When the Lights Go Down

(XIX) Baby, Baby

     While I was battling separation anxiety with her belly, Lula was obsessing over the sapphire on her finger. "It's so beautiful, it's so beautiful." I guess when I first slid it on, she was too overwhelmed to react fittingly. It was nice to see I managed to impress the woman who already had everything.

"The things that come from you mean the most to me," she'd say.

Because we were now so backwards (this wedding stuff was gonna have to wait), I had to meet Lula's parents at the same time she revealed to them that she was pregnant, and because I put a baby inside her, her mother instantly loved me.

We were at their house the very next afternoon.

They lived in a small home, nicely sized and comfortable, filled with pictures of their only born everywhere, from all stages of life. It was a treat for me, getting a glimpse of what my daughter would look like.

"Oh, honey, you're so out there," her mother said, sitting on the edge of the sofa with Lula, both looking down at her baby bump which poked through her coral blouse. "And you kept this from me?"

"Mum, I was being precautious," Lula said for the third time our visit.

Lula's mother Annabelle, or better known as Annie she said, was a beautiful, blue-eyed French woman from Paris, but moved to London at a young age when she fell for Timothy Burberry, a musical composer that swept her away at first sight. Their love story sounded like a fairytale, and after being married for over 30 years, they were clearly still crazy for one another.

At one point, her father pulled me to the side, and gave a short 'take care of my daughter' speech, but then we got to talking about music, and was caught up in that for about an hour. He worked in theater mostly, and on some films, and when he complimented my work, I was happy to be able to return the gesture, because I was actually familiar with some of his.

"So when are you two getting married?" Mrs. Burberry asked over dinner.

Lula and I both glanced at each other. For this particular day, we modeled the rings on our right hands. "We want to just focus on the pregnancy," Lula spoke up. "I've been sick as a dog."

"Oh, that's a baby boy in there," Mrs. Burberry grinned, and the thought made me smile, too. "I just know it."

"Well," I said, clearing my throat after taking in my last bite of food. "I, um, wanted to meet you and Mr. Burberry first to-"

"Oh, nonsense. Annie and Tim, dear."

"Okay," I smiled. "You and Tim, to receive your blessing because Lula and I have talked about getting married a few times already."

Lula looked at me, wide-eyed and surprised.

"After the baby is born, I would very much love to start planning a wedding for our family and friends but-"

"Oh, thank heavens!" Lula's mother stood to her feet, clapping her palms in joy. "Of course, you have my blessing."

And my eyes quickly danced to the right to see Tim give me an approving nod.

"But why are we waiting until after the baby is born?" Annie asked me.

"Honey, please sit down," Tim requested, and his wife did so.

"Because planning a wedding is a stressful," I said, "and I can't have her in that state of mind."

"Oh, I'll help."

"But it's not-"

"You really want to bring this baby into the world out of wedlock?" She was looking at Lula now. "I didn't raise you to be that way. You don't need a wedding to get married. You both know that." She glanced over at me, now shifting her focus between us evenly. "We can have the wedding later."