And here, Alexa faltered. Her relationship history didn’t put her in the Advice Givers Hall of Fame. When the going got tough or intimate or even slightly inconvenient to her work schedule, Alexa bailed. But Penny was different. Penny dug in and made it work. She stayed with her completely inadequate, in Alexa’s opinion, college boyfriend for far too long. Five years! Despite his lack of ambition and love of beer pong.

But Chase, he seemed like a good match for her striving daughter, despite the Queens move. Alexa attempted to finish her sentence with wise words. “You are a team and you need to be in constant communication with each other. He needs to know what you’re feeling and you need to know what he is thinking. Because men don’t feel.” She said the last line to get a laugh out of Penny.

It didn’t. “Thanks, Mom. You’re right. One task at a time.”

“Is everything else okay, dear?”

“I’m sure Chase’s mother will be furious. I’m not sure she likes me.” For Penny, who had been universally liked her entire life, especially by adults, who appreciated her ability to not ask tedious questions because she already knew the answers, this was a shocking revelation. Because of Alexa’s status, she had no history with mothers-in-law. This was all new territory. “I think she really expected Chase to marry someone like her. You know, New England–y. She doesn’t quite know what to make of me.”

Alexa thought about her own family, where all males were kings, loved by their mothers despite having no discernible skills or ambitions. It was the Greek way. She’d seen her aunts and grandmother fawn over their adult sons like they were little boys. To Alexa, Abigail Blakeman seemed on edge about more than just her son’s choice of wife. She seemed anxious about every part of her life, as if she were gripping too tightly to a fantasy instead of embracing her reality. Chase represented the Blakeman family’s last stab at entitled success before their downward mobility engulfed them all. Penny must threaten that legacy, with her single mother and her Greek/Californian background. Also, Alexa suspected, with her style, her ambition, and her confidence. Abigail was probably a touch jealous of her son’s fiancée.

But Alexa was determined to win Abigail over, if only for Penny’s sake. It was the least she could do. “Her only son is getting married. It’s not you, it’s her. Should I turn on my patented Diamandis charm offensive?”

“Thank you! Get the Widows in on it, too. And keep pouring the wine.”

“Don’t worry. The Widows never run out of wine. And I bought some beer for the sister. She seems like the beer type.”