Yule Tidings by Savannah Dawn Page A

marry her. 
                  “You slut!  You have trapped him, haven’t you?”  Anne said, going off the deep end.  Her mind was wheeling.  How could this be happening to Jason?
                  “That is enough!” Jason said loudly, looking at his mother in deepening rage.  “I love Alex, mother.  If you don’t like that, too damn bad.  She is everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman.  She’s sweet, and kind, and we have some pretty amazing conversations.  She loves me and I love her.  Yes, she’s pregnant, but I asked her to marry me long before she ever conceived.  Nobody else has a problem with this.  Dad and Donna are excited; Alex’s parents are ecstatic, Rose and Michael are thrilled, and I’m beside myself with happiness about it all.  What is your problem?  Why can’t you be happy about this?”  Jason spoke louder than he’d intended, but ignored the quieting of the restaurant.
                  “Everyone else knows?” Anne said slowly, feeling betrayed.  Someone could have warned her that Jason had asked his unknown girlfriend to marry him.  “Happy?” she said finally, her voice a mixture of anger and pain.  “How could I be happy that she’s destroying your life; taking away your freedom?  Of course Franklin and Donna are pleased; they want to get on your good side.  Her parents are happy?  No surprise, they’re probably poor white trash: glad she found a sugar daddy to provide for them all.  Your brother and sister don’t know what they’re talking about, they’re too young to know, and you’re completely deluded if you think she’s as innocent and wonderful as she pretends to be with you.  How do you know the baby is even yours?” Anne asked derisively. 
                  Alex wasn’t sure if she should scream or cry.  “You evil, bitter woman.  No wonder Franklin left you.  It’s amazing he lasted as long as he did.  I pity you.  It’s tragic that you can’t work up any excitement about your coming grandchild.  My parents wouldn’t prefer that I got pregnant before the wedding, but they’re excited about the baby.  Everyone is.  Why can’t you be?  What is so very wrong with you that you can’t appreciate this blessing?” Alex pushed against Jason.  “Please, let me out,” she said choking back sobs.  Her parents were white trash?  Her father was retired military, her mother was a stay at home Mom.  How dare she?  Alex had never been so insulted and humiliated in her entire life.  She’d met some pretty rotten people, but this woman took the cake.  Jason moved out of her way, anger radiating from him, but Alex gave him little thought as she rushed past the tables of staring people to find the restroom.
                  Anne sat stunned, momentarily frozen by the force of the girl’s accusations.  “How could you let her speak to me like that?” she whispered finally.  She couldn’t believe Jason hadn’t defended her against the girls’ claims.
                  “Speak to you like what?  Tell you the truth?  We all know that you’ve become a mean, bitter, woman that no one wants anything to do with.  How dare you talk to my fiancée like that?  How dare you?  How do you live with yourself?  You have no right to criticize my decisions.  Destroying my life?  She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.  She taught me to live for myself and to slow down enough to enjoy my life.  How do I know the baby is mine?  She was a virgin, Mom, that’s how I know, not that it’s any of your business.  She’s honest, and pure, and more perfect than you could ever imagine.  I know it’s my baby because she’s been living with me for nearly six months, and because she told me it’s mine.  Maybe you doubt everyone in your life, but I don’t.”  Jason tossed money on the table.  “I can’t believe you.” 
                  “Where