny when he comes.” Lorraine put her arms round her dad and kissed him. “Thanks’ dad, I do understand,” she told him, “I so want you and mum to like him, just give him a chance.”

Whilst all this was going on, Danny was about to set off. His mum came to the door to see him off, giving him a hug and a kiss as well as wishing him luck. She waved him off, then went back into the house. She felt shaken, she had known that this day would come, but hadn’t expected it to drop on her out of the blue. She sat for a while and thought about ringing her brother, Mike. She had dialled a couple of the numbers before she put the phone down when she realised that Danny would want to tell Mike himself.

Danny happily cycled along, unaware of all the upset. Half an hour later he turned into Lorraine’s Road and found the house. Chaining his bike to a tree just inside the gate, he walked up the path and rang the bell. A few moments later, Lorraine opened the door. She fell into his arms, and they held each other tight and kissed. Danny could tell right away that she had been crying. In response to his question, Lorraine told him, “It’s ok, nothing to worry about, I’ll explain later, come and meet mum and dad.” She kissed him again first, then took his hand and led him into the back room.

As they went in, Lorraine said, “Mum and dad, this is Danny.” Danny went over to her mum and gave her a hug, “Nice to meet you, “ he said and gave her a big smile. “You too Danny,” she said, “Welcome.” Next Danny turned to Lorraine’s dad. He looked a bit overpowering at first sight, but Danny went straight to him and offered his hand. “Pleased to meet you, sir,” he said as his hand was taken in a firm grip and shaken. Seeing his wife glaring at him, Lorraine’s dad replied, “Nice to meet you too, son,”

They all sat down, and Lorraine’s mum brought them all a cup of tea. There was a strain evident in the air, Lorraine’s dad obviously wanting to ask Danny questions, but reluctant to risk upsetting his wife and daughter. Lorraine’s mum started the ball rolling by asking where they had met. Danny told her that Wayne had called to see him at work whilst he and Lorraine were out for a bike ride. “We hit it off right away,” he told her, with a smile at Lorraine. “We met up last Sunday and walked the old railway line that’s now a linear park.”

“We never stopped talking all day, then as we had both decided by then that we were meant for each other, we thought it was only right that we meet and tell our parents before telling anyone else.” Lorraine’s dad couldn’t contain himself at that, bursting in with. “You make it sound like you are planning to get married,” he said, “Isn’t that a bit quick?” Lorraine’s mum glared at him, but Danny replied, “I hope sir, that that will happen sometime in the future. However, I won’t be asking you for your daughter’s hand in marriage just yet, we have our schooling and careers to sort out first.”

“Mm, well at least you sound sensible,” Lorraine’s dad conceded. “What are you hoping to do,” he asked next. “I’m still not sure,” Danny told him honestly.” One option is I’d like to be a doctor, but I’m not totally sure, plus I don’t know if I’ll get the grades.” Lorraine’s dad liked the sound of that, Danny clearly had above average aims. “What does your father do?” He asked. Lorraine chipped in here, saying, “I’m sorry, Danny, I didn’t have chance to tell them.” She glared at her dad as she spoke. Danny sensed tension but ignored it saying, “My dad was a solicitor, but he died a year ago.” Lorraine’s dad realised he was in a hole and did his best to dig himself out. “I’m sorry to hear that, Danny,” he said, “That must have been hard for you. Anyway,” he continued, “No more questions today, if you’re going to be around as long as you seem to think, we’ll get to know you soon enough, will you stay to dinner?”