An Old Friend: Version A Part 20

Lisa sat herself down in the back seat of Carol's car and sighed contentedly.  It was nice spending some time just talking with Carol and Connie, and the food had been delicious.  Now they were heading back to her house. "Thanks so much for dinner tonight. I really enjoyed myself," she smiled.

"Think nothing of it, Lisa.  It was our pleasure," Carol answered, keeping her eyes on the road.

Connie turned around and faced Lisa. "Well, I guess you'll be glad to get home, especially if Michael's back already," she grinned.

Lisa looked up.  "Oh...I don't know when he'll be back, he never mentioned it.  I hope not before too long."

Connie gave her a quick little smile before turning back around.

"If he's not back by the time we reach my house, would you two like to stay for a bit? I could put some tea on for us."

Still with her eyes on the road, Carol grinned knowingly. "Why sure, dear, it would be a pleasure.  My husband is attending a dinner meeting tonight so I don't have to be back in a hurry."

"Count me in," Connie agreed.  "John's been out this evening as well.  He didn't tell me what he was doing, and it's probably best I don't know anyway," she rolled her eyes.

They reached Lisa's house and parked out front.  As Lisa exited the car, she looked around and furrowed her brow in confusion.  She was a bit surprised to see quite a few cars parked nearby. 'I guess one of the neighbors is having a party,' she thought to herself. 

She walked up to the front door with Carol and Connie following behind her.  As she reached the door, she fished her keys out of her purse.  She was a bit surprised not to hear Tess howling as usual. 'Silly girl must be asleep,' she thought to herself, grinning.

As she inserted the key in the lock and began to twist the knob, Connie and Carol knowingly exchanged grins behind her.

Finally she opened the door and stepped forward....

"SURPRISE!!!!"      

Lisa stood still, a look of amazement on her face as she saw a good-sized group of women, including friends from university, one of her professors, cousins and her own mother, greeting her with smiles. 
Connie and Carol stood next to her, grinning proudly.

She turned toward them. "Connie? Carol? What..."

"Just a little bridal shower, Lisa!"  Connie answered, smiling.  "We felt bad that the guys were throwing a party for Michael, and we thought you deserved something special, so we..."

"But how did you know to contact all these people?" Lisa interrupted a bit suspiciously.

Connie held up her hand and giggled apologetically.  "Oh I'm sorry, dear.  We rang up Mike's mum to tell her the good news, Lord knows he probably wouldn't have the courage to do it himself.." she rolled her eyes.

"That's right.  My son isn't quite what you'd call 'assertive'," a voice from the back of the room declared.

Lisa stared in amazement as a short, elderly woman with black-rimmed eyeglasses and gray hair stepped forward.  The fact that she greatly resembled Michael was enough for Lisa to identify her.

The woman looked up at Lisa and smiled. "Hello, dear, I'm Michael's mother, Mary," she said softly with an unmistakable Yorkshire accent.

"How do you do?  It's nice to meet you." Lisa said shyly, smiling.

"From all I've heard, you seem like a very sweet girl.  I'm seventy years old, and I never thought I'd live to see him marry." she said, wryly.  "But I'm glad he's found the right girl."  She reached up and gave Lisa a congratulatory hug and a slight kiss on the cheek.

"'From all you've heard?' Mrs. Palin, you mean Michael has actually told you?" Carol said, grinning.

"That's right," she answered.  "I reckon this was much too important for him to keep his mouth shut.  God bless him," she shook her head.

"But how did you know to contact everyone else?" Lisa still wondered.

"Oh...well, actually I ran into your mum at the market one day..." Connie said, blushing a bit.

Lisa looked at her mother curiously.  "Mum??"

Lisa's mother came up to her and gave her a hug.  "Oh, my little girl.  I can't believe you're finally getting married." she declared.

"You met Connie at the market?" Lisa asked.

Her mother smiled and nodded.

"Yes, she did," Connie smiled.  "I introduced myself, and I suppose she knew me as she lives in the same block of flats as John's mum.  I told her about the party we were planning, and she said she'd ring me up with your friends' numbers and everything.  I have to admit she planned a large part of this."

Lisa smiled at her mother and gave her a kiss.  "Thanks, Mum, for everything.  This was a pleasant surprise," she said softly.  Her mother squeezed her tightly.

"Well, shall we start on the cake?" Lisa's mother smiled.

Lisa groaned and held her stomach, as she had stuffed herself at the restaurant.

After the cake was eaten, everyone presented Lisa with gifts.  They were mostly trinkets and sentimental objects from her friends and college professor.  Her mother gave her a small music box with a married couple on the top, which played a rendition of Elton John's "Your Song."  Michael's mother gave her a handmade quilt. 

They finished off the night chatting and telling stories, Lisa's college friends sharing stories from university, her mother sharing stories - often embarrassing - from her childhood, and Michael's mother sharing stories about Michael, mostly about his childhood and how he was on the shy side and would often take off on his own, watching the trains go by.

It was close to 10 pm when they all started dispersing, offering their congratulations and goodbyes to Lisa.  As she started straightening up the place, she glanced down at the gifts she had received, especially the music box, and smiled.  Her eyes wandered downward and she caught a glimpse of Tess with her nose in a plate containing some cake crumbs.  The dog looked up at her innocently, with a bit of whipped cream on the end of her nose.

Lisa giggled.  "Oh, Tess, you silly girl."  The dog licked the cream off her nose, and smacked her lips with satisfaction.

Lisa turned her head sharply as she heard a car pull up out front.  'Oh no, not another party-goer who showed up late,' she thought to herself and groaned.  She'd had enough excitement for one night, and was just about ready to head off to bed.  She then saw the doorknob start to turn.

It was Michael.  She rolled her eyes as she'd almost forgotten she'd had a copy of her key made for him. 

Michael entered, looking a bit tired, but smiling sweetly at Lisa.  He removed his cap, then furrowed his brow in confusion as he noticed the gifts on the table, as well as the leftover plates and teacups. "Well...I take it you've done a bit of celebrating as well?" he asked curiously.

Lisa giggled a bit.  "Yes, I'm afraid, though it wasn't my idea.  Carol and Connie had a surprise in store for me after we arrived back here.  They had invited my old friends from university, as well as my cousins and my Mum."

"Really..." Michael said, still a bit surprised.

"Uh-huh.  Oh...and your mum was there as well."

Michael's eyes widened.  "My Mum was here?? Oh God, I can just imagine all the stories she's told you about me..." he trailed off and blushed.

Lisa laughed as she went up to him and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. "Oh no, Michael.  She did share some rather sweet stories of you as a boy, but that was all, really."

"Yeah, I'm sure that she did," he rolled his eyes, grinning. "Oh, well, I suppose it's not that big a deal.  You'd probably hear them somewhere down the line.  I hope she found favor with you, love," he said softly, looking into her eyes.

She smiled.  "Oh yes, she said she was very happy for both of us."

Michael smiled back, his dimples peeking out.  "Ah, good.  I'm glad she behaved herself, then.  Mum can be quite a character at times." He glanced down at the table and eyed the music box. "Well, who's this from, then?"

"Oh...a gift from my Mum," Lisa replied.  She bent down to pick it up, and wound the dial on the bottom. 

Michael smiled as the tune began to play. "What a lovely gift," he said softly, looking down at it.  He turned his eyes back up to Lisa, and gave her a tender kiss on the cheek.

Exhausted, she let out a small yawn.

"Oh dear, I guess we'd better turn in.  I'm exhausted as well. The Pythons really went all out for this little get-together," he chuckled.

"Oh, tell me, how did it go?" she asked, smiling.

"Let's just say there were a few surprises here and there," Michael grinned. 

She giggled.  "Well, I'm glad you had a good time."  He giggled a bit as they headed up the stairs.