An Arranged Pregnancy with a Jerk

Chapter 6

Chapter 6: At Least the Food was Good

"Hey Mom!' Allison cried as she walked through the door into her mother's huge foyer. She handed her the bottle of wine she was carrying and walked into her mother's open arms. She gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek and smiled at Connor's parents from across the room where they were hugging Connor. 

"So, dinner is ready now, seeing as how two of us were a little late..." Allison rolled her eyes and glanced at the clock above the fire. It was five till seven, and she had felt proud that they were early. But of course her mother couldn't let her be happy. "I suppose we should go into the dining room, then. If you'll just follow me?"

Her parents left to go to the kitchen, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Danielson looking confused. "Sorry," Allison apologized quickly, "my parents must have forgotten something. I'll show you to the dining room." They walked into the dining room silently and the Danielsons sat just as quietly. Connor shot Allison a quick look and held out the chair for her.

As Allison sat down she suddenly realized that she was sitting in the chair that she sat in a year ago when her parents announced their arranged engagement plans. She squirmed in her chair but didn't move. "So," she said after a minute of silence. "We haven't seen you since, what, your seventieth birthday party? How have you been?"

"Fine," Mrs. Danielson responded quickly. 

Connor cleared his throat. "So, what's new, Mom?" As she prepared to answer, their cat ran through the chair legs and hid under the chair, away from the snapping jaws of Bandit.

"Pumpkin! NO! Please play nice with the cute doggie!," Mr. Danielson Shouted. 

Before Allison even had time to flinch, her parents walked in and shooed Bandit down the hall. They set the turkey down in the middle of the table and the servants placed the side dishes around it. "What happened to the pot roast, MOm?"

"I"m allergic to pot roast!" Mrs. Danielson shouted back quickly. Allison shot Connor a questioning look and he shrugged his shoulders. Mrs. D glared at Allison like she should have known that and Mr. Danielson patted her comfortingly on the shoulder. 

Her mom shot her a scathing look and she looked away quickly. She wasn't going to get sucked into her mother's mind games again. They sat down and ate in silent for what seemed like hours. The clock in the foyer clicked ominously and shockingly slowly. 

"So honey," her dad said at last with a mouth full of mashed potatoes, "what did you want to tell us?"

"Oh." Connor looked at her apprehensively. Earlier he had told her that he thought this was a bad idea, but she had insisted that this was something she had to do. But now that the time had come to finally face her parents, she wasn't so sure she wanted to. "Well... you know that thing that you talked to me last week about?"

"You mean the baby?" MRs. Danielson cut in.

Connor nodded. "Yeah, that little-"

"Connor!" She shot him a warning look. "Well, I guess that we have given it a little bit more thought."

"Oh really!" Her mother said, smiling. "And you have finally realized that we're being perfectly sensible and not, as you so lovingly put it, controlling. WEll, I"m glad you've at last come to your senses." 

Connor cleared his throat. "Um, for the record, you were being controlling and ridiculous and insensitive, just like I told my mother."

Mrs. Danielson cried out and reached across the table to grasp her son's hand. "We were doing what was best for you! And why are you speaking for Allison? She has her own mind, and maybe she thinks it's a great idea!"

"Please don't put words in my mouth. And no, I do not think it's a great idea. I think it's absolutely awful! How are you not seeing the reason in this?" She asked Mr. Danielson. 

He looked up and glanced around the room, looking confused and lost. When he found his voice, he sounded nervous, yet sure of himself. "I agree with my wife and your parents I think this is what needs to be done. And it's not like it's completely out of the blue, I mean, it's been a year. We were expecting grandchildren way before this." He glanced around the room again and all the adults nodded along with him. 

Allison stood up and gave everyone a look of disbelief. "How can you be so... so thick!" 

HEr father stood up next to her and he put what should have been a comforting hand on her shoulder, but it felt more like a grip of ice. "Let's just calm down, okay? We would like to hear what you have to say."

Connor smiled at her and nodded encouragingly, even though he looked like a deer in headlights. "Okay," she said softly. "We wanted to say..." SHe looked in her mother's cold black eyes and saw the smug looks that resided on her and her mother-in-law's face and frowned. "We wanted to say that... we aren't going to listen to you."

Connor's head snapped up and she gained a little confidence. "We have our own lives now! YOu can't control us. And any decisions we make, we make because we want to. Not because you want us to. So stop trying to control us!" she finished with gusto.

Connor nodded and looked challengingly around the room. Allison's parents scrunched up their faces and remained silent. Mr. Danielson followed suit, but before Allison knew what was happening, there was a pie in her face, thanks to Mrs. Danielson. The room gasped and one of the maids rushed over to hand her a towel. She pushed her away and ran from the room. She heard Connor screaming at his mother as she ran to the front door and out to the car.

So much for honesty.