trying to make friends with me young man. You are here to discu ss one thing and one thing only. When I am satisfied by your response, I am the one who will decide if it has been a pleasure to meet you.”
With those words Rev. Mitchell turned and strode back down the hallway to the living area leaving Marcus’ hand suspended in the air. Marcus allowed his hand to fall to his side, but he was far from daunted by the blustery nature of Rev. Mitchell. As her father, he had every right to feel he was defending his daughter. It would be a challenge, but he had a point to make here tonight too and he was determined to have his say as well.
“Marcus, I am so sorry about my father’s behaviour just now,” said Natasha totally embarrassed by the display.
“That’s okay, I’m fine. He’s just concerned about you!” said Marcus trying to reassure her.
“ You mean he wants to control me! Look, I think we should go into the living area before he gets any angrier. I don’t know how much of this I can take tonight,” said Natasha wearily.
Natasha and Marcus went into the room together and sat beneath the penetrating and disapproving glare of both of her parents. After supplying a brief introduction to Dr. Coreen Mitchell, Natasha’s father wasted no time in getting to the point.
“This pregnancy has brought a lot of embarrassment to this family and we need to make sure that Natasha’s reputation is not ruined any further. You two will marry before she begins to show. She is already three months along so this means that you must be married before the end of next month.”
As Marcus watched Natasha’s father speak to both he and Natasha, he began to understand why Natasha always seemed to be running away from home. This man talked at his daughter and not to her and he lorded over his ideas and expected that whoever was within earshot would simply accept them. He never bothered to find out who he was as a person or even how he felt about Natasha. This was about him saving face as a parent and a pastor and quieting down the gossip.
“Rev. Mitchell, if I might interject here,” said Marcus cutting off Natasha’s father in mid-sentence. He could hear from the sharp intake of breath by both Natasha and her mother and by the surprised expression on Rev. Mitchell’s face that what he had just done was totally out of the norm. Maybe someone needed to do that a bit more often, Marcus thought.
“I know that you are concerned about your reputation and that of your family, but I need you to understand something as well. I love your daughter and before all of this happened I already knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. She means everything to me and I am willing to do anything and everything to make her happy if she would have me. So although you think that you may be forcing me to marry your daughter, nothing would make me a happier man than to call this woman Natasha Nicholls, my wife.”
Rev. Mitchell’s mouth was still hanging open as if he couldn’t believe the audacity of this young man in interrupting him while he spoke to declare his love for Natasha.
“Love? Don’t make me laugh. You don’t love Natasha! Guys like you only know one thing and that is sex. If you loved my daughter you would have found a way to keep your hands and the other parts of your body under control,” barked Natasha’s father in response.
Marcus was getting more than a little ticked off now by Rev. Mitchell’s attitude. He tried to be civil but this man seemed bent on insulting him. It was getting hard to keep his own temper in check.
“I am surprised that you as a man of the cloth could be so closed-minded and downright rude to someone you don’t even know,” Marcus began.
Natasha and her mother looked at each other and knew that Marcus standing up to the Reverend meant one thing, a full scale argument was about to explode right there.
“Uh Father, Marcus, can’t we have a quiet discussion about this. I
With those words Rev. Mitchell turned and strode back down the hallway to the living area leaving Marcus’ hand suspended in the air. Marcus allowed his hand to fall to his side, but he was far from daunted by the blustery nature of Rev. Mitchell. As her father, he had every right to feel he was defending his daughter. It would be a challenge, but he had a point to make here tonight too and he was determined to have his say as well.
“Marcus, I am so sorry about my father’s behaviour just now,” said Natasha totally embarrassed by the display.
“That’s okay, I’m fine. He’s just concerned about you!” said Marcus trying to reassure her.
“ You mean he wants to control me! Look, I think we should go into the living area before he gets any angrier. I don’t know how much of this I can take tonight,” said Natasha wearily.
Natasha and Marcus went into the room together and sat beneath the penetrating and disapproving glare of both of her parents. After supplying a brief introduction to Dr. Coreen Mitchell, Natasha’s father wasted no time in getting to the point.
“This pregnancy has brought a lot of embarrassment to this family and we need to make sure that Natasha’s reputation is not ruined any further. You two will marry before she begins to show. She is already three months along so this means that you must be married before the end of next month.”
As Marcus watched Natasha’s father speak to both he and Natasha, he began to understand why Natasha always seemed to be running away from home. This man talked at his daughter and not to her and he lorded over his ideas and expected that whoever was within earshot would simply accept them. He never bothered to find out who he was as a person or even how he felt about Natasha. This was about him saving face as a parent and a pastor and quieting down the gossip.
“Rev. Mitchell, if I might interject here,” said Marcus cutting off Natasha’s father in mid-sentence. He could hear from the sharp intake of breath by both Natasha and her mother and by the surprised expression on Rev. Mitchell’s face that what he had just done was totally out of the norm. Maybe someone needed to do that a bit more often, Marcus thought.
“I know that you are concerned about your reputation and that of your family, but I need you to understand something as well. I love your daughter and before all of this happened I already knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. She means everything to me and I am willing to do anything and everything to make her happy if she would have me. So although you think that you may be forcing me to marry your daughter, nothing would make me a happier man than to call this woman Natasha Nicholls, my wife.”
Rev. Mitchell’s mouth was still hanging open as if he couldn’t believe the audacity of this young man in interrupting him while he spoke to declare his love for Natasha.
“Love? Don’t make me laugh. You don’t love Natasha! Guys like you only know one thing and that is sex. If you loved my daughter you would have found a way to keep your hands and the other parts of your body under control,” barked Natasha’s father in response.
Marcus was getting more than a little ticked off now by Rev. Mitchell’s attitude. He tried to be civil but this man seemed bent on insulting him. It was getting hard to keep his own temper in check.
“I am surprised that you as a man of the cloth could be so closed-minded and downright rude to someone you don’t even know,” Marcus began.
Natasha and her mother looked at each other and knew that Marcus standing up to the Reverend meant one thing, a full scale argument was about to explode right there.
“Uh Father, Marcus, can’t we have a quiet discussion about this. I
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