Rhapsody Suite
Twelve
I CAUGHT MRS. ANDERSON on her way to the floor and settled her gently. I didn’t attempt to revive her. I figured everybody could use the peace and quiet for a minute. I turned her over to Miss Stevenson and while she and one of the security guards tended to Mrs. Anderson, I took the opportunity to wrap Melody in my arms and surreptitiously text Lissa. “Dealing w/ Mel’s Mom. Not good. Available for lunch?” I got a message back almost immediately. “Ready in 20 min. Say where.” I comforted Melody and whispered to her.
“Do you love me, Melody?” She nodded into my shoulder. “Will you let me help?” Another nod. “Think of a place to have lunch with your mom and text it to Lissa. Can you do that? That’s all you have to think about. Don’t let anything else upset you. We love you and we will never let anything bad happen to you.” She reached up and gave me a quick kiss then turned her back on the action while she got out her phone.
Miss Stevenson was giving Mrs. Anderson a sip of water out of one of Doc’s stock of water bottles. I decided that if I was ever going to take control of the game, this was the time. My lover needed me, but she needed her mother, too. I knelt beside Mrs. Anderson and quietly took over from Miss Stevenson. I helped her to her feet.
“I’m sorry this has been so hard on you,” I said. “Melody loves you so much; she’d never intentionally do anything to upset you and I guess I stumbled into it with both feet. I hope you’ll be able to forgive me.” I turned Mrs. Anderson to face Melody. Mel’s back was still to us and she was talking on the phone. “Look at her, Mrs. Anderson. You must be so proud to have a daughter like Melody. She’s beautiful, kind, smart. She’s everything that I love. And I understand why you are upset about the painting.” I turned her toward the wall to look at what I’d painted. Every time I looked at it, I nearly cried. There was just something about it. But I knew what I had to say.
“There just is no way that I could capture that beauty and kindness with my brush. I really tried. I poured all the love in my heart into that painting, but just looking at her standing there and then looking at the painting, I can see how far short I fell. I’m so sorry I couldn’t do better.”
Melody’s mother was silent, maybe for the first time since she arrived at the college today. I think that for the first time she actually looked at the painting and she began to see what I was seeing.
“It’s just so… intimate,” she whispered. “It’s so hard to see my daughter grow up and not be my little girl any longer. I never wanted to think of her in… that kind of way. I just want to protect her. She is so precious to me.”
“We’re artists, Mrs. Anderson. That doesn’t mean we’re libertines. It doesn’t mean we don’t love. When I caught Melody and Lissa in that pose, I knew what it meant to be in love.”
“You caught them? You mean you didn’t put them like that?”
“No. We’d just finished making love and I turned and they were there, just like that. It was so beautiful I sketched it right there.”
“You were…? Here?”
“Oh, no! Haven’t you ever had an experience that was so intense and beautiful that every time you closed your eyes you could see it again? I painted this from memory.” I heard a quick intake of breath behind me and had the impression it was Doc. He was the only person that wasn’t in my line of sight.
“And my little girl was… with a… woman?”
“We are with her and she is with us. You want to meet her, don’t you? She’s having lunch with us.”
“She’s very pretty.”
“Oh, more than that. She loves Melody like you wouldn’t believe. Every time I see them kiss my heart nearly bursts. It just overflows with love and passion.”
“Are you a poet, Mr…? I’m afraid I don’t even know your name.”
“I’m Tony Ames and I’m not a poet. I’m just in love with your daughter, Mrs. Anderson.”
“And this other woman?”
“And with Lissa. My dad calls it a ménage à trois. Are you familiar with the term? It means a household of three.”
“Your parents know about this?”
“We introduced them this past weekend. Melody has been so excited about introducing us to you, but a little frightened about how you’d respond. I’m sorry I spoiled it with this painting.”
“It’s not… not really awful. You are obviously very talented. But it’s… it’s… I can’t bear to see my daughter in such an intimate setting.”
“Parents are never supposed to see their children like this, are they? I think it’s a shame. It’s not there to titillate or make people uncomfortable, but what parent wouldn’t want to know how happy and peaceful her daughter was. We should be able to share that with our parents, don’t you think.”
“I suppose… I… that makes some sense. You are a very well-spoken young man.”
“I can only speak from my heart. My father told me this weekend that when I left for college, he and Mom vowed that they would love who I loved and respect the decisions I made in my life. I think that works in every direction, don’t you? I love Melody and I vow to love who she loves, and that includes you. There’s never really just two people in a relationship, even if they are a couple instead of a ménage à trois. There is always your family, the family of your partner, your children, your parents and siblings. It seems that when we fall in love, we isolate ourselves when we should be reaching out to embrace the loves of our loves. Lissa and I love Melody with all our hearts, and we want to love you, too.”
I’d tried to keep my voice calm and low key while I talked to Mrs. Anderson, but I wasn’t going to mislead her. Talking to my mom and dad this weekend had helped me to see how deep our family ties go. I gradually understood that my depression was causing me to raise barriers between my parents and me when I should have been building bridges. I was determined to start off as right as I could with Melody’s family. And Lissa’s, too.
“Perhaps we should go to lunch and meet the rest of the family,” Mrs. Anderson said softly. “Tony. Will you help me talk to Melody?” I nodded.
“Sweetheart,” I said. Melody turned around and looked at me with my arm around her mother. I smiled at her. That was all it took. Melody rushed to us and wrapped her arms around both her mother and me and hugged us fiercely. “Your mom wants to meet Lissa. Where are we going for lunch?”
I watched Melody and her mom as I hobbled down the street behind them. Lissa and Melody had chosen well. It was still early for lunch at Becky’s Café, so there wouldn’t be a crowd, and it was just far enough off campus that there wouldn’t be many kids there during class break. The food was light and genteel—not too expensive, but not fast-food, either.
Mrs. Anderson had shrunk away from her rage and as soon as she apologized to the Dean, Doc, and Melody, Melody wrapped her in a hug that showed me there was genuine affection between the two. I was afraid for a while that it wasn’t going to happen. I couldn’t fathom what had really set her off. She just didn’t seem like the kind of person to fly off the handle like that, but once she did there was no way to back down. I wondered how I figured out how to defuse the situation and whether it would last when we added Lissa to the mix.
Mother and child is a more explosive relationship than any other, in my book. Maybe Lissa would have insights that would help us out. I didn’t remember the battles between my mother and me. Dad told me about them the summer after I graduated from high school. It seemed that when I was around three or four, I went through a phase where I’d blow up at anything. Mom was at the end of her patience and between the two of us, we could go from “I love you” to a nuclear explosion in two sentences.
Dad said he was worried that we’d build up long-term resentment for each other and that he had to intervene. But he didn’t join our confrontations. As soon as he heard the explosion, he would sweep in on me from wherever he was in the house and get down on the floor at my level and hug me. He’d just keep saying, “I love you, son,” over and over until I calmed down. Then he’d turn and do the same thing with Mom. He never criticized us or joined the argument. He never took sides. He just put a different feeling in between us. Mom would wrap me up and say, “I love you,” and we’d all calm down. It wasn’t long that as soon as I blew up, Mom wouldn’t wait for Dad. She’d just wrap me in her arms and say, “I love you.”
I guess it worked. I’ve always felt secure with both Mom and Dad and as I learned to express my feelings better the blow-ups lessened and eventually just stopped altogether. Dad told me the whole story the night I announced my decision to go to PCAD. I knew Mom didn’t want me to leave the state, but I was just as bull-headed as ever. Before we had a chance to really discuss it, though, Dad pulled us both into a hug and said, “I love you.” Then we all knew it would be okay.
Mrs. Anderson stopped short as she entered the restaurant, looking straight ahead at Lissa. She was frozen in place. I heard her whisper under her breath, “Oh my god. The painting. I thought she…” Lissa looked up from the menu to see us coming in and the smile that she gave us lit up the entire room. Melody rushed to her and gave her a kiss on the lips. It wasn’t an erotic, tongue-filled, passionate kiss, but it lingered long enough to make it clear that this was a kiss between lovers, not just a couple of friends meeting for lunch. “No one can be that beautiful,” Melody’s mom whispered. I didn’t wait to correct her, but stepped up to collect my own welcoming kiss.
“Mom, this is my girlfriend, Lissa, and my boyfriend, Tony. Tony, Lissa, this is… Mom,” Melody officially introduced us. Lissa stood and held out her hand.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Anderson.” I swear there were tears in both their eyes when Mrs. Anderson took the offered hand and then pulled Lissa in for a hug.
“Please. I’m afraid I’ve got off on a bad foot. Call me Alexandra.” I saw Melody raise an eyebrow at her mom, but she didn’t say anything. Alexandra faltered and then turned to embrace me as well. “What am I saying? No one calls me Alexandra. I’m just so new at this. It’s… it’s… overwhelming. I’m Lexi. I expect you to use the same name my friends do.” We sat and Lexi just stared at the three of us. A waitress brought the rest of us menus and we made a production out of looking at them. Lissa recommended a dish and Lexi thankfully put down her menu and said, “That would be lovely.” The waitress took our orders and we had an awkward pause in which no one knew what to say.
“Mom, I’m sorry this all came as such a surprise to you. I’ve been trying to figure out when I could tell you and Dad. We wanted to all be together and not do it over the phone. I know it has to be a shock, but you know me; I never do anything the easy way.”
“Oh, Melly, honey. I’m sorry I reacted so poorly. I flew out here to see you. You said there was a painting and I thought I would surprise you and spend a few days while I was… and then the picture… and the boyfriend… and the girlfriend… and your father…”
“Mom, what?”
“Harold’s left us, Melly.”
“What?” Melody’s face was filled with disbelief.
“No. I promised myself I wouldn’t do that. It’s just so hard. He hasn’t left us, Melly. He’s left me. Your father still loves you dearly. Don’t ever doubt that. You are his pride and joy. He never wanted to hurt you—or me either, for that matter. But you know your father. We’ve been slipping away from each other for a long time. This year, without you to hold us together, we just stopped trying. I’m sorry for the way I behaved this morning, for surprising you, for being so awful to your friends. My emotions… it’s like going through menopause all over again. I went out of control. Please forgive me, baby.”
Melody was stunned and tears were tracking down her cheeks. Lissa was closest and pulled her into an embrace as I raced around the table to catch her on the other side. I saw Melody reach out with her hand and understood instinctively what she wanted. I moved slightly so that I could encircle Lexi, too, and Melody caught her hand.
The three of us were so happy together that watching Melody and her mother suffering was unbearable. Sure, Lexi could say what she wanted about the marriage slipping away over time, but to actually let go of it must be terrible. It sure got me thinking; would Lissa and Melody and I face the same thing one day? Would one of us slip away, or would the others turn their backs on one? It was heavier than I could bear to think about and my own tears were near when the waitress set down our food and then hurried back with fresh glasses of water and napkins for all of us.
Lunch was subdued. We all dried our eyes and ate in relative silence, skirting the issue of the parents’ separation. Lexi asked about school and asked Lissa about her job. It seemed she knew some people in the fashion industry in New York and there was a common thread for them to talk about while we all let the news soak in and began erecting protective barriers around the wounded hearts.
After lunch, Lexi said, “I had better go back to the Dean’s office and apologize, and collect my bags. I just left them there when I was out of control.”
“Dean Peterson is exceptionally understanding,” I said. “I know from personal experience. We’ll all go together.”
“Where are you staying?” Lissa asked.
“I thought I would just check into that little hotel near the campus, but perhaps I should just go back to the airport. It was silly of me to intrude like this.”
“Nonsense. Please come to stay with us,” Lissa blurted out. Then she clapped a hand over her mouth and looked at Melody with a terrified expression on her face. It wasn’t about the invitation; I was sure of that. It took me a second to figure out what had panicked her. I looked at Melody over her mother’s head and mouthed, “The kids!” Melody understood and took matters into her own hands.
“Mom, we’d love for you to stay with us. We haven’t sorted out all the living arrangements yet, but Lissa has a spare bedroom in her lovely home. There’s just a couple of things you’ll need to understand before you go there with us.”
“I assume you are all sleeping together,” Lexi sighed. “If you are truly a ménage à trois, then of course you sleep together. Frankly, if I were twenty-five years younger, I’d have my hands all over your partners, dear.” That got a little chuckle from all of us, but Melody wasn’t finished yet.
“You’d have to stand in line,” she laughed. “But there is one other little thing you should know about. The children.” Lexi’s breath caught and I thought for a bit that I’d have to pick her up off the floor again, but she recovered quickly.
“You mean I’m a grandmother?” she exclaimed.
“Well, there’s no biological connection. If you’re insisting on that, you’ll have to wait a long time, I’m afraid. But Lissa’s got two little boys who we all adore and I’m sure they’d love to have someone other than Tony read stories to them tonight. His rendition of Red Fish, Blue Fish is getting a little old. Are you ready for that?”
“Melly, life is a whole series of things we aren’t ready for. I want to be a part of your life. Tony said his father told him something this weekend. Tell me if I don’t get it right, Tony. ‘I will love who you love and respect the decisions you make in your life.’ But I’ll always be here when you need me.” She looked at me for confirmation. I nodded.
“I left off that last part,” I said, “but my dad said that, too. We need our family and friends. I discovered that the hard way this year. Let’s go get your bags and go home.”
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