"Hello?"
"Hi Babsie, this is Colin. Colin Wentworth."
"Oh hi! Long time no talk."
Colin laughed.
"I wasn't sure if you'd remember me or not."
"I sure do," then with a teasing smile. "Pastor."
"Ahh, so you heard that."
"Yep."
"Well, I'm an assistant Pastor at a Church in Sapulpa. And, uhh... I just met someone who looked a lot like an older version of one of your kids with our senior Pastor."
"In Sapulpa?"
"Yes. His name, from what I've, uhh... inadvertently overheard is Duke and he's with a young lady named Mindy, and two adults. Umm, Thompson?"
"Yikes!" Libby yelped as Babsie swerved over to the side of the road.
"Ow! Mum!" Joy complained when her head was bumped against the car window.
"Mindy Thompson? Duke is with her and her parents? At a Church?"
"Yes."
"What's the address? I'm coming over."
Colin gave it to her, and they hung up. Then Babsie drove back onto the road and pushed the speed limit getting back home. She immediately alerted Isaac, made sure their household staff knew they would be gone for a few hours, got into the car and headed to the Church. Colin was waiting outside when they arrived.
"You didn't break any speed limits getting here?" Colin asked.
"Umm, forgive me father, for I have sinned?" Babsie suggested. "No, only kidding. Isaac drove."
"This way," Colin said, smiling.
He led them into the Church and were immediately greeted with a thrilled "Dad! Mum!" from Duke.
"I don't know," Babsie said, not looking at Duke. "Maybe we should consent."
"Mum!" Duke yelped.
"I'm sorry," said the senior pastor. "I thought Duke's parents had given consent already."
"Do I look like a complete moron to you?" Babsie asked.
"So, ahh, tell me Duke," Isaac interrupted, "how'd you end up here? I thought you were at the skate park."
"I was. But then Mindy showed up and we went for a walk together. But then Mr and Mrs Thompson showed up and made us get in the car and the next thing we know, we're here."
"See now, I think these guys look like morons," Babsie said, gesturing to the Thompsons. "Whether they actually are or not I haven't figured out, but they have done some pretty moronic things. Come on, without our consent there was no way this marriage would be legal. That aside, this is your daughter you're talking about here, and maybe, if you had ever spoken to them, you would have realised that she is not ready to give the amount of commitment necessary to have a successful marriage. And neither is Duke."
"They shouldn't have sex then," Mrs Thompson said.
"No one's disputing that! But did it ever occur to you that marrying them off now, may result in divorce later on? Which is just as bad. And for that matter, did it ever occur to you that they might decide to marry, of their own accord later on in life? I'm not sure I'd like to think about what you two would have done, or would do, if it turned out that Mindy was pregnant after all," Babsie didn't give them a chance to argue with her. "Just to reinforce a few things, Duke, I don't mind if you hang out with Mindy or not, but I want you to avoid all situations where you're alone with her without our express permission. And I don't want you to step foot anywhere near her neighbourhood, let alone her house. Having said that, Mindy you're always welcome at our house. C'mon Duke, we're going home."
The Hansons departed, leaving Mindy looking very nervous and her parents stumped for words.
"I would make the suggestion, Duke," Isaac said as they drove home in the car. "That you and Mindy had some sort of agreement along the lines of, if we're not married or engaged to anyone by a certain time, we marry each other. It could be an age or when you finish collage or even a specific date."
Duke gave a non-committal groan.
"Your father and I did that," Babsie mused. "We said thirty."
"But, you didn't marry at thirty..."
"No, we married at... well, Babsie was twenty-two and I was twenty-one. We just loved each other so much we changed the deadline," he grinned.
"To what?"
"The next day."
Duke laughed.