Still smiling, David concluded, “This is what I call chutzpah. We’re all proud of her.” “She is a prize. Always was,” said Aunt Esther in a voice so sentimental that it sounded as if Ella had left the table and was gone for good.
They all gazed at her lovingly. Even Avi didn’t make a cynical remark, and Orly for once seemed to care about something other than her looks. Ella forced herself to appreciate this moment of kindness, but she felt an overwhelming exhaustion that she had never experienced before. She secretly prayed for someone to change the subject. Jeannette, her older daughter, must have heard the prayer, for she suddenly chimed in, “I have some good news, too.” All heads turned toward her, faces beaming with expectation. “Scott and I have decided to get married,” Jeannette announced. “Oh, I know what you guys are going to say! That we haven’t finished college yet and all that, but you’ve got to understand, we both feel ready for the next big move.”
An awkward silence descended upon the kitchen table as the warmth that had canopied them just a moment ago evaporated. Orly and Avi exchanged blank looks, and Aunt Esther froze with her hand tightened around a glass of apple juice. David put his fork aside as if he had no appetite left and squinted at Jeannette with his light brown eyes that were deeply creased with smile lines at the corners.
However, right now he was anything but smiling. His mouth had drawn into a pout, as though he had just downed a swig of vinegar. “Great! I expected you to share my happiness, but I get this cold treatment instead,” Jeannette whined. “You just said you were getting married,” remarked David as if Jeannette didn’t know what she’d said and needed to be informed. “Dad, I know it seems a bit too soon, but Scott proposed to me the other day and I’ve already said yes.” “But why?” asked Ella. From the way Jeannette looked at her, Ella reckoned, that was not the kind of question her daughter had expected. She would rather have been asked “When?” or “How?” In either case it meant that she could start shopping for her wedding dress. The question “Why?” was another matter altogether and had completely caught her off guard. “Because I love him, I guess.” Jeannette’s tone was slightly condescending. “Honey, what I meant was, why the rush?” insisted Ella. “Are you pregnant or something?” Aunt Esther twitched in her chair, her face stern, her anguish visible. She took an antacid tablet from her pocket and started chewing on it. “I’m going to be an uncle,” Avi said, giggling. Ella held Jeannette’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You can always tell us the truth. You know that, right? We’ll stand by you no matter what.” “Mom, will you please stop that?” Jeannette snapped as she pulled her hand away. “This has nothing to do with pregnancy. You’re embarrassing me.” “I was just trying to help,” Ella responded calmly, calmness being a state she had been lately finding harder and harder to achieve. “By insulting me, you mean. Apparently the only way you can see Scott and me getting married is me being knocked up! Does it ever occur to you that I might, just might, want to marry this guy because I love him? We have been dating for eight months now.” This elicited a scoff from Ella. “Oh, yeah, as if you could tell a man’s character in eight months! Your father and I have been married for almost twenty years, and even we can’t claim to know everything about each other.
Eight months is nothing in a relationship!” “It took God only six days to create the entire universe,” said Avi, beaming, but cold stares from everyone at the table forced him back into silence.
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