“Justin,” she says my name in warning.
“I got married.”
The line goes dead silent, for a second I think the call dropped out.
“Mom?”
“I’m here. I thought you said you got married.” Her voice is very, very calm, the dangerous kind of calm.
“I did.”
“Justin!” she screams. “What the hell were you thinking? Is she pregnant?”
“Mom! It’s nothing like that.” I try to calm her down.
“Then why the hell did you get married?” she questions me, and that is a legitimate question.
“Because I’m in love.”
“With someone I’ve never met or heard of,” she argues.
That is fair. “You know her, well, you know her brothers.”
Mom goes quiet. “You’re not talking about #Fishette, are you?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my god.” She squeals. “So, it’s true.”
“Yes.”
“I’m so happy for you. Collette St. Pierre seems like a wonderful young woman from what I can see online,” she tells me.
“She’s amazing.”
“Is that the woman you were talking about at Christmas, who made you happy?”
“Yep. We got married the day before I came to see you.”
“What!”
“We were drunk, but it was real,” I explain to her, skipping the sex bits, how I just proposed to her, and that on the night of our Christmas party, we flew to DC and got hitched. And that today has been a pretty wild start to the new year. She said she saw the article about Emmett and Jo and was going to call me about it later because she thought I would still be sleeping off a hangover.I wish.I tell her how Pierre punched Emmett, and things escalated, but now everything is out in the open so everything should be good.
“You need to come down and meet her,” I ask her.
“For sure, sweetheart. Anytime, I’ll be there.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“Don’t be. Am I disappointed that I didn’t get to go to your wedding? Yes. But I understand you did it in the heat of the moment,” she explains.
“I’m going to marry her again in the summer, just need to sort things out,” I tell her.
“Oh, that is wonderful news. I can’t wait. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I try not to get emotional over her praise. “I really love her, Mom. I’ve never been happier.”
Now I’ve set her off. “Sweetie. I can hear it in your voice.”