little do we know

Betty wasn't sure she wanted Carson and Brittany to move so close. She wasn't even sure she wanted Carson around.

"Oh, Mom." Brittany said it was only Christmas. "He doesn't actually drink." Her words sounded promising, but Betty was sure Brittany would be in the same boat, again. "Besides, we're gonna live with Carson's mom."

"But his brother and his girlfriend already live there, with their kid." Betty felt her heart want to cave in and ask those two to move back in, but as it was Tiffany moved back. That alone, was the hardest for Betty to get used, too. They had to be civil to each other.

Of course, Gordy said he would marry her, but she'd have to get along with her family first. This meant spending more time with her son.

Possibly, Betty was the one who'd kept them apart. She'd tried to explain this to Gordy, who wouldn't live with them. However, he'd found a house down the street. It was a fixer-upper. He could hardly wait to fix it up. He'd even bought it, out right. Of course, fixing it up would cost time and money, but he was so excited.

And of course, Gordy wanted to know Tiffany better.

Betty was uneasy about this. It seemed they all needed to be on their best behavior. Could she possibly get along with Tiffany?

Still, she worried about Brittany. "I just want you to be OK?"

"I am OK." Brittany did have a little too much faith in Carson, or so Betty thought.

"How do you handle it? When..when he's had too much to drink?" Betty thought of the billboard down the street where everyone let their dog poop, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DOESN'T TAKE A HOLIDAY. It made her heart falter.

Were emotions getting to her, too? It wasn't until this year that she'd felt so old, and she was horrified at the thought of dying.