Blessing
By A.J. Brown
Connor must accomplish one thing before he marries Emma


**Note to my readers: I write Custom Stories for those who enjoy my work that
would like a personal story written for them. Please email me at
ajbrown2005@yahoo.com if you would like more information on my Custom
Stories**

Connor watched Emma pushing as hard as she could at Hailey's arm but she
couldn't move it. Both girls looked like they were having fun, but Hailey was
just smiling and Emma was laughing, the laughter was pretty obviously because
she knew Hailey was stronger than her even though their arms were still even.

Hailey started to push harder and she started pushing Emma's arm down. Emma
was still smiling but she had stopped laughing and her teeth were clenched as
she tried not to lose this arm-wrestling match in front of her boyfriend. But
Hailey was too strong for her and she started pushing her arm down more. Both
girls were cute and both girls were small so Connor couldn't help but feel
embarrassed that his girlfriend was losing to another girl in equal size, age,
and cuteness. Hailey let out a shout of victory just as she pushed the rest of
the way and pinned Emma's hand to the dining room table for the victory.

"Yeah!" Hailey said as she raised her arms in triumph. Connor checked out her
arms in the tank-top. They looked thin and small but he could see that they
looked stronger than Emma's.

"Damn, you are strong!" Emma said, sounding genuinely impressed. The other two
girls watching looked like they didn't have any feeling on it either way.

"I want YOU now," Hailey said as she surprised Connor by putting her arm back
on the table in the arm-wrestling position and challenging him. "I just beat
your girlfriend, Connor, you think you could take me?"

"See if you can get revenge for me," Emma said. "Hopefully she can't beat both
of us."

Connor gave Emma a bit of a look, not exactly liking the lack of confidence
she showed that her boyfriend would be able to beat a girl. Hailey looked
confident from her victory and looked ready to roll. The other girls watched
curiously. Connor put his arm on the table and locked hands with Hailey. Her
hand felt soft and feminine. She had no chance against him, what were these
girls thinking?

"Ready?" Emma said. "Go." He started pushing Hailey's arm down with extreme
ease and now Hailey was the one laughing uncomfortably.

"Oh Jesus, he's killing me," Hailey laughed as he pushed her girly arm down
like it was nothing. He could feel her resisting but he could also feel that
her arm was just much weaker than his and he easily pinned her hand to the
table.

"Nice one, cutie," Emma said. She smiled at Connor and gave him a kiss.

"I want to see if I can beat him," one of the girls, Paige, said. Connor
thought about how easy it was to be a girl. They could all make these
challenges. If they lost, it was no big deal if they lost to a guy. If they
won, they looked like a queen. Zero risk, high reward.

"Oh come on, why do you all want to arm-wrestle my boyfriend??" Emma said with
some annoyance.

"Come on, Connor," Paige said with a sweet smile as she put her right arm on
the table in the arm wrestling position.

Emma looked annoyed but she didn't object. Connor was a little nervous as
Paige was a bit bigger than the other girls. He still figured he could beat
her - but it was all risk and no reward for him. As the two of them locked
their hands, Emma's mother walked in the kitchen.

"Hi Joanna!" Hailey said.

Joanna waved and smiled. "You kids having fun over there?" One of the things
Connor liked about dating Emma was that he couldn't ask for a better mom of
the girl he was dating. Joanna was 41-years-old, only 23 years older than
everyone else in that room. She was friendly to Connor but she was quiet and
just let him, her daughter, and all their friends do their thing without being
overbearing or involved.

"We're arm-wrestling," Hailey said.

"Ready?" Paige said to Connor. "Go!"

Connor felt a bit more resistance when he pushed, but Paige was only able to
hold him off for a couple of seconds. Once he started pushing her arm down,
she had nothing and he started easily moving down her arm. She half-smiled and
half looked frustrated as he took her arm down all the way and pinned her hand
to the table, trying not to do it too hard, especially since Joanna was now
watching.

"Connor's kicking all our butts," Hailey said to Joanna.

"Oh yeah?" Joanna said, doing her best to fake interest in her daughter's
friends' arm wrestling matches.

"You want to give him a try mom?" Emma said.

"Alright," Joanna said, with little emotion, but it certainly wasn't the
response that Connor expected.

Connor watched Joanna walk towards him, half of her long, dark hair in front
of her shoulders and the other half of it behind them. She wore a tank-top and
pants. While Emma only stood at about 5'2, Joanna was an inch taller than
Connor was at 5'10 and the wedges that she had on probably made her two inches
taller. Based on how much shorter Emma was than her mom, Connor guessed that
her dad must have been quite a bit shorter.

"Ready Connor?" she said with a smile.

She put her right arm on the table in the arm-wrestling position. Her arm was
lean but it was a lot longer than any of the arms of the girls there which
made Connor a bit nervous. He still was confident he'd win but against his
girlfriend's mother with Emma and all her friends watching, this one he
couldn't even allow to be close.

He put his arm on the table. The smile left Joanna's face and when she brushed
her hair away from her face with her left hand, she looked ready to compete.
He locked his hand with hers and while her hand and fingers were thin, her
grip was noticeably stronger than either of the girls he went against.

"Ready you two?" Hailey said. Joanna looked at her, gave her a quick nod, and
then looked back at Connor. "Go!"

Connor didn't hold back against his girlfriend's mother, immediately pushing
at her arm with all of his strength. It did not move and he could immediately
tell just by how strong her arm felt that this wasn't going to be a temporary
thing like it had been with Paige. He pushed harder but her arm still would
not move. The other girls watched, looking much more interested than they had
in his previous two matches.

"My mom works out a lot," Emma said.

Joanna looked at her daughter, gave her a brief smile, then focused back on
Connor. He eased up a bit, not wanting to look like an idiot pushing with all
of his might, and still not being able to move her arm. Easing up didn't
change anything as she still hadn't move his arm an inch either. Still,
sitting there not able to push down his girlfriend's mother's arm was
humiliating. Time was passing and he would periodically give a harder push,
trying his best to be discreet about it, but it having no effect.

"Look, Joanna looks like she's just enjoying this," Paige said with amusement.

Joanna turned her head to Paige, smiled, and raised her eyebrows at her as she
nodded. As her smile showed her white teeth, Connor thought about what a
beautiful woman she was, 41-years-old, her hair still full and dark, her tan
skin still so smooth, and her whole tall body so thin. He normally appreciated
her beauty but when he couldn't bring her arm down in arm wrestling, her
beauty just added to his humiliation.

He pushed harder again and now he could really feel the pain in his bicep as
he clenched his teeth, simply unable to move this woman's arm no matter how
hard he tried. He looked at her arm and while it was thin, it looked very fit
so he supposed it made sense that she'd be a lot stronger than the girls, and
the length of it helped too. Feeling more pain in his bicep as he pushed was
really starting to frustrate him. He couldn't help but feel a bit of animosity
towards her for this. Why couldn't she just give him and let him win? It would
be a lot worse for him than her if he lost.

"Mom, just push his arm down if you can," Emma said. "Come on."

Still silent during this entire match, Joanna looked at her daughter, and gave
her a smile that Connor read as an 'OK dear' smile. Connor now really felt the
pressure in his bicep as she started pushing his arm down a bit. Feeling
almost desperate, he pushed back harder, accomplishing nothing but feeling
more pain in his bicep.

He looked at Joanna's beautiful face as she pushed his arm down more. There
was nothing he could do about it. He was able to scan around with his eyes to
see most of the girls looked surprised, all except Emma. When she got his arm
down past halfway he couldn't help but smile - there was no point in feeling
frustrated anymore, she had him. That last little bit as she pushed his arm
down was when her bicep felt the most stronger than his, right before she
pinned his hand to the table.

Once it set in what had just happened was when the humiliation set in and he
could feel it quickly spreading throughout his body. Still feeling Joanna's
feminine hand holding his down, the pain in his bicep, the mature-woman look
on his face, and his girlfriend and all of her girlfriends all observing what
had just happened.

"Good match," Joanna said as she let go then offered to shake his hand. He
accepted and felt the tight grip of her handshake.

**

"Come in!" he heard Joanna say when he knocked on the door.

He knew she was home alone and he wasn't expecting her to just call him in
without coming to the door. She probably didn't even know it was him. He
opened the screen door, the main door to the house already open, on the
beautiful June day.

He walked into the living room. Joanna sat on center of the couch reading a
book, wearing a tank-top, and her hair looking great. She wore pants and had
her legs stretched out. Her bare feet were resting on the coffee table, her
soles looking right him, in a sexy pose with one foot crossed over the other.
Her feet were long and her soles looked incredibly soft for a 45-year-old
woman. He absorbed how sexy she looked at that moment the way she was sitting
and if Emma was going to look anything like that when she was Joanna's age
that just confirmed that Connor was making a good decision here.

"Emma's not here," Joanna said with her friendly tone, sounding totally cool
with Connor popping in. "I don't think she's going to be back for a while
actually."

Now he felt a little nervous. Out of all parents he could be asking this to,
Joanna was about as good as it could get but he still felt nervous. Why did he
have to ask for permission anyway? Couldn't Emma make her own decisions? But
that was the rule of society and he figured it was worth the quick
conversation if it made her happy. With no father around, she was the one to
ask.

"There was actually something I wanted to talk to you about." He knew he
sounded nervous but at least he didn't stutter and he thought he was speaking
clearly so at least that was good.

"Oh," she said, suddenly getting a serious look on her face. She uncrossed her
feet, put them on the floor, and set her book down on the cushion to the left
of her. She patted the cushion to her right. "Have a seat."

While he was nervous about doing this, he wasn't expecting to feel this kind
of pressure as he walked over and sat next to her, as she looked at him with
interest. He couldn't help but sneak a peek at her feet before looking up at
her and seeing she was still looking right at him.

"So I've been dating Emma a long time now. I love her with all of my heart and
I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I would like to ask her to marry
me but I wanted t-to ask for your blessing before I did so."

Joanna had always been a laid back, quiet woman so the look of surprise that
he saw on her face once he asked the question surprised him and now he felt
more nervous. He and Emma were still on the younger side, both 22-years-old,
but they had been dating for 4 years so he didn't think the question should
have shocked Joanna that much.

"Wow!" Joanna said and she put her hand over her heart. "I just totally wasn't
expecting this. My little girl. I'm sorry, I just need a minute here ... " She
started fanning her face with her hand. "I mean, you're right, you two have
been dating for a long time. Emma is crazy about you. She talks about you all
of the time. You're definitely both old and mature enough, I - it's just the
idea of my little girl getting married hitting me now - wow! I'm sorry, I know
I look like a weirdo right now."

"It's OK, you're fine," he said with a smile, quickly getting more comfortable
as he sensed her genuine embarrassment.

"Alright," she said, getting herself back together, as she looked him in the
eyes again. She put her hand on his knee, her touch feeling soothing. "Do you
love my daughter?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise to love her forever?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise to always take care of her?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you promise to always protect her?"

"Absolutely."

Now he saw some doubt in her eyes and she looked away from him. Should he have
not said absolutely twice in a row like that? Did he sound fake? Come on, he
was so close.

"So," she said and then she paused, now looking uncertain. "I remember a few
years ago I beat you in arm-wrestling. I didn't think much about it at the
time since Emma was so young and I honestly didn't expect her to be dating you
for this long. But now I'm just trying to grasp how you'll be able to protect
my daughter if you were weaker than a middle-aged woman."

She paused again, thinking. Connor thought the sooner this part of the
conversation was over, the much, much better everything would be.

"But that was a long time ago," she said. "I'm sure you've been lifting
weights the last few years and are a lot stronger now, right?"

"Yeah," he lied, though he promised himself he would definitely start going to
the gym regularly once he got through this.

"Alright," she said, looking like she felt better. "I'll tell you what. We'll
have an arm-wrestling rematch right now. As long as you can beat me, you can
one hundred percent have my blessing to ask Emma to marry you. That sound
fair?"

"Sure," he said.

He was trying to sound casual about it but he couldn't believe it. He didn't
work out and Emma had never indicated that was something she wanted him to do.
Why was Joanna making the rules about what he needed to do for them to get
married? She was already down on her knees at the coffee table with her right
arm on the table in position.

He moved over to the other side. She had beaten him last time but it hadn't
been super easy for her or anything. They had stayed in the neutral position
for a while. He was just going to have to try harder this time, beat her, and
show her that he was strong enough, at least to beat her, and that she
shouldn't be doubting him. He locked hands with her and felt her feminine hand
squeeze his tightly.

"OK, you ready?" she said. For the first time ever, he felt like he didn't
like her and that motivated him even more not to lose. "Go."

He pushed on her arm and it felt like whatever additional adrenaline he had
due to the importance of this match, she had as well. Her arm felt stronger
than the last time and pushing on her arm with it not budging at all felt like
it hurt his bicep more than the last time.

He looked at her face looking much more serious than it had for their last
match. His arm started to shake and she began bringing down his arm. He
couldn't lose, he was fighting for Emma here. And this woman was in the way of
him having the life he wanted with his love. Joanna pushed his arm down more
and now he felt really worried.

He pushed with all of his strength not caring how stupid he looked clenching
his teeth and breathing heavily through his mouth. He was seething as he
pushed back and Joanna remained calm as she brought his arm down more. She was
just too strong for him.

When she got his arm down past halfway was when he finally started to accept
the situation. Joanna was right. He was weak and who did he think he was
asking to marry the daughter of this beautiful woman if he was this much
weaker than her? His bicep hurt a lot and he gave up on fighting as she pushed
his hand to the table for the victory. He looked at the beauty in her face and
her long arm that was so much stronger than his. She was superior to him and
if she didn't want him to marry Emma he would have to accept that.

"You haven't been working out at all since we last arm-wrestled, have you?"
she said.

He shook his head and looked down. There was no point in lying.

"I'll tell you what," she said as she let go of his hand and he could feel how
sweaty his had gotten from his efforts. "Start going to the gym. Start working
out. Get a program going, it will be good for your own health too. We'll touch
base again in three months. You're a man and I'm confident if you stick to a
workout plan for three months that you'll be able to beat me. If you can beat
me in arm-wrestling in three months then you have my word that you'll have my
blessing to ask my daughter to marry you. Does that sound fair?"

"Mmm-hmm," he said affirmatively as he nodded, briefly looked her in the eyes,
and then looked back at the ground.

He just kneeled there feeling his palms sweating as the humiliation of this
whole thing sunk in. He had been nervous about this but his nervousness was
just based on that he might sound awkward or stupid when he asked her. He
didn't actually think that he was going to be walking out of that house
without her blessing. Heck, he thought it would have been better if she had
just outright said no, that she didn't want him to. Had she done that he may
have just felt comfortable telling Emma how much he loved her, telling her
that her mom didn't approve of it, but he wanted to ask her anyway.

But this. This, he couldn't explain to Emma. Three months he had to wait. He
had just spent thousands of dollars he had saved up on this ring and now he
just had to hold onto it. He had already planned on how he was going to ask
Emma - he was going to ask her to get up early to watch the sunrise with him
then got on one knee at the first sight of the sun. He had been so excited
about that. Now that was going to have to wait. The sun was going to rise at a
completely different time in three months. A lot could change in three months.
He felt like this was the most perfect time to ask Emma based on how their
relationship was but would it be this perfect in three months? What if he
worked out like crazy but he still lost to Joanna again? There was no
guarantee. How much longer would she make him wait or would she just say that
he was too weak to marry her daughter and to forget it?

If he hadn't felt low enough at that moment, he then heard Joanna start to
laugh, a loud, hearty feminine laugh that he could feel coming at his expense.
He felt his face getting beat red and his eyes watering up. He looked up at
her and hated her at that moment seeing the pleased look on her face as she
laughed.

"Of course you can marry my daughter!" she said, laughing hard as she said it.
"Connor, I was so just messing with you. Come here!"

She held her arms out offering to give him a hug and as it sunk in what was
happening he quickly started to feel good, forgetting how embarrassed he had
just felt. He had her blessing - he was going to ask Emma to marry him! He
moved over and hugged Joanna. He felt how strong her arms were again when she
tightly wrapped them around him. She held him like that for a bit and he could
feel her keeping him close when he tried to move away a bit. She then took his
shoulders with her hands and affectionately pushed him back a bit, then looked
him in the eyes. She had tears in her eyes, tears that looked partly due to
her laughing so hard, and partly due to her general happiness that he daughter
was going to get married.

"I'm sorry I embarrassed you," she said, still laughing a bit but trying to
stop. "I wasn't ready for this discussion and I wanted to have a little fun,
but I was probably a bit too mean. I could see I really embarrassed you. I am
sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he said, realizing he did still feel embarrassed. "It
was funny."

"I really appreciate you asking me. And I am ecstatic that you want to marry
my daughter. You are a great man and she is extremely lucky. And I'm going to
be lucky to have you in my family. Welcome."

"It's an honor. And I do want you to know that I meant everything I said. I
love her and I will always treat her the way she deserves to be treated, and
always respect her."

"I know you will," Joanna said, still smiling. "Because if you don't, we both
know that I can whoop your butt." She looked at him seriously again.

**Email ajbrown2005@yahoo.com if you would like more information on my Custom
Stories**