Chapter22-Meet The Bauers

November 20th, 2012

 It’s now evening at the Bauer residence. Alyson’s parents arrived home from Harvard. When they unlocked the doors, they noticed they were locked from the inside. That made them nervous.

 So the father told his wife sternly, “Stay here with me.” She nodded her head.

 They went upstairs. Mr. Bauer grabbed a bat. He saw the door their bedroom was opened. Everything looked fine.

 Then he went the third floor. He saw the door to Alyson’s room was closed. He burst the door open, and saw two people sleeping on her bed.

  He yelled at them, “Wake up, or I’ll call the cops on you!”

 With that, the man and the woman woke up abruptly. Mr. Bauer immediately recognized them: Andrew and Alyson!

 Alyson saw her father standing at the doorway, and asked, “Dad? You and mom are home now?”

 He stammered, “Well, er, yes. But I should ask you what are you doing here?”

 Alyson looked at Andrew. He held her hand, and nodded his head. She then face her dad, and said, “Dad, Andrew and I need to talk to you and mom.”

 Soon everyone was in the dining room. There was an awkward silence. Alyson and Andrew sat across from Alyson’s parents. She made a deep breath. She held her fiancé’s hand, and squeezed it.

 He gave her a reassuring, though nervous, smile. Then she face her parents, and said, “Mom…dad…Andrew and I are…getting married.”

 Her parents were silent for a moment. Then Mr. Bauer said, “We know. We saw it on the internet.”

 “So…do you accept the marriage?”

 Then Mrs. Bauer said, “No.”

 With that, Alyson felt her heart sink. She felt so nervous that she might throw up. As for Andrew, as he was about to speak, Mr. Bauer said, “But we’re allowing this marriage happen.”

 That stunned the newly engaged couple. They didn’t expect to hear that answer. So Alyson asked, “So you accept Andrew?”

 The mother explained, “No, we do not accept him. But we see how much he loves you. For that reason alone, we’re allowing this marriage to happen.”

 Andrew gave a genuine smile. Alyson then asked, “So, what made you, well, accept this marriage? Andrew is not your ideal man for me.”

 Mrs. Bauer sighed, and explains, “Alyson, your sister called us a few days ago. She told us that she saw you Andrew propose to you, and that you accepted it. She talked to us about letting you marry him.”

 “What did she say?”

 “Alyson, do you remember hearing about waiting for God to provide you the right spouse?”

 “Yeah, I remember. Why?”

 “Well, Melissa told us that maybe Andrew here is the spouse that was provided for you. I told her that I wasn’t sure that Andrew was the right choice, but she told me that he was always by her side. It didn’t matter if you two got along or not, he would never leave your side. Melissa saw how happy he made you. She could tell that he loved you back. You two just needed to grow up from being kids to the adults you are now.

 “I thought about what she said, and I talked to your father about this. Now, this doesn’t mean we approve of Andrew. He grew up in a liberal home. He’s not a Christian. He was a school bully. He even had boyfriends. But I watched the YouTube video of the proposal. I can tell he really loves you. So we agreed that Andrew is the spouse provided for Alyson.”

 Both Andrew and Alyson grinned. Alyson said, “I’m surprised to hear you, and Melissa, say that about Andrew. He really means so much to me. It’s true that never really left my side. He was always there. And I’m glad he is.”

 Alyson looked into Andrew’s eyes lovingly. He gave her the same exchange, and gave a genuine smile.

 Then Alyson asked her father, “Dad, do you think you could walk me down the aisle, and give me to Andrew?”

 Mr. Bauer smiled, and said, “Yes, I will do that.”

 With that, Alyson hugged her father. Then she said, “Let me go clean up my old room. Then we’ll say our goodbyes.”

 The parents agreed. Then the couple went back upstairs. As they entered her room, Andrew asked, “Are you going to take anything back to London with you?”

 Alyson looked around, and then at her first grade stuff. Then she shakes her head, and says, “No. This past has caused so much between us. And you’re right. We shouldn’t be living in the past. We need to look towards the future. We’ll be getting married soon. So, no.”

 Andrew wrapped his arms around her, and said, “As horrible as that year was, it was the year that brought us together. If it weren’t for all of that shit, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

 Alyson smiled, and kissed his lips. They soon put the stuff away…except for Andrew. He stuffed the book under his shirt. Why did he do that? It remains to be seen.