Inviting Ronny: Pudge And Ronny, Chapter 32.5

 This is my Accelerated Christian Education fan fiction, the first ACE fan fiction ever, to my knowledge. See more chapters on the "Gay Christian Fanfiction" page at the top of this blog, or on my Deviant Art page here. 
I originally forgot to upload this one, which was supposed to be Chapter 33. So I just now put it on my Deviant Art page, and I'm putting it here now. 



"What?! Mom, no!" Pudge cried. "What are you going to tell him?"
"That he needs to come to dinner on Sunday."
"But Mom--I don't know if that's right..." he protested. "After what happened, and he's a guy, and--and he's not even a believer!"
"I'm the one doing this, Pudge, not you," she smiled. "This one's on me. I want to get to know my future son-in-law!" she joked.
"Mom!" Pudge shouted, groaning.
"Hush! It's ringing! Oh, hello, Ronny," she said sweetly. "This is Marcy--Marcy McMercy. Yes, Pudge's mother. Pudge and I were wondering if you would like to join us for dinner on Sunday."
"Really?!"
Even Pudge heard that, on the other end of the line.  Pudge was staring at her, open-mouthed.
"Yes, really, dear," she answered.
"Why?" Ronny asked, suspiciously.
"Well...because we think it would be nice to have you over, that's all. Will you come, dear?"
"Uh...yeah. Sure," he replied, sounding confused. "What time? Do I bring anything?"
She hung up shortly after; Marcy was beaming. She had never expected it to happen this way, but had looked forward to this day (or something like it) for a long time. She tried to push aside her constant, nagging doubts and just enjoy this moment. Ronny seemed like a very nice boy now, in spite of his rough beginnings.
"Why did you invite him over?!" Pudge demanded.
"I told you. I want to get to know my future son-in-law," she teased, smiling at him.
"But Mom, we don't even know if we're going to be Side A!" Pudge protested.
"Well, let's not rule out the possibility, not until we do a lot more research and praying about it," she answered, walking over to him and stroking his hair affectionately.
"Ronny doesn't even believe," Pudge said feebly.
"You're nervous, aren't you?" Marcy prodded, beaming at him again.
"No," he said quickly, blushing and looking down. "I just thought...he's not a believer...that's all..."
"You know, I got to talking with this nice universalist guy online the other day," Marcy said thoughtfully. "He thinks that everyone's going to come to know God, eventually, 'by way of Jesus Christ and the cross,' he said. Cited some verses that seemed to say that, too. If he's right, then even Ronny will eventually become a believer, anyway."
"That's impossible, Mom! What about all those verses about hell?"
"There's also the one that says that God is not willing that any should perish. I would hate to think that God doesn't get what he wants. Catholics, like your father was, believe in purgatory, you know, a kind of temporary hell."
"Was this guy Catholic?" Pudge asked.
"No. He said he used to be a 'wet Baptist.'"
"And you listen to this guy, this fake Baptist guy? He sounds homophobic," Pudge groused.
"No, he was gay. Nicest man you ever met. I almost wish I knew some nice guy who's also over sixty," she said thoughtfully.
"He's gay, too? Then he's probably biased," Pudge complained.
Marcy laughed. "No one can please you, can they, Pudge?" she smiled. "You're such a pessimist."
"I don't want to get my hopes up."
"Let's just pray for some kind of sign, either way. But I don't think God wants you to be alone, Pudge," she said. "I can't believe that."
And Marcy secretly wondered if she could ever serve a god who would do that to her precious baby. Or would she be a coward, and not stand up to Him, in order to save her own skin? And what about Pudge? How would God treat Pudge--in this life and the next? She prayed again that God would burn her instead of Pudge, if it came down to that, though she knew that according to her church, substitution was impossible--well, except for the one time, which their whole belief system was built upon...
"There's just so many questions..." Pudge said softly, as if thinking along the same lines.
"I know. And we're not going to find all of the answers tonight,"  Marcy answered. "Go get washed up for dinner," she said, kissing the top of his precious head.