– Mom, please don’t say anything unnecessary at the table tomorrow. Martin’s parents may not understand your jokes. And don’t talk about mushrooms and berries either… They are city people. They are different, you know? – Sophia asked her mother
– And we are an illiterate village? How long have you been a city girl? You’ve been living in the city for only six years… I’m very sorry, my daughter, – Jane said offended.
– Mom, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m just worried how everything will go. Well, I have to catch the bus. Martin will meet you tomorrow at the station. And I will wait for you at his parents’ place, – Sophia said goodbye and closed the door behind her.
Sophia was very worried about the upcoming meeting of her parents. The girl’s father was a quiet and unspoken man. Her mother was the complete opposite. Sophia was worried that her mother’s behavior would embarrass her in front of her fiancé’s intelligent parents.
The doorbell rang. Sophia was worried. “Now it will begin” – she thought.
– Good day! I don’t know how it is in your city, is it customary to kiss or hug when you meet, – said Jane’s mother from the doorway.
– Meet my parents: Jane and Henry, – blushing, Sophia stopped her mother.
– “We are very pleased, – Martin’s parents replied.
– Mom, Dad, meet Martin’s parents: Miranda and Albert.
– But we know, daughter, you have already told us. Why repeat it? What do you think, your parents can’t remember anything at all?
– Mom, that’s the way it is, – Sophia said quietly.
– Oh, I mean, we wanted to say, it’s nice to meet you, too, – Jane remembered her daughter’s admonition, – And we’re not here empty-handed.
– Let’s go to the table, – Miranda invited.
The guests entered the living room, where the table was laid.
– Henry, just look at this. What a set of dishes! You could even put them in a museum. Porcelain, right?
– Yes, it is Chinese porcelain, – Miranda smiled discreetly.
– It’s beautiful! And the wine glasses, wine glasses! So shining. Crystal!
– Jane, my daughter asked me… – Henry whispered in her ear.
– What are you sitting there, Henry? Get it out, come on. We brought salted tomatoes and cucumbers. Here is caviar of zucchini – the last jar we have left. During the winter all the stocks “went away”. Everything is my own. I grow and preserve everything myself. It is a pity that we are out of pickled mushrooms.
– Mom! – Sophia exclaimed.
– Don’t teach your mother how to visit. It is inconvenient to come to the table empty-handed, it is not accepted. And for tea there are also pies with apple jam. I make the dough according to an old recipe, my great-grandmother used to do it.
Sophia could hardly restrain herself from crying.
– Daughter, why are you and your fiancé sitting so gloomy? Look how skinny he is. Go on, feed your Martin.
– Mom, stop it, – said Sophia and ran out of the room. Martin ran after her.
– Oh, look what’s happening, huh? He is ashamed of his own mother, does not let her say a word.
– That’s all right, Jane. Sophia is just very worried. You can understand her, – Miranda tried to “smooth out the corners” – And you know, when we met our parents, I also got up and left.
– So your parents are also rural? They also said something wrong, right?” Jane asked.
– No, my parents are from the city. It was Albert who made an inappropriate joke about me – Miranda looked at him reproachfully – But last year my husband and I celebrated our silver wedding. So, let this “escape” of the bride become a happy omen in our family.
– Yes, the main thing is that they have everything. Well, let’s raise a toast to our children.
Sophia and Martin entered the room to the sound of clinking crystal glasses.
– “Have you calmed down, my daughter?” Jane asked.
– Of course, she calmed down. Martin, say it yourself.
Martin was embarrassed, and said in a solid voice.
– I proposed to Sophia. We’re going to apply next week.
– Did you hear, Henry? That’s it, our daughter is our bride now. Oh, my head is spinning. I don’t know what to say.
– And now you come to visit us, – said Henry, who had been silent all the time. – Soon the mushrooms will go, and wild strawberries. And what air we have! The cleanest!
– And why not? – Miranda looked at her husband. – I would love to wander through the forest, pick up “gifts of nature”. But I don’t know mushrooms.
– So we will tell you everything and show you.
– Then I’m all for it! – Albert clapped his hands. – Indeed, it’s been a hundred years since we went to the nature…
Sophia and Martin went to see Sophia’s parents off to the train station.
– How do you like our future matchmakers? – Albert asked his wife.
– They seemed to me quite nice people. Yes, simple, but sincere, with lively emotions. Oh, I feel that the mother-in-law will fatten our “skinny” son… – Miranda smiled softly.
