In the weekends before the wedding, Anna had gone home, to see what she could do to help. The actual week of the wedding, she’d taken as leave, just in case, and had stayed with her parents. Zara was often quite busy, now with two little ones to worry about, but Diane was never far away.
The night before, Paul had travelled down from London. Anna met him at the station, and they grabbed a bite to eat before she finally took Paul home to meet her parents. It was all cordial enough – Paul, by now was nicely house-trained, and nothing more was said that evening.
The day of the wedding arrived, a good day for March, and Anna looked resplendent in her peach bridesmaid dress. The bride and groom disappeared early – they were all going for two weeks over to Corsica, and the waiting limo took them all the way to their hotel at Gatwick, ready for their flight the next morning.
Anna and Paul stayed in the hotel of the reception.
In the morning, Anna left Paul lying in, and headed over to say goodbye to her parents. She could not resist
– what do you think of Paul?
Diane was somewhat equivocal. She came out with a myriad of fine qualities, but she was holding something back.
– Mum…
– It’s nothing, darling, but isn’t he a bit old? I mean, come on, he’s almost my age.
In fact, she was a good ten years older than Paul, but the analogy helped her point. “Oh, no”, thought Anna, “here we go…”.
– I mean, you’re not getting any younger, are you? Do you really think, with a child of his own already, he’ll be wanting to start another family with you? And how old will he be when the child is your age?
– Look, mum, there won’t *be* any children. God knows whether he wants children or not – it is not even something we discussed, but *I* don’t want them. So there won’t be any. The only person who wants them is you!
After a few moments pause, Anna was more soothing.
– Please, I know you want more grandchildren, but that’s not me. Be happy that Zara keeps knocking them out. I don’t know what will happen with me and Paul, but whoever I’m with, or even if I’m on my own, that’s how I feel. I’m not gonna have children. But let’s not fall out, I need to be getting back now, but let’s at least part on good terms.
As Anna left, Diane wiped the tear from her eye.
There was, of course, one more ordeal to face.
Mister Bump 
This is goid Pete. Apologies that I have not comnented before. I have been very distracted lately. But the story is really good, and I like that you do it in small chunks, so that it is not too much to read at one go. You have inspired me to try writing a story again, like I used to.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ansolutely fine. I did put some thought into how you could possibly read each thread (always assuming you’d want to) but tell me if there is anything else I can do. Can’t pretend to be savvy but am happy to do what I can to help.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is really kind of you Pete. Thankyou. I would love to read them all. It is only that I have been dealing with a lot of things over the past days, or I would have been reading them properly. I hope you do another one when you have finished this one. I do so agree that it is fun.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This one is not finished, even after I post tomorrow! I will explain…
LikeLike
Our daughter, like Anna, has decided not to have any kids, but our son has provided us with one and has promised that he and his wife are planning to “knock another one out” next year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I must admit, I always wanted children and my wife didn’t. It was never a case of trying to convince her, although I certainly made my preference clear, but for some reason she flipped, got pregnant extremely quickly and out popped our daughter.
I know it went sour with my daughter, I’m aware that probably clouds my judgement, but if I were making that decision over again, I’d be tempted to abstain for environmental reasons. I’m certainly in no hurry to be a grandad because I think my daughter has enough trouble looking after herself, I think she’d really struggle with a baby.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well at least Paul got through meeting the parents without any setbacks. Looks promising for the future.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah. I’ve atually finished telling the story, after she meets the boy, (for now) and my intention is just to use them as bf/gf in a few prompts. I’m gonna see how that goes, then in a while put a few new posts out there to jolt the storyline along. I’m gonna post a full explanation tomorrow (Thurs)
You’ll be pleased to hear no more Arsenal for a while!
LikeLiked by 1 person