He Loved Me First ✓

He Loved Me First (22)

Chapter 22

I sat down on the couch in between my dad and Felicity. Sister Peter Alice (why is it so hard to call her that?!) sat on the other side of Felicity. My mom sat on the other side of my dad. I was in the exact middle. I didn't mind so much.

“So you want me to start at the beginning?” I asked. “Because this is going to take a long time if I do that.”

“Go for it,” my sister said. “They need to know the whole story. Besides, there are some things I don't know that I want to know.”

“Okay,” I said. And with that, I launched into my very long story. “Well, you know that I was an atheist when I left. That didn't change for a long time. In my freshman year, I met Felicity. At first the only relationship I had with her was when she was tutoring me in math. Soon I realized that she was one of the most devout Catholics I've ever met. Still, I couldn't stay away from her. So we dated for a little while. It was mostly selfish on my part. I proposed to her-

“In an adoration chapel,” Felicity added.

“In an adoration chapel. She was reminded of the promise she made to God when she was eight years old.”

“I promised I'd only marry a Catholic. It just about broke both of us.”

“But somehow, we stuck together. It only made us stronger. We knew that we would be best friends forever, no matter what happened. Then Alice told you what to send me for Christmas.”

“No, wait. You're forgetting your dream,” Felicity reminded me.

“Right. Well, I dreamed that I was walking through a field. There was a woman and two little girls. The woman was crying over a grave. When I walked closer, I realized it was mine. Then they disappeared and the field caught on fire. I was almost consumed by the flames when I woke up.”

My mom was pulling a photo album from the bookshelf beside her. “Did this woman look like this?” she asked, showing me a picture.

“Yes!” I said, stunned. “That's her.”

She shared a look with my dad, then said, “It's about time we tell him.”

“Okay,” he said. He nodded at her to continue.

“Well, you've seen pictures of our wedding. And you know that you're in those pictures.”

“I just assumed-” I started.

“I know what you assumed, but that's not a correct assumption. Your father was married before. You had an older sister who died at a year old. And then they had you. When you were two months old, your mother died.”

“We had the worst fight we ever had that morning. It made her late to work, so she left you with me. A plane crashed into her car on the interstate. I very easily could have lost you both,” my dad said. “I later found out that she was pregnant. You have another younger sister too.”

I stared, unable to form words. My mother began again, “I came into the picture when you were eight months old. You soon started calling me 'mama' and it almost killed me.” She was crying now. “I wanted nothing more than for it to be true. I wanted to be your mother. I wanted you to be mine.”

I went over and sat between my parents now, putting my arms around my mom. “But you are my mother,” I said. “It doesn't matter if it's not biological.”

When she was satisfied with my answer, I went back and sat by Felicity again. “Told you so,” she said. She was right. She had told me there was more to the story.

“What was her name?” I asked.

“Charlotte. Leah is the name of your older sister and Haylee is the younger one.”

“They appeared much later in a dream to Felicity's brother, Peter,” I said. “She told me to be a priest.” I paused. “Anyway, with the Christmas gifts, I almost threw them out, but knowing it was Alice's idea told me to keep them. Felicity got me some Christian CD’s. I listened to them one night, and I broke down. I ran to the adoration chapel. I stayed there five hours. Five hours to undo the five years I spent as an atheist. I went down to confession the next day. It felt so wonderful. The day after that, I went to daily Mass with Felicity. This lady told me I'd make an excellent priest. Neither of us knew quite what to say.”

“I thought it was hilarious,” Felicity commented, laughing once again.

“Will you let me tell the story already?” I asked, shaking my head at her. “After that, Felicity and I started dating again. This time it was less about me. I wanted to meet her family, and I did. Did you know she's the oldest of seven?” I smiled, still loving the idea. “Soon I became good friends with her brother, Peter. Then Felicity and I broke up because something felt off to both of us. Her sisters tried to get me to like them. That was an interesting experience.” I laughed. “After that came Peter's dream. I knew what it was saying to me, and I knew that it had to be done. So I entered the seminary. I haven't regretted it.” I stopped for a moment, then added, “Peter died about a year ago.”

“You forgot one other thing,” Felicity said.

“What's that?”

“You forgot to tell them where you've been stationed.”

“Oh, right. How far do we have to drive to come and see you?” my mom asked.

“I've been stationed at St. Thomas,” I said. That just happened to be the church they usually went to, the one Father Pius was still stationed at.