Chapter 26

I looked at the person sitting next to me. "You know, this would be a whole lot more believable if you weren't grinning like that."

She smirked. "Whatever do you mean, sir?"

"Okay, princess. I know there are only four restaurants in town, so this COULD be a coincidence, except for that smirk."

"Oh, hush! Let's go see our friends!"

"Oooo-kayyyy," I said. "You got me. Again."

"Yes I do," she smiled, holding my hand as we walked into the restaurant.

Now, I'm not slow. If this had been a coincidence, and there was a tiny shred of a thought that it might be, I'd spot Susan and Jason and Mike and Kathy sitting at a table for four.

They were at a table for six. I looked at Tina. She was smiling. Susan spotted us walking in and waved enthusiastically for us to come over. I noticed that Susan was sitting next to Jason, and Jason was smiling. Kathy was smiling. Mike had a look on his face that I didn't quite parse.

We sat. "We ordered appetizers," Mike said. "I'm wishing they served something stronger than beer, though."

"Problem?" I asked.

"I'm apparently a creature out of his time," Mike said.

"Howzat?" I asked.

"I imagined a lot of things, being a parent, Alan. Some of 'em kept me awake nights, especially since my daughter grew into a young girl."

Susan was smiling innocently. She did that very well.

Mike continued, "But I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that some guy would come out and ask me permission to court my daughter."

"Huh?"

Susan was smiling. Jason was smiling. Tina was smiling. Kathy was smiling, maybe not quite as brightly as the other three.

"Jason just asked for my permission to court my daughter. You know, formally."

"And you didn't pull your pistol and shoot him on the spot?"

"Alannnnnn!" Tina squealed.

I continued, "From the smiles, I guess you gave an answer that is acceptable to this crew?"

Mike sighed. "What the HELL am I gonna do, Alan? You should've seen some of the losers she's dated."

"Daaa-aaddddd! Mom, make 'im stop!" Susan squealed.

Kathy gave Mike 'The Stare'. "Michael Carter! You behave yourself!" I could tell by her expression that she was mostly laughing. To me she said, "My husband is not thinking clearly. This is the first time somebody's made a serious request for our daughter's attention."

"A formal request," Susan said. "Not, 'Uh, so, uh, Susan, you wanna, like, a movie Saturday?' and then he has to come into the house 'cuz Dad won't let me go running out to meet a guy in 'is car."

"Your dad's a wise man, Susan," I said.

"Thank you, Alan," Mike said. "It's nice to have some support. Anyhow, I told 'im that I know where he works and I shoot regular competition."

"Daaa-aaddd!"

"Miiike," Kathy laughed.

Susan giggled. "So now I can do THIS!" She raised her hand above the table. It held Jason's hand, fingers interlaced. And Jason was smiling like he hit the lottery.

Okay, by the end of the meal, it didn't feel nearly as awkward. After all, I'd watched these two like the proverbial moths circling a lamp for a month now. Inside, I felt a little relief. At least it was out in the open.

Okay, so we made it through dinner. And of course, there was the obligatory trip to the powder room by the ladies. Well, not ALL the ladies. Kathy skipped that one. Two girls went, and they couldn't get out of earshot before the tittering started. When they returned, Susan was patting a stray strand of blonde hair back behind her ear and Tina was smiling happily.

In the interim, I looked at Jason. "Bud," I said, "Mike won't have to do it. You hurt Tina's sister, I will personally..."

Jason threw his hands up. "Alan! If I was planning on abusing their daughter, do you think I'd come meet them first?"

"You might be particularly slick."

He looked at me, then Mike, then Kathy. "What? Like Ted Kaczynski?"

Kathy bumped in, "Like in Susan 3, Alan 1?"

"Oh, I see that the love of my life apparently can't keep her mouth shut?"

Mike said, "Actually, Susan couldn't wait to tell us when Jason came over to talk." He smiled at me. "Alan, I'm okay with it. Kathy sort of got my mind right."

Kathy smirked. "The only hurdles that bother me in the least is the age difference and his previous marriage. And it sounds like he got burnt on that one." She looked at Jason. "Sorry! I don't mean to talk like you're not here."

"Okay," I said. "I really give up, folks. And they're back!"

Two smiling teens re-seated themselves at the table. And Susan scooted her chair sideways.

"Tell 'em, Alan," Mike said.

"Oh, for pete's sake," I said. "Okay. Susan. Jason. As my old chief engineer used to say, 'Mazel Tov!' You're both my friends. I look forward to our continued relationship."

Tina punched me. "So formal!"

"Look at it this way, Alan," Jason said. "It'll be good for the environment. We'll come visit in one car."

Susan giggled.

The meal ended, I grabbed the check before Mike could, and this time THREE couples walked out of the restaurant. We did good-byes in the parking lot. I noted that Susan got in her mom and dad's car after giving poor Jason the kind of peck on the cheek that she usually gave me.

I couldn't wait until Tina and I got into our truck. I turned to my smirking wife. "Okay! So tell me what happened, cutie!"