Love Triangle 7: Eloping

Peter opened his eyes to see the cracked ceiling of the dingy motel room he and Veronica had spent the first night of their married life in. He'd never even been inside a building as dirty and run-down before, never mind spent the night in one. He thought of Veronica and imagined that the same probably wasn't true of her.

"Well, good morning, sleepyhead!" He turned to see a smiling, fully-dressed Veronica holding two hot plates of food. "I snuck out to the mini mart across the street while you were asleep," she explained.

The eggs were a little runny, and the toast was slightly burned, but Peter was hungry. "Wow, thanks, Veronica," he mumbled through eager mouthfuls. After breakfast, they cleaned up together, and Peter got dressed. "Well, where to now?" he asked.

Veronica shrugged. "Back home, I guess, unless you've got a better idea."

"Well, this is supposed to be our honeymoon." He brightened. "Hey, how about we visit Greenwich Village? It's supposed to be really classy, art, museums, things like that."

"Yeah! I've lived in New York City my entire life, and I've never even been there before. And maybe after that, we could hang out at the park for a couple of hours or so."

In Greenwich Village, Veronica couldn't stop staring with envy at the expensive houses. Peter was fascinated by the art and music. "I guess this must be the wave of the future," he said.

"I suppose so." She wasn't really paying attention. He knew that she didn't especially care for art and had only come along to humor him.

He took her to an upscale restaurant for lunch. "Are you sure we can afford this?" she asked him, a hint of worry in her voice.

"If I can't give you a real honeymoon, at least I can treat you to a nice lunch," he replied.

"Aw, you're so sweet!" He could tell she was really touched, and that made him feel very happy.

At the park they played tag. "I used to be faster than you," Veronica complained.

"That's not the way I remember it." Peter laughed.

When they finally realized that they could put it off no longer, they headed back to Peter's apartment. "Pretend I just carried you over the threshold," he said after they'd entered. She frowned for just a moment, then laughed. He joined in.

"Guess I'll call my Mom," she said. He didn't say anything. He knew he'd have to tell his own mother eventually as well, and he dreaded that more than he'd ever dreaded anything before in his life.

"We're invited over for dinner," she told him after hanging up.

"Give me a few minutes to freshen up," he replied.

"Aw, you're fine!" she assured him.

Within moments they'd arrived at Veronica's family's apartment. "So you're my son-in-law now," Veronica's mother stated in a matter-of-fact manner. She examined Peter carefully as if he were a side of beef at the butcher shop. "Welcome to the family," she said at last, smiling and giving him a hug.

Pale, mild-mannered Roger Peterson was next. "Welcome to the family, son," he said, blinking his pale blue eyes as he shook Peter's hand.

"Thank you, sir," Peter replied.

Over dinner, Veronica's mother grilled Peter about his job and his family and seemed pleased with his answers. Mary Jane whined about what the weather was doing to her complexion. Spencer went on and on about baseball.

It wasn't long before Peter felt quite at home with his new in-laws.

It probably would have been all right if Saturday hadn't been such an incredibly hot day. But it was, and Peter and Veronica had just returned from the beach in wet swimsuits. Veronica threw a sopping wet towel at Peter, but he ducked and, a micro second later, hurled one at her that hit her square in the face. By the time she'd recovered, he'd disappeared inside the house.

"Why, you..." She stalked inside in mock anger, only to search fruitlessly for a few seconds before he jumped out from behind a door, grabbed her from behind, and kissed her. Playfulness quickly became passion as the kiss became open-mouthed and Peter's hand expertly slipped beneath the material of Veronica's bikini top.

Caught up in the moment, neither of them was even aware that Mrs. Wedemeyer had entered the house through the open door.