Mortals: Meet... the In-Laws!

Melissa Hart/Mrs. Mason

"Jake, I'm so nervous about this..." I said to my year-long boyfriend, Jake. He sighed and looked at me, serious.

"Mel, I can promise you that nothing will happen. Unlike my Dad, my Mom is no monster..." he tried to make a joke, one I still don't get cause I met his Dad once and he was a bit rough, but he was very nice and lovely. I think we got along pretty well. Is the mother I'm worried about... "Sorry, no time for jokes... But, if you liked my Dad, you will like my Mom..."

"Of course, I'm willing to try my best" I promised. Obviously, I love Jake and I was willing to do almost anything for him. Putting up with his mother if she was a nightmare, I would definitely do it.

"That's my girl!" he kissed my cheek, before getting out of the car and opening my door. I stepped down, taking deep breaths and allowing him to guide me to a home that looked too much like the rest of the block. I hate when the houses look the same...

Knock, knock!

Here we go-

"Jakey!" A woman in her early fifties, with short curly brown hair, dressed in a flowery dress with a cardigan and a pearl necklace opened the door and greeted Jake like there's no tomorrow. Jake greeted her back with a hug, that she seemed not wanting to let go. When Jake finally got free, she grabbed his face and kissed it around.

"Mom, Mom!" he called her, looking a little embarrassed about it. I tried to hold my laugh, especially since I was really nervous about this meeting "Mom, this is Melissa-" I pulled out my hand to shake her, but she simply patted it and returned her attention to Jake, adoringly. Uh, I'm not invisible, am I?

"Oh, Jake! So good to have you here! Grandma is going to be so happy!" Grandma? Please, don't say she invited the whole family. Jake was dragged inside without ceremony while I was still standing on the door, trying to understand what was going on. I finally walked in and closed the door behind me. Luckily, there was only one other woman in the house.

"Grandma..." Jake kissed an elderly woman's cheek, who looked pleased to see him "Grandma, this is Melissa, my girlfriend..."

"Oh, how lovely girl you brought to meet your old grandmother..." she gave me a light hug and two kisses on my cheeks. I smiled softly, a bit embarrassed "You can call me 'Grandma', dear. And I won't take any other name!" she said, sternly with a playful look. How do old people manage that look?

"Of course, Grandma. But you're not that old..." I accepted. She smiled and made me sit next to her, talking about me and some embarrassing stories about Jake when he was a toddler. It was nice to see Jake blushing for something like that, he usually was strong and hard to embarrass.

"Lunch is ready!" Jake's Mom, Mrs. Mason, called us. Jake and I helped Grandma to the table, making her sit on Mrs. Mason's left side, while Jake and I took her right "So...." We all shared a look, not understanding what she wanted to say, when I saw her eyes on me. Then, I realized she was asking my name.

"Melissa. Melissa Hart" I semi- introduced myself. Let the torture begin...

"Melissa..." she chew my name, as if it was a bad word "What do you do for living?"

"Oh, who cares about that?" Grandma interrupted her, jovially "I wanna know how you two met..." I took a sip of water and nodded.

"Actually, those questions are connected..." I admitted, glancing at Jake, who was smiling "Jake and I met at a party, hosted by one of my collegues, Katie... Turns out, she knew Jake and that's how we met..." I recalled the story, smiling "Katie had invited all the kinder teachers and Jake was in a corner, alone, talking to his brother when I arrived, right?"