Secrets & Lies

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Gia and Alex walked into Saint Ansgar Cathedral and Gia was suddenly very nervous. It was an old gothic style church with beautifully painted arches and wonderful alters for the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. Gia saw a few older women kneeling and praying the rosary. She felt suddenly naked without hers. She went to grab for her purse, but realized she had left it at Alex's house.

"I forgot my rosary." Gia said turning to Alex.

"What...what does that mean? Do we need to leave?" He asked confused.

"No, but... I'll just do without. Do you think the priests are hearing confessions?" Gia asked in a whisper.

"Come on you can't be serious?" Alex said looking around confused.

"Oh, never mind." Gia looked around until she located the confessionals and knocked lightly on the door. No one responded so she opened the door and walked in. The screen slid open and Gia saw the profile of the priest through the screen.

"Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been about five months since my last confession." Gia started the familiar lines and began to cry.

"What is weighing so heavily on you my child?" The priest said in English.

"Oh father I just don't know where to begin." Gia said through the sobs.

"Well sometimes it helps to start at the beginning." He said helpfully. So Gia did. She told him everything. How she met Alex and how she let him have her virginity and now being pregnant and her parents anger. How she had been so disrespectful and preparing to marry Alex and not sure what she should do. The priest didn't say anything. There was just silence from the other side of the screen. It made Gia really scared.

"Father?" Gia said as her tears slowed.

"I'm still here my child. That was a lot of information." He said.

"I know father and I'm so sorry." Gia said crying silently.

"You know the position of the church on sex and child bearing before marriage which I believe is what is weighing so heavily upon you."

"Yes father."

"Do you love the boy who you say did this."

"I think so father. He is the only one I have ever had these types of feelings for." Gia answered truthfully.

"Do you want to marry him and have a family?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." Gia answered truthfully, "All I ever wanted was to go to school and finish my degree. I thought that I would fall in love someday and get married and start a family. It never really occurred to me that this could happen."

"God works in mysterious ways."

"But why did he let this happen to me?" Gia asked confused and started crying again.

"We are not here to question God's will, but to accept the destiny he has given us." The priest answered cryptically.

"Is this my destiny?" Gia asked.

"It must be for this is the path that you are on. God rarely gives us burdens that we cannot handle." He answered.

"What should I do? I feel so incredibly lost." Gia asked really needing an answer.

"You need to apologize to your parents first and beg for their forgiveness."

"But what if they don't forgive me?"

"That is their decision and their path with our Lord."

"What about the baby and getting married?"