Chapter 184
When the priest waited for Torq to agree, Torq’s growl was nearly feral.
“She is the boss. You do as she says. Get going.”
Alcee was struggling not to laugh as the behavior of her husband. He was taking his angst out on the poor priest who seemed to be growing greyer with every passing second.
The priest nodded and stepped forward, “a marriage is a joyous occasion. It is the union of two
hearts, two souls into one.”
“Do you mash your hearts together?” Antero asked rudely. “Won’t that hurt?”
“I hope someone is recording this,” Alcee giggled as she watched Torq’s lips get bitten between his teeth as he tried not to laugh.
“It’s symbolic,” the priest explained.
“So, no blood then?”
“No.”
“Boring,” Antero flung himself to sit on the step up to the altar and hugged the dog to his side, “there could at least be blood.” He rested his chin on Avalanche’s shoulder, and the dog made a loud sigh of displeasure as if she too was hoping for violence of some kind.
“A wedding is about love, peace and happiness.” The priest continued when Alcee waved him on. “I would like to take this moment to welcome the families of Alcee Mariani and Torquato Lozano to
this celebration of their love and affection.”
Alcee looked up then to look at the congregation. There was no more than thirty or forty people in the first few rows of the church, but her eyes immediately landed on her brother Mercurio sitting in the front row with his wife and children. Her mother and brothers along Falco and Michelo’s wives were in the second row. Her mother’s face was already tear–stained but when her eyes drifted back to Mercurio he winked at her, a happy smile on his face as if he was thrilled to be part of her day.
She was surprised as she expected he’d be uncomfortable and admitted she kind of wanted him to be, but he was sitting with pride in the front row, holding his wife’s hand on his lap and one of his girls wrapped under his arm.
Her eyes then moved to the other side of the church and saw Raniero sitting with Lorita and Tank, his eyes luminous as if he was about to cry. He blew her a kiss as he caught her gaze, and she smiled back unable to stop herself. There was part of her who hated this man with a burning passion but there was another part of her who recognized the anger and pain which came from being the
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unwanted child.
She looked back to Torg and squeezed his hands. “Everyone is here.” She rudely interrupted the priest’s words, and she could almost feel the man’s infuriated response to the constant ways they cut
him off.
“They are.”
“They seem happy.”
“Because it is a happy day.” He looked back to the priest who was waiting impatiently, “continue.”
“This is a joyous occasion, here to celebrate the love which started for Torquato and Alcee six years ago. Two souls who were meant to find one another through the grace of God now reunited together with their son.”
The priest droned on for a few minutes more and Alcee was starting to tune him out as she started looking at all the stained glass in the church. “It’s really pretty in here,” she whispered to Torq who grinned as he realized she wasn’t even paying attention to the words the priest was uttering.
“I’d like to ask Lorita to come forward and give a reading from the book of John.”
“I think your mother picked this out.” Alcee whispered to Torq. “Why are weddings so long? We were done by now at the courthouse.”
“I’d like to skip to the honeymoon.”
“Would the pair of you listen and take this seriously?” Brunella hissed from her seat.
Lorita was giggling, struggling to get her laughter under control as she bent the mic at the podium to read from the bible, the verse she was meant to share. “I’m sorry.” She covered the mic and giggled again, her cheeks red and flushed as she giggled. Her laughter was contagious and people, not even understanding why she was laughing, were soon laughing along with her.
Alcee shook her head,
“Heathens,” Brunella sighed dramatically and leaned backwards in the pew. “I’m surrounded by heathens.”
thing
Lorita took a gasping breath and/into the microphone wheezed, “I was sitting there, watching my brother and Alcee both do the exact same thing. Sorry Father, but they aren’t listening t you say unless you’re directing questions of them. They’re so similar in personality, you lost them after the first three or four minutes. They’re bored.”
“Are you bored?” Torq asked Alcee
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She shrugged, “seems like a lot of pomp and circumstance for us to get to I Do –
They are my challenges given to me by God,” Brunella moaned from her front seat while clecia laughed. “You will both go through with this ceremony or I’ll be angry.”
“Yes Mama,” Torq laughed as the congregation chuckled with him. “Perhaps though,” he looked to the priest, “we can do without all the long readings and story telling and just get to the vows once my sister finishes her reading? My mother picked this reading, so I want to hear it but the rest, we just need to say vows and be done.”
“It’s highly unusual.”
“We’re a highly unusual bunch, Father.”
He sighed as if deeply disappointed and then looked at Lorita, “she’s going to read the verse?”
“On it.” Lorita giggled and began reading the scripture.
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if I didn’t think my father would have the same reaction as Brunella, I would totally do that to my wedding
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