“No. I’m being your mother. Come sit with me.”
She led me to the table, and we sat with our hands still joined.
“Is something wrong?” My mother was always very affectionate, but her current behavior was still a bit strange.
“I’ve been dreaming about fish for the past week or so.”
“Okay.”
“Do you know what that means?”
I knew what it meant, but I pretended I had no clue.
“No, Ma. Are you craving catfish? Maybe we should have a fish fry tonight.”
She smiled. “I’m not craving fish, but that’s not a bad idea.” She paused briefly, still smiling. “Are you pregnant?”
“Huh? What?”
“If you can ‘huh’ and ‘what,’ you can hear, but I’ll ask you again. Are you pregnant?”
“Is everything okay, son?”Mr. Norwood asked when he stepped outside onto the porch.
“Everything is cool. Do I have your permission to marry your daughter?”
There was no reason to beat around the bush. I wanted to marry Melodie and knew it was important to her that we had his blessing. His eyes widened as his lips broadened into a smile. He folded his arms across his chest before responding.
“Straight to the point, huh?”
“I don’t know any other way.”
“You want to marry my baby girl?”
“I do.”
I looked through the screen door to make sure the coast was clear before pulling the ring box from my pocket.
“You already have a ring? I guess you’ve been thinking about this for a while.”
He took the box from my hand and opened it, nodding his head as if he were impressed.
“I moved to Onyx City to marry Melodie, and I bought this ring before I left Chicago. It’s no secret that she’s been crushing on me for a while. It took me a while to see her as anything but my little sister’s best friend, but it was for the best. When I started seeing her differently, I had to get some things in order before pursuing her. She deserved more than I could offer her back then, and I didn’t want to come to her until I had my shit together.”
“I appreciate that. I’m well aware of your past, but I’ve always known you had a good heart. The way you looked after Raine was commendable. I understand a lot of the things you did and the decisions you made were to make sure she was taken care of.”
“Yes, sir, they were.”
“You never let that life consume you, and I know from experience that it’s not easy.”
“From experience?”
He nodded. “You met me at a different time, but I didn’t grow up much different from you. Becoming a doctor was hard as hell, but it was easier than fighting the demons we encountered growing up in inner city Chicago.”
“Does that mean I have your blessing?”
“I’d be honored to have you as a son-in-law. You have my blessing.”
He offered his hand for me to shake, and when I accepted it, he pulled me into a hug.
