A Mother and Daughter Reunion

After accepting Bernard Morton's marriage proposal, Mindy Cooper knew that there were two people that she needed to inform of her decision right away: her mother and her boyfriend.

She cringed at the prospect of telling each of them her news. Tyler Schuyler was going to be understandably upset but her mother...well, who knew how Betsy Cooper would react? One thing was certain, her mother never reacted the way any other normal mother would. There would be no hugs or best wishes or talk about wedding plans. Her mother seemed to have a permanent kink in her personality when it came to parenting.

Mindy was relieved to find the apartment she shared with Tyler empty after Bernard brought her home. She'd call her mother first and then tell Tyler her news when he got home. Truthfully, she didn't think Tyler was going to take it too badly. Their relationship had never been exactly made out of fireworks. Firecrackers was more like it. Tyler could move back in with his horrible mommy, quit his temporary job at Kutrate Kemicals and get on with his life. It was really the best thing for him, Mindy decided virtuously. Why, she was actually doing him a favor by breaking up with him.

Feeling better, Mindy sat down on the couch and braced herself for the phone call to her mother. After taking several long gulps of air, she picked up her cell phone.

"Hi, Mom."

"Who is this? Sandi? Is that you?"

"No, it's Mindy, not Sandi," Mindy said through gritted teeth. She sounded nothing like her sister Sandi yet every time she called her mother, her mother mistook her for Sandi.

"Mindy! What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?"

"You only call me when something's wrong."

"That's not true. I call you all the time--" Mindy stopped herself because she suddenly couldn't remember the last time she had called her mother. Was it when she needed to borrow money because her car broke down? Or was it when she needed to borrow money because she was short on rent money?" Oh, my. Her mother was right; she did only call when something was wrong. "Well, that's not the reason why I'm calling you tonight. I have some big news, Mom. I'm getting married!"

"You're getting married? Who on earth are you marrying? Some penniless journalist?"

"Actually, my fiance is extremely wealthy and very good looking. He looks a lot like Warren Beatty in his prime."

"Oh, Mindy, why would you want to marry someone who is better looking than you are? Men like that always cheat on their wives."

"Bernard is not better looking than I am," Mindy said. "I'm not exactly chopped liver, Mom."

"No, but you're also not a spring chicken. How did you meet this man?"

"We work together."

"He's a colleague at the newspaper? I thought you said he had money."

"I'm not working at the newspaper," Mindy explained. Good grief, when was the last time she'd spoken to her mother? It had to have been ages ago. "I'm working for a chemical company and Bernard is my boss."

"You're sleeping with your boss? That's a great way to get fired!"

"He's not going to fire me and we aren't sleeping together. We're engaged."

"The two are mutually exclusive, Mindy. I thought you knew that."

"Mom, it might be nice if you said congratulations or asked me when you can meet my fiance or told me how happy you are for me. Bernard Morton is a rich, handsome man and he wants to marry me. Most mothers would think that's good news!"

"Just don't let him meet your sister," Betsy Cooper advised. "Remember how all your old boyfriends fell for her once they met her?"

"That happened one time in junior high."

"Still, better safe than sorry. So when can I meet your fiance? Maybe I should come to Schuyler Square for a visit. It's been a while, Mindy. We can catch up with each other."

"I'll call you next week," Mindy promised. Maybe she'd be able to convince Bernard to elope before her mother's visit because she had the feeling that once Bernard met Betsy and saw what kind of family she came from, he might decide he didn't want to marry her after all.