SPRING 1969:BRADY HOUSE: SATURDAY EVENING -- Late Night:Greg Brady waited impatiently for his father to get home. It was well past midnight and Mike Brady still had not returned from his date with Carol Martin. This was their 7th date in a month and the second time that this had happened. This woman was BAD news! Finally, Greg heard the car drive into the driveway an prepared his best scowel for his dad when he walked in the front door. Mike Brady walked in the front door with a smile on his face and clearly did not expect to see anybody waiting up for him; let alone his son; let alone with a scowel on his face. When he saw this, he stopped in his tracks. "Do you know what time it is?" Greg asked Mike was taken aback and looked at his watch, then responds, "Twelve Thirty," matter-of-factly. "That's right. An hour and a half past curfew." "Since when do _I_ have a curfew?" "Since you've been dating this woman. You've been spending a lot of time with her, and Peter, Bobby and I haven't even met her yet. What are you hiding?" "I haven't been hiding anything." "Then why haven't we met her yet" Peter Brady adds from the top of the stairs. Mike looked up the stairs to see his middle and youngest sons watching his conversation with Greg. "What are you two doing up?" "Waiting for you, dad" Bobby answered. "I figured that," Mike responded. "But the question is why did you stay up well past bedtime waigint for me to get home?" "Because we're worried about you dad?" Greg responds. "You've been spending a lot of time with this woman and we have never met her. Nor do we know anyting about her but her first name. "Yeah" Peter and Dobby added. "Ok, boys come down here and we can all have a chat" The other two boys scampered down the stairs and all four of them took seats in the living room. When they were all settled in make began: "Oh, where to Begin. Her name is Carol Ann Tyler-Martin --" "She certainly does have a lot of names," Bobby commented. Mike Laughed. "That's because she has taken mack her maiden name." Bobby got a puzzled look on his face. Seeing that they still do not understand he clairified."Her given name was Carol Ann and her parents's last name was Tyler. There for her maiden name was Carol Ann Tyler. She got marrie to a man named Stanly Martin about 14 years ago, so she changed her name to Carol Ann Martin. Then about five years ago, he left her they got divorced. Because of that, she took her maiden name back, but because her daughters all had the last name Martin, she kept that too. Thus her bame is Carol Ann Tyler Martin." "She has daughters?" Peter asked. "Yes, she has daughters: Three of them: Marcia is 12, Jan is 9, and Cindy is 8." "Hey, they're all just a little younger than us," Bobby adds. "Yes they are." "So when do we get to meet them?" Peter wanted to know "Actually," Mike replied, "I was going to talk to you all at breakfast tomorrow." He pasused for a moment to gather his thoughts, then: "Carol and I have been getting closer, and were talking at dinner tonight and decided that perhapse it was time for our respective families to meet -- if they were willing to -- and we decided to ask you all what you wanted. "So what do you think?" "About what dad?" Greg asked "Do you want to meet Carol and her girls?" "I think we've been saying that we would, Dad." "Ok, I'll talk to Carol tomorrow and if her kids are agreeable, we'll invite them over or a barbecue on Saturday ok" "Ok" "Good, now it's past your bedtimes, so get to bed" The boys scampered up the stairs and off to bed. THE NEXT MORNING at the TYLER House:"Sure, we'd love to meet them." Jan replied. "Yeah," Cindy added. But Marcia Martin wasn't as convinced. "Are you kidding?" I don't even like your dating, let alone want to meet the guy -- and three boys too? I bet they're slobs! Count me OUT!" "Marcai, Mike is really nice. I'm sure that once you meet him . . " "I don't care how nice he is. He isn't dad, and I don't like you consorting with other men, and I certainly don't want t meet them." "Marcia, your dad left us and isn't coming back. Why do you try to deny me even the smallest bit of happyness?" "Yeah, Marcia," Jan added. "Dad left YOU -- not US. Eventually he'll beback. When you were married, it was till death do you part. Well, neither of you are dead yet so you can't get remarried. That's final! "Do what you want, but don't expect me to be happy about it." *** So Mike and Carol talked on the phone later that morning and plans were made for the girls to come over to the Brady house for a barbecue on the next Saturday. Everybody was looking forward to it except for Marcia who decided that she was going to sabotage it if she could. *** THE BRADY HOUSE -- THE NEXT SATURDAY:Carol and the the girls arrived at about 11 and Greg answered the door because Mike was fiddling with the grill. "Hi," Carol began, "You must be Greg. Mike has told me so much about you." "Yeah, that's me mam. These are my brothers Peter and Bobby." The other boys greeted her. "Dad is outside in the back working on the Grill," Greg informed her. "Nice to meet all of you. These are my daughters Marcia, Jan, and Cindy." "Hi thhhere" Cindy greeted them. Several hellos came back |