nested table question

[Jonathan <jonl86_05@...>]

I have two objects, a and b (object b contains object a). When I try to set it inside of object b directly, I get nil values (see comments below).I have to use a temp variable in order for it to work, which doesn't make any sense. Here's a short snippet to explain what I'm trying to say:

b = {}

function b:new()
  o = {}
  setmetatable(o, self)
  self.__index = self
  return o
end

a = {}

function a:new ()
  o = {}
  setmetatable(o, self)
  self.__index = self

  -- why can't I say o.nested = b:new() ?
  temp = b:new()
  o.nested = temp
  return o
end

test = a:new()
test2 = a:new()

-- if I didn't use temp, these would output as nil
print(test.nested)
print(test2.nested)