Now it was Bernie's turn to meet the parents; as was sort of the custom in their small town. Bernadine was looking forward to it though, but Hugh was obviously nervous; even that afternoon in school. Bernie asked him why several times, and all he could say was; "You'll see, once you meet my mother, you'll understand." Before leaving school Hugh said he'd pick her up at 5:00, and asked if he could make a request. Bernie a little alarmed asked what it was. Hugh said; "Just as much as you were concerned about me showing up in my dad's car, I'm a bit concerned about you showing up in a miniskirt. Bernie smiled and put him at ease by saying she had a nice conservative outfit all picked out, and she wasn't going to wear black lipstick either. She added; "I don't want to raise alarms, I want you mom to know how I am without the impression some of my little quirks might give at first." Hugh smiled and said; "Thank you, I kind of thought you would have already considered this, but I wanted to be sure." When Hugh picked up Bernie, he knew without a doubt, she wasn't kidding; she was dressed to impress his folks. This wasn't enough to ease his nerves though, as he would later learn, the same attribute found in his mother that made him nervous was also the same attribute that Bernadine possessed that made him blush, their playful teasing wit. Bernadine was about to experience it soon enough, yet she too wouldn't realize this commonality either. Upon walking into Hugh home, they came into view of his parents and were almost immediately met with his mothers teasing exclamation; "Hugh, you only said she was cute, you should have said she was beautiful!" Too which she had Bernadine blushing. They made their introductions, and worked their way to the dining room as dinner was nearly ready. They continued chatting over dinner, and then proceeded into a little more serious talk after all was cleaned up. It was nothing that put Bernie or Hugh on edge though. Soon enough though, things lightened up and it was Hugh's turn to blush as his mother turned towards Bernie and started to tell her about one of Hugh's hobbies, sketching. Hugh tried to interrupt, but failed to break into the conversation, as his mother was now on a roll. Hugh's father totally unaware of this, was also eager to hear, so he offered no help to his son was now about to melt into the floorboards. Bernie eagerly listened though, as Hugh's mother started to detail how every once in a while he would break from drawing his usual automotive or nature scenes and draw the silhouette of a lovely girl, who appeared to be Asian, with long dark hair pulled back behind her ear and dark lips, and whenever I inquired who it was, he would just say an idea that came to him. She said she always told him the girl in the drawing was beautiful, and he would always say, he couldn't do it justice, in his mind she is so much prettier than what I can create on paper. Hugh's mother looked at Bernie and said; "I can see now, that girl in the sketches was you, and he was right, as wonderful as his sketches were, he couldn't do it justice. Hugh really felt like putty now, and Bernie really felt special. But to rub salt into the wound, she looked at Hugh and exclaimed to his mother; "This is one more reason why I call him my own personal stalker!" It was at this point both Hugh and his father realized this trait which but Bernie and mother dearest shared. Hugh's father who had been wondering quietly to himself if there was something about Bernie that would show that his son was looking for the same qualities he found in his wife, this was definitely it; and all he could think for Hugh's sake was; poor kid, he doesn't know how lucky he is; but he better get used to being red. Thanks for following along! Hope you all have a great night!