Chapter Nineteen* Hubster vs. Big Dad

This is the story of how the Hubster and I met, fell in love, and were married within 8 months…

…and lived happily ever after*

I should really have asked the Hubster to write this chapter, but I’ll do my best to do it justice. By the beginning of March (2005) I had not only been visiting cloud nine for several few weeks–I had moved in and was living there. Once the Hubster had dropped the possibility of “the M word” to me, it was all I could think about. I had been excited about marriage since I was a little girl, but any time I had attached the idea of it to someone I had dated before Hubster the whole thing freaked me out. But it was just so natural with him. Every time we went out I hoped he would propose…

We did talk about it a little together. We knew that we were going to get married, and liked to talk about little pieces of our future together. For example, we talked about getting married in August… and I didn’t want it to be right at the beginning or right at the end, so that left us 2 potential dates: the 13th or the 20th. Even though neither of us is terribly superstitious I didn’t the like sound of the 13th, so we sort of picked out the 20th of August if we were to get engaged in the near future.

But there was still one thing in the way that the Hubster wanted do before he would propose…. he, bring the handsome, brave and thoughtful man that he is, wanted to ask my Dad for my hand in marriage.

I know this isn’t really something that isn’t really practiced or done anymore. I think that most people tend to date for an extended period of time, move in together to try things out, and THEN get engaged, so by then asking the bride-to-be’s father doesn’t seem as important. Some people might even think it old-fashioned. I think it’s romantic and it meant the world to me that it was something he decided to do on his own.

So, off we went to B Town to see Mom and Dad.

I could tell that he was nervous the entire way there. He told me later that he had nearly backed out… and let me explain why.

Big Dad and I are very close. I am the youngest daughter, and I have always been a “Daddy’s Girl”. Big Dad has a great sense of humour once you get to know him… but at first my Dad seems like a strong and silent type and you can never really tell what he’s thinking behind his “Dad Face”. Once he knows you he lets loose and breaks out his repertoire of bad jokes and craziness.

My parents had an inkling about why we were there that weekend. I think the Hubster had intended it to be just him and Big Dad sitting down man-to-man, but my mom had other ideas. My parents do everything together, and this was to be no different.

The first obstacle was finding a time when it was quiet in my house. My family is not only loud and fun, but they loved to be involved and “in the know” about EVERYTHING. It was at least a day before we found a legitimate excuse to send Teep and Choppy out the door for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Once they left the Hubster knew it was time for “the talk”. Mom and Big Dad invited him into the living room to “chat”, and I thought that I would sneak away upstairs to give them some privacy. However, as I turned to go my mom asked me to stay. My mom and Big Dad took the love seat, and the Hubster and I sat down on the couch facing them. I took the Hubster’s hand and gave him an encouraging smile as I knew he was very nervous… not to mention that Big Dad wasn’t making it any easier on him. He had on his best “Dad” face, and even though I saw right through it he wanted to see what the Hubster’s real intentions were…