It was December when my dad and call-me-Ellen got married. As if I would ever call the wicked step mom “Ellen”. I was beyond furious with Ellen for swooping in and dragging my dad into this farce before my mom was even cold, God bless her. And my dad was disgusting; prancing around like some pimply teenager with his breast puffed out and with those looney looks every time he was around Ellen.

Here I was, twenty-two and just out of college, not a boyfriend on the horizon and my dad hooks up with this gold digging bimbo he met at his bar. I do not understand what he sees in her, other than a perky bosom and her gushy personality. I will say, she certainly knew how to catch a man with that soulful act she puts on. As for my dad? At 56 years old you would think he would pick someone closer to his age and all plump and motherly and smelling like homemade bread and vanilla. But no! Here he is hooked up to this professional type who owned her own nursery and dressed like a floozy.

“You okay, Livvie? Why don’t you come inside and have some food? The caterers did a great job on the whole spread and it’s getting really cold out here.” It was Ellen; always pretending to have my best interests at heart. As if.

I took a big drag on my cigarette and blew the smoke in her general direction. “I’m fine. I needed a smoke and I didn’t want to break your No Smoking In The House Rule. So I’ll just stay out here. The privacy suits me.”

“Oh. Okay. But just to clear up the smoke thing? You may not know the doctor told your dad that after that bad bronchitis scare in October he was not to smoke or even be around any smoke. You know how he hates to impose rules, so I appointed myself gatekeeper and rule enforcer.”

She smiled at me as if I knew all about this stuff, but my dad has spent his life trying to protect me from any bad stuff. I mean, my mom was already on hospice care before he finally called me at school and told me I needed to come home. I only had a couple of days with her before she died and later, in tears, he confessed she had been sick for months but she didn’t want me to know. It was hard to believe that once I realized he was already seeing Ellen.

“Livvie?”

“What?”

“Are you having issues with this marriage? Because I am getting some vibes from you that are pretty strong. I don’t want to be a mother to you, you know. I have a grown daughter of my own and don’t need one who obviously disliked me. But you know what I think would be the kind thing for your dad? Don’t make me out to be your enemy.”

“Since you brought it up, let’s put it out there. I watched how you finagled your way i to my dad’s life and I think you are a sad little woman who saw he was pretty well off and you decided you’d grab him before somebody else did. So there.”

She looked at me, her eyes wide and startled and then started chuckling. “Oh, Livvie. You couldn’t be more wrong. Actually your dad was the one who pursued me mercilessly. Your Mom was so sick, and he used to sit with me after he closed down the bar and just talk about it all and cry. He loved her very, very much and I know I can never replace her. But I found out I could love him because he could love so deeply. And you know what? I most certainly do not need him for his money. I have a very lucrative business and am bringing more money into this marriage than he is by a very wide margin.”

I said nothing because I had no words. It was pretty obvious that I had jumped to conclusions not based on fact and really didn’t know a damn thing about Ellen. I snugged out the cigarette and finally turned to look at her.

“I made some assumptions.”

“Yes. You did.”

We sat quietly for a few long moments, and I knew that if we wanted to move on and at least learn to tolerate each other because my dad loved both of us, I was the one who had to offer the peace. I owed them both at least that.

“I really am cold and hungry. Let’s go in. And Ellen? When you and dad get back from Chicago, can we do lunch? “

She smiled her lovely warm smile. “Of course! I would love that.”

It’s two years later, May 7th, and I watched her open a Mother’s Day Card I had picked out especially for My Other Mother. We both cried and hugged as my dad watched us, just beaming.