They both laughed.
Mom was up to her elbows in bunnies, gerbils, and hedgehogs.
As soon as she saw me, she handed me a bottle and a small spikey mammal.
“Reggie! What are you doing here?”
“Mom, this is Kasey Williams – and her mom. Mrs. Williams was my ..”
“.. favorite teacher!” mom finished.
Mrs. Williams looked over at me and grinned.
“Yes,” I admitted.
“I think he had a crush on you, dear,” mom confided to her, handing her a small mammal to feed.
I started turning pink.
“Kasey ..” mom said, thinking to herself.
“Mom ..” I warned.
“I probably shouldn’t tell you this but Reggie has wanted to ask you out for most of his life.”
“Mom!”
“What?!” she asked me, handing Kasey a tiny bunny and a dropper filled with milk.
“Why are you handing them animals?”
“They have staff tags on, don’t they?”
“Well, yes, because I asked for them so I could tell you something ..”
“Tell me what, dear?”
“I bought Kasey something and I wanted her to show you.”
“That’s lovely, baby. Oh! Are you dating? You wouldn’t buy something for a girl you weren’t dating, would you? .. and Mrs. Williams is here ..”
Kasey held out her hand.
“Oh!”
She put down her latest patient and lightly clasped Kasey’s fingers, politely oo’ing and aw’ing over the ring.
“Oh! My! Reggie?!”
“I asked Kasey to marry me.”
“That’s .. that’s lovely, dear.”
She wrapped Kasey (and the bunny) in a hug, “Oh! Sweetheart! Is he behaving?”
Kasey cast a sideways glance to her mother.
“Mrs. Williams! Has my son gotten your daughter into ..”
“What?! No! No!” the teacher stammered.
She put down the animal mom had given her and wrapped my mom – and her daughter in a hug.
“He is .. has always been mischievous .. and my daughter and I like to give him a hard time back .. You asked if he was behaving and – well – she’s having a bit of fun – making the boy squirm a little – is all.”
“Ah! Yes. He is ornery. Came by that, honestly, from both me and his father, I think.”
The hugs had ended and mom was looking for her hungry escapee, “So, when is the wedding.”
“Three weeks,” I said.
“Reggie! You didn’t ..!?”
“Mom.”
She stopped gasping and looked at me.
“Kasey and I have had some very serious conversations – and we’ve done a little heavy petting – but we’re waiting until we’re married to go any further. We just both feel like we’ve found the right person and there’s not really any reason to wait.”
Mom looked at Kasey.
“I made a spreadsheet – a very thorough spreadsheet. Reggie scored the highest. We’ve gone out a few times. I think he’s the one.”
“A spreadsheet?”
She looked at Mrs. Williams.
“How very empirical! I love it! .. and Reggie scored the highest? What were the criteria? Oh! That’s probably too sensitive ..”
Kasey held up fingers as she counted off her top benchmarks.
“He’s never cheated on a girlfriend and – even when the girl turned on him – he never said anything bad. He’s a planner. He’s thorough. He’s clean. He’s playful..”
“Playful is a nice way of saying it. That’s enough, dear. I’m so happy for you! Three weeks! Wow! Where?”
“I don’t know .. we haven’t really ..” Kasey staid.
“I wanted to tell you first thing,” I interrupted. “I just bought the ring like an hour ago.”
“Oh! Sweetie! That’s so thoughtful. Thanks for coming.”
She gave me a hug and then looked up at my old teacher again.
“I assume you approve, then?”
“I like Reggie a lot. He’s everything my daughter said and more. He’s been a breath of fresh air in the house. He’s very helpful.”
“Really?” mom asked.
“Oh, yes, well .. um .. some .. uh .. things hadn’t .. uh .. been taken care of since .. uh .. since my husband passed ..”
“Oh! That’s right! I’m so sorry!”
“Reggie’s been helping me .. uh .. us!”
Kasey grinned evilly and jumped in.
“Yeah, he’s been helping mom clear out some cobwebs and get the plumbing working again.”
“Plumbing? Reggie, I didn’t know you knew anything about plumbing..”
“I .. uh .. it was just a clogged pipe.”
Kasey chock-laughed, tears welling up in her eyes.
Her mother hit her on the back – making it look like she was trying to help her daughter clear a pipe of her own ..
Through her tears, Kasey said, “.. and I heard them polishing stuff in the kitchen the other day.”
She snort-laughed, and continued. “I know mom was inspecting one of the knobs when they were done – to make sure ..”
She laugh-cried. “.. to make sure ..”
“Will you stop?” her mother asked her.
“.. to make sure it was clean,” Kasey finally finished, laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe.
Mom looked at her – confused by the chortles – and snorts – and tears – but smiling in consolation for the poor girl who seemed to have lost her mind. These two kids were probably driving Mrs. Williams crazy!
“Three weeks? Hmm. Wedding locations? You know, they’ve got a pretty gazebo over by the flamingos that some people use for pictures. I think I might have seen a small wedding party over there before ..”
I looked at Kasey – who was still drying her tears with the sleeves of her T-shirt. She shrugged and half-nodded.
“We’ll think about that. Do you think we could get a church that soon – or are we going to have to do it outside?”
“It’s June, honey. It’s not that hot yet. Outdoor weddings are beautiful.”
She looked at Kasey.
“Sorry, hun. I didn’t mean to start ..”
“No. I appreciate your input. I’ve always imagined I’d get married in a church – because mom didn’t – but it wouldn’t be required.”
“I can call Pastor John,” mom suggested. “He’ll probably want to do a couple counseling sessions though.”
I nudged Kasey, “Maybe he can counsel Grandma Williams..”
She smirked and shook her head no.
“That’d be terrific, Mrs. Mitchell,” she said. “Just let Reggie know what you find out.”
“I will, dear. Oh! I can’t believe I’m finally going to have a little girl”