Chad sat silently on the couch not saying a word, with a look of utter terror on his face as Mara-Joy exclaimed happily how much Chad and she were in love.
Alan sat still, breathing hard as he watched the scene unfold before him. Jobeth was oblivious to what Mara-Joy had planned to spring on them. Her mouth dropped open when Mara-Joy announced that she and Chad planned to marry, and marry as soon as possible.
“What do you mean as soon as possible?” Alan asked through clenched teeth as he gripped the arm of his chair.
“Well, Pappy, Chad and I feel there is no reason to wait. We are in love and want to share our lives together as man and wife, now,” Mara-Joy said, coming to kneel beside Alan’s lap.
“What exactly does that mean, Mara-Joy? When do you plan to spend your lives together as man and wife?” Alan asked, looking into Mara-Joy’s face.
His heart was breaking and he wanted to kill the little son-of-a-bitch sitting stunned on his couch. He wasn’t a stupid man and he knew what was going on, even if Jobeth would never believe it.
“Well, Pappy, I want to be married next week,” Mara-Joy beamed.
“No!” Jobeth stood up, flinging her hands into the air, “Alan!” she pleaded helplessly, unable to say anything else.
“Yes, Mama!” Mara-Joy announced, standing up to confront her mother. “I love him and he loves me. We need to be together.”
Chad sat silently, not saying a word, as the scene played out in front of him.
Alan watched the boy who had taken his daughter and shook his head, his fears confirmed. Mara-Joy would have to marry this weak, decrepit creature. She would have no choice. Her bed was made and now she would have to lie in it
with this man Alan could never respect. How could he respect Chad? This man had robbed his daughter of her innocence?
“Alan, are you going to just stand there or are you going to talk some sense into your daughter?” Jobeth demanded, her mind in an uproar. Everything was falling apart and she didn’t know how to stop it.
Alan observed his wife of fourteen years and his heart swelled for her and her blindness towards their daughter, her baby. The baby so like the one she had lost long ago. He understood her fixation with Mara-Joy, even her refusal to see what was going on in front of her very eyes. And he didn’t have the heart to break the portrait Jobeth held of Mara-Joy.
“Okay, Mara-Joy,” Alan said, not looking at the two women gaping at him. “You will be married by the end of next week.”
Mara-Joy squealed and ran to Alan and clasped him tightly around the neck.
“Thank you, Pappy! Thank you! I love you so much for understanding!” She gushed into his ear. He hugged Mara-Joy back with little strength. How could he tell this child of his heart that she had kicked him in the stomach with her actions? How could he tell her when she seemed so utterly happy?
“Alan, you are not serious!” Jobeth barked, trembling all over. She couldn’t believe her ears. The words she was hearing couldn’t be from the man she had lived with all these years?
“Jobeth, I am very serious. Mara-Joy will marry next week and we will stand beside her and help her as we always do,” Alan said sadly but sternly, his eyes not wavering from Jobeth’s stunned gaze. Mara-Joy clutched his arm tightly.
She was radiant beside him.
“Alan? You are joking?” Jobeth’s hands flew to her throat. It constricted tightly, making her feel like she was choking. Her fingers wrapped forcefully around her neck in an attempt to anchor her to the reality playing out in front of her.
He shook his head.
“Alan?” Jobeth begged, knowing his mind was set and nothing she could say would change it. Why he had agreed to let Mara-Joy marry was beyond her.
“I have had enough excitement for today,” Alan declared, releasing Mara-Joy’s grip and walking from the room, leaving an astonished Jobeth behind. “If you will excuse me, I need to go and rest for a while.”
Jobeth went to follow him, but Alan turned and said, “Alone.”
Taken aback, Jobeth watched Alan walk out of the room and wondered why on earth he would let Mara-Joy get married when it was so easy to see it was the last thing in the world he wanted?
Chad’s parents were overwhelmed that their son was getting married. They believed in early weddings and thought it was time for Chad to settle down. He was seventeen and a bit of a wild one. They had been worried his ways would land him in trouble and if marrying would settle him down, they were all for it.
Besides, they liked Mara-Joy. She was charming and came from a good family. Their son had made a good choice in their opinion and it didn’t matter that the young couple insisted on marrying so soon.
“Look happy, Chad,” Mara-Joy sang, standing in a white lace wedding dress that clung perfectly to her body. Alan had walked her down the aisle, handed her over to Chad with tears in his eyes and a pain in his heart. He kissed her flushed cheek, told her how much he loved her, that she was beautiful and that he would always be there for her if she needed him. Mara-Joy, overcome with emotion, squeezed her father lovingly before going to stand by the somber
Chad.
“We don’t want our guests to think we are not a happy couple,” she giggled, beside herself with jubilation.
She was going to be Chad’s wife and the mother of his child. Her heart fluttered with happiness as she pressed her hand on her flat stomach. She couldn’t yet feel the child growing inside of her, but she would with time. Her life, like her belly, was expanding forward.
“We are not a happy couple, Mara-Joy,” Chad sneered, barely able to hold back his contempt. He stood stiffly in his best suit, unable to believe what was transpiring. He was going through with it. He was marrying Mara-Joy.
“Oh, yes, we are Chad. At least I am and you better be if you know what’s good for you.”
He looked away from Mara-Joy’s radiant face. How did he get from Loran’s garden bench to here?
Mara-Joy clutched his arm happily, excitement radiating from her every pore. Chad felt like turning and running from the church.
To hell with Mara-Joy. To hell with her threats. Who would believe her now?
He looked at the girl by his side and thought of how many times he had held her naked in his arms. How good it felt when she touched him. He looked around the crowded church packed with his beaming parents and his cheering friends and family. Everyone was happy for them except for him.
Mara-Joy responded to the minister as he asked her to recite her vows and Chad couldn’t help noticing how beautiful she looked in her wedding dress. She truly was a magnificent bride. At that moment he knew he didn’t have the guts to abandon her at the altar. When it came for him to repeat his vows that would seal his life forever together with Mara-Joy, he did so without Mara-Joy pushing him.
After the wedding there was a dance held by Jobeth and Alan. Mara-Joy, always the entertainer, cherished the gala affair.
Chad stood off to the side watching his wife go from person to person laughing and chatting, the mistress of the ball. She was in her element. He felt numb.
“What on earth possessed you to marry her?” a voice interrupted his dark thoughts.
He turned to face a tall girl with light brown hair, pulled up and off her long, slender face. Another girl with soft blonde hair and the same slender face stood beside the defiant one. They looked similar to each other, but different. The blonde had satiny curls, whereas the brunette had smooth hair. But both were owners of identical cat-like green eyes. They were definitely related to each other. Most likely sisters. The blonde blushed deeply when the other spoke.
“Are you stupid? Can’t you speak? That would explain this senseless display.” The girl waved her hand around the room disgusted. No one seemed to pay any notice, except the shorter, fairer girl.
“Joanna, stop it. You will make a scene.” The blonde reached for the other’s arm to settle her down.
Joanna glared with distaste as she scrutinized Chad.
 
; She pulled her arm away from her sister rather forcefully and tried to compose herself.
“I will never understand how come no one sees through her. You all fall like stupefied animals at her feet. What makes you so mesmerized by her?” Joanna stuck out her chin, defiantly. “It can’t all be her looks. Is it that superficial? Can it be that pathetic?” She shook her head in repulsion, turned and walked away. The young blonde girl was left standing embarrassed in front of Chad.
“I am sorry, Chad. Please forgive my sister.” She reached out her hand in introduction. Chad took it, amused by Joanna’s outburst. It was the first entertaining thing that had happened all day.
Of course she was right. It was that pathetic. He had been entranced by Mara-Joy’s beauty just like a spooked deer in the middle of the road. And like a deer in the road he had been hit with a terrible blow.
“My name is Constance,” she said shyly offering her hand.
Chad leaned forward from the wall he had been leaning on and shook it.
“Who’s your friend?” he asked, speaking for the first time.
“That was Joanna. You must excuse her behavior. She and Mara-Joy have always been at odds with one another.”
“Why is that?” he watched Joanna glare at him from across the hall. She sipped a glass of soda pop and turned away, irritated, to a small girl who also resembled her.
“Chalk it up to sibling rivalry, and the fact that Mara-Joy has a tendency to always be the one to win.” Constance shrugged her shoulders and looked to where Chad was staring. “Excuse me. I am going to go join my sisters.” She started to go but changed her mind and turned to face him again.
“By the way, welcome to the family,” A crimson red color washed over her face as she averted her eyes and walked away, quickly lost in the crowd.
“Family?” Chad said out loud, recalling Mara-Joy had siblings.
“Sisters?” He felt confused.
Joanna and Constance were the last people he would think would be Mara-Joy’s sisters.
“Well,” Mara-Joy said, late that night, coming out of the washroom of the little cabin Chad’s parents had given them, “let our honeymoon begin.” She giggled and flopped onto the bed next to Chad. She was dressed in a sexy white nightie that stopped just shy of her knees
“Go to hell, Mara-Joy,” Chad said crossly, grabbing his pillow and heading for the couch. He kept his eyes from resting on the milky white folds of her cleavage, or the way her dark curls cascaded down her shoulders.
Mara-Joy bounced off the bed, pouting.
“You will do as I say, Chad Willis. You won’t ruin my honeymoon. Oh no.”
She rolled onto the bed and started to laugh. Chad looked at her in disbelief, and headed to the couch.
Mara-Joy crept out of bed later that night and went to the living room. Her new husband lay fast asleep curled up in an old quilt. She sat down beside his sleeping form and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Chad? Chad darling?” she whimpered. “Please wake up, my love.” Chad rolled over, drowsy from sleep and looked up into Mara-Joy’s blue eyes that were slowly filling up with tears. For a moment he forgot about the wedding and the baby. All he could think about was how beautiful Mara-Joy looked in her white nightie.
Joanna’s words began to echo through his mind. Is it that superficial? Can it be that pathetic?
“What do you want, Mara-Joy? I am trying to sleep.” He turned his back to her, mad at himself for the stirrings of desire coming over him.
“Oh, Chad darling, please don’t be mad at me. I love you.” Mara-Joy whined in a little girl voice. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She let them. She had learned a long time ago to never wipe tears away.
“Love?” Chad sat up brutally, nearly elbowing Mara-Joy off the couch. “You don’t know the meaning of the word love.”
“Oh Chad, I do because I love you.” She started to cry harder, surprising even herself at how easily the tears fell. Her hand flew up to her nose to prevent it from running.
He felt himself soften as he witnessed Mara-Joy falling apart, but then pushed it away. She had tricked him into getting married.
“Go to bed, Mara-Joy. You got what you wanted.” He lay back down facing the back of the couch, leaving Mara-Joy to stare at his back.
“Oh Chad, don’t hold this against me,” she sobbed. “You can’t blame me. Can you?” She started to cry harder, making little heaving noises with her breath. “Hold me Chad. Hold me like you used too.”
Blame you? Of course I blame you!” he hollered, sitting up again. The urge to strike her possessed him.
“Chad, please listen,” she reached for his arm but he pulled away, repulsed.
Refusing to be put out, Mara-Joy continued, “I was so scared. I couldn’t go home pregnant. It would be scandalous. My poor parents would be devastated.”
She looked up at him, trying to place where she stood with him. His jaw was tense but he was listening. “You don’t know what it’s like at home,” she paused for dramatic effect.
“I am the eldest of five children. My parents look to me to be an example to the younger children. What would this do to them? My sister, Joanna,”
Chad’s eyebrows shot up upon hearing Joanna’s name--the spunky little kid had guts.
“She is only a year younger than me. What message would I be sending her if I came home pregnant?” Tears streamed freely from Mara-Joy’s eyes. She took a deep breath. “My sister and I already have such a strained relationship. This would have torn us apart. How could they ever look at me with respect?” She stopped to put a hand to her quivering mouth and let out a sob.
Chad’s jaw began to slacken. He hadn’t really thought what would have happened to Mara-Joy if they hadn’t married. She would have been disgraced. Ruined for life. She was telling the truth about the strained relationship with her sister, Joanna.
“We could have solved the problem, Mara-Joy,” Chad said in a voice that was beginning to soften. Although he still refused to look at Mara-Joy, he found himself being drawn into her web.
“How, Chad?” Mara-Joy’s eyes were glazed and red-rimmed. Her face was wet from the tears she shed. “By killing it?” She shook her head. Her eyes closed tight. “I couldn’t kill your child. Besides, it is illegal and some women have died doing it.”
Chad looked up into Mara-Joy’s heartbroken eyes. The blue of her irises shone brilliantly against the red from crying. His stomach began to churn as his heart beat quicker.
God, she was beautiful. The more she spoke, the more he felt selfish. How could he have asked her to risk her life? Just so he wouldn’t have to marry her? Was he not just as responsible for her being pregnant? Had he not held her shuddering in his arms?
“Please forgive me. I only hurt you the way I did because I was desperate and I felt it was the only thing I could do. We could be happy. The three of us…” Mara-Joy burst into uncontrollable tears. She covered her eyes with her hands, overcome with how much she truly wanted everything she said she wanted. She loved Chad and the child she carried.
Chad looked at Mara-Joy and yielded. They were his responsibility now: Mara-Joy and the baby. Sitting there defeated before him, she seemed more like the old Mara-Joy, the one he cared for. The one he enjoyed holding. Without even thinking he put his arms around her shaking form.
“Mara-Joy,” he whispered, holding her quivering body tightly. She went to him willingly, hungry for his embrace. “Stop crying Babe.” He cradled her head to his chest.
“Oh Chad, I’ve made a mess of your life. How can you ever forgive me?” She buried her head deep into his smooth skin and breathed deeply of his scent. “I love you so much.”
“Maybe I’ll have a better view on marriage after the baby is born,” Chad said, caressing her curly hair.
Mara-Joy lifted her head up to face him, her nightie falling open. Chad could see the swelling mounds of her breasts and for the first time noticed that they seemed larger than before.
?
??Chad, you are so wonderful. You forgive me then?”
“Yes, I do.” He smiled in spite of himself. His body was heating up with desire as he held Mara-Joy in his arms.
“Oh Chad, I love you.” Mara-Joy bounced up happily, kissing him on the lips. “It hurt me to threaten you like I did.” She pressed her warm lips on his, shoving her tongue roughly inside his mouth. Chad leaned back and moaned.
“Let’s stop talking about it, all right?” He grasped her head in the palms of his hands, kissing her feverishly, sucking in her breath, her lips. He wanted her. He wanted her badly. She had control over him--over his body. All that she had done to him was washed away with the need to have her. To consume her.
“Whatever you say, darling,” Mara-Joy sniffed, lifting her negligee over her pointy breasts, Chad lunged for them hungrily, everything else forgotten.
The next morning Mara-Joy lay awake, naked beside her sleeping husband.
She smiled contentedly to herself. Chad had finally fallen asleep after hours of fervent lovemaking. It had been better than ever before. More heat and more emotion than either had ever felt. Thinking about it she felt a warm surge flow over her from the tip of her toes up to her ears. She giggled thinking about it as she stretched out her legs lavishly.
“I told you, my darling. My honeymoon would not be ruined.” She laughed and rolled over to kiss Chad’s naked back.
Chapter 29 —