He Loved Me First ✓

He Loved Me First (7)

Chapter 7

Three years later, a letter from my sister came in the mail for me. I brought it with me to a coffee shop, where I told Felicity to meet me. I sat down at a table outside to read it. It read:

Hey, Ollie,

I know you're not going to be very happy about

what I'm going to tell you, but I have to tell you anyway.

I'm entering a convent in a few days, the Dominican

Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist., to be exact.

I'll still be praying for you every single day, more so

there than I possibly could back home. But this is my

new home. It's perfect for me, you'll see. I hope you

will, anyway. You've got to come visit me on the

visiting days! And write me back! I'll get back to

you as soon as I can!

Love you,

soon to be Sister Alice

She sent me an address for the convent, but I still didn't know what to do about the whole thing. I told Felicity about it when she arrived. "What convent?" she asked.

"The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist," I said.

"I love them!" she said.

"You've heard of them?" I was surprised.

"Oh, absolutely, I have! They're such a beautiful Order. If I ever became a Sister, I'd be going there as well. Their apostolate is teaching!" she said. She was almost as excited about this as my sister was.

"Uh huh."

"I think maybe it would do you some good to meet some of their Sisters. I'll have to drag you up there on visiting days. They are always so happy, and for good reason too. That's what happens when you're following God's will wholly and completely, Oliver."

"I'm starting to think you're not as dedicated to this relationship as I am," I teased her.

"Hey, I said 'if,'" she insisted.

"Yeah, yeah," I said. I was getting used to this kind of argument, and was learning to let it slide. Sometimes it turned out ugly, and I didn't want that to happen again.

A few days later, while at the same spot at the coffee shop, I sent this letter to my sister, who was now at the convent:

Alice,

You're right, that's not something I wanted

to hear. But I guess I have to be okay with it,

because it's not like I have any say in the matter

at all. My girlfriend, Felicity, explained this well

to me. I think you would really like her. Amazingly,

she's a lot like you. Crazy I would fall in love with

someone like my sister, right? That's what I thought.

I do love her though, and I hope that you're half as

happy where you are than I am when I'm with her.

Love,

Oliver

Felicity looked over my shoulder as I was writing. "You love me?" she asked. I hadn't yet said it to her.

"I do. I love you, Felicity Jones," I said.

She smiled and said, "I love you too, Oliver James Watts." She planted a kiss on my cheek and ran off.

"How do you know my middle name?" I asked. I ran after her, shoving my papers in my bag as I went.

"That's none of your business!" she yelled back at me. She was grinning.

"Stalker!" I yelled to her. I caught up to her and tackled her in the grass. We were on a hillside on our backs, staring up at the sky. At this point, we had the attention of many people around us, like we usually did, but it wasn't on purpose. It just happened that way. We calmed down and they all went back to what they were doing before.

"God is so good!" Felicity exclaimed, still staring at the sky. A huge smile was on her face.

"You know that I don't believe in that." I added, "But if I did, I think I'd have to agree. Why else would I be able to have someone as amazing as you?"

She smiled at me. "You're getting there, one baby step at a time. And I know that I annoy you. But Mother Angelica said, 'If you're not a thorn in someone's side today, you're not being a good Catholic.'"

"That sounds like something my sister would say," I said.

"Your sister, the Sister," she pointed out.

I laughed. "Okay, so it's funny when you put it that way."

"Oh!" Felicity suddenly jumped to her feet. "My hour for Adoration starts in 15 minutes. I have to go!" She stopped for a moment. "Do you want to come?" She was hopeful.

We were on good terms today, so I said, "Okay, but maybe just this once."

"Really?" she asked. She hugged me tightly. "You don't know how amazing this is!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself. It's just one time."

She sighed. "You're so difficult, Oliver." She stopped again, then smiled at me, "But this is a great start."

She led the way to the perpetual Adoration chapel, which was a few blocks in the opposite direction of the club. It seemed that most everything was within walking distance, which was convenient, especially for someone like Felicity who went to Adoration three times a week.

We stayed an entire hour, but it wasn't the longest hour of my life, amazingly. Felicity sat in the front, and I stayed behind in the back, just watching her. She had a lot of spunk normally, but for that hour, she was so quiet and devoted. I suppose this is what fueled her fire outside these walls. It was what replenished her energy levels. I didn't have a clue why I was thinking like that, but Felicity would see it as another great sign of this 'progress' I was slowly leaning towards.