Some difficult questions

Rebecca was fidgeting a bit as she was sitting on the couch side across from her future mother-in-law. Although she had gotten a lot more comfortable than when this day started, and she had gotten to know her in-laws a bit, being with them one-on-one still felt a bit uncomfortable. Not necessarily because of Susan herself, but more because she was still a bit afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing. She wasn't very good with her words, as her interactions with Anthony have proven plenty of times, and this wasn't the time for her to slip up and cause trouble. Especially since right now she didn't have her best friend and fiancé to help explain the situation if and when she couldn't.

But Susan just kept smiling patiently at her as Rebecca looked at her and looked away again with an uncomfortable smile. Susan figured, as long as she just waited and had an open and friendly expression on her face, Rebecca's nerves would settle and her words would come on their own. She didn't want to push her daughter-in-law to be. Instead, Susan was trying her best to make Rebecca feel at ease around her. She noticed her tense up a bit once her son left, but she felt that it was important for her to talk to Rebecca about a few things and get to know her on a more personal level. How else was she to treat her as her own daughter from here on out, if she continued to be a stranger.

After spending the better part of two minutes in an uncomfortable silence, filled with awkward smiles and avoiding glances on Rebecca's part, Susan decided to make the first move. She turned to Rebecca again with her trademark smile and asked. "So, Rebecca, tell me, how long have you two been together? Was the engagement just as big as a surprise for you as it was for Richard and I?" Rebecca was startled at first by the sudden break of silence, and from being asked a real question, but she quickly recovered. She sat up straight and looked Susan in the eyes as she answered her. "Uhm, actually we haven't been together for very long. In fact, we got together on the same day as we got engaged." Rebecca felt a bit nervous as she said this, wondering what Susan would think of their decision to get engaged right away, and it was just as she had expected. Susan appeared shocked at finding this out, but Rebecca had anticipated on this and quickly added, "But we have known each other for a few years now."

These words seemed to have caught Susan's attention and managed to retain it long enough for Rebecca to explain how their decision seemed hasty and rash to others, it wasn't just an impulse decision to them, and certainly not to her. With a smile and a look on her face that showed just how much she was in love with Anthony and just how happy she was feeling to be engaged to him, Rebecca said, "Ever since I met him, Anthony has been my greatest friend, my biggest source of support and the person I found myself in love with after quite some time." Then, without a delay, she answered the second part of Susan's question with her regular expression, but with just a touch of a smile. "As for your second question, the answer is, yes. It was a surprise for me as well, but a welcome one. It was the push in the back I needed to take that leap from being friends to being more."

Susan nodded and said in a slightly bewildered tone, "I see. Is that so…" She had expected neither answer and didn't quite yet know how to respond. So, instead she decided to just move onto her next question. "So, have you told your parents yet? Has Anthony met them yet?" With an airy laughter she added, "Or was the announcement their introduction as well." Rebecca face showed a pained expression, but only for a fraction of a second as she was jolted by that line of questioning.

Although she knew she had to tell Anthony's parents about her parents at some point, she didn't think it would be right away and without Anthony by her side. But she didn't want to make Anthony's mom feel bad about simply asking a question, a question that most people would find normal and easy to answer, and especially not during their first real talk with each other. Just as Susan was trying her best to make Rebecca feel comfortable, Rebecca was doing her best, in her own way, to make Susan feel comfortable around her as well. Even if it meant answering some difficult questions and pushing herself out of her comfort zone.

Despite all of this, Rebecca did not have an answer ready for that question and being caught off guard like that, made her forget anything she had come up with before as she had been going over this potential scenario in her head. Having no escape other than avoiding to answer the question altogether or lying, neither things she was willing to do, Rebecca cleared her throat as she prepared to face the question head on. "Uhm, …No, we have not. I don't think we ever will, nor do I think Anthony will ever have the chance to meet them."