Unforgivable

could fly.

“Oookay,” he said, his face going red, “I guess I should be more careful when I walk in on ladies’ conversations.” He looked at me, clearly uncomfortable, “Do you want to-to discuss this now?”

I rarely bit my nails, but I became keenly aware of the fact that I was gnawing through my thumbnail.

“I think you should make an appointment with my gynecologist,” Mom tossed out. “She’d be able to give you all the options and then you, the two of you, can decide what you want to do-I mean I know what you want to do, but-what I meant to say was-”

“Mom,” I said, removing the thumbnail from between my teeth and reaching out and gripping her hand, “It’s okay. I get what you’re trying to say.”

“Great,” Micah blushed, clearly hoping we were changing subjects, “Let’s just get it on-I mean get on with ordering dinner.”

We made it through dinner, but it was the quietest meal I’d had in a long time, with the exception of the fact that I couldn’t stop laughing as I thought about how tongue-tied we had become.

Monday morning, Mom and Kimmy left early to go shopping, but before leaving she handed me a business card and told me to call for an appointment. When I looked down I saw it was a card for Dr. Kerstin Kannova, OBGYN. Micah was up and enjoying a cup of coffee out on the pool deck, so I took the opportunity to make the call while I had some privacy.

Upon explaining my situation, the receptionist put me through directly to Dr. Kannova. She was very personable and suggested that Micah and I come into her office for a consultation. She said she would go over all the options and see what suited us best.

“Have you ever had a gynecological exam?” she asked.

“Ah, no.”

“What birth control methods have you been using?”

“I-I’ve never-this will be my first time so I don’t-”

“Oh,” Dr. Kannova replied with a bit of surprise to her voice, “well, you should really have an exam. We can do it the day you come in for the consultation.”

“Okay, when do we come in?”

“Hold on, I’m going to transfer you back out to my appointment desk and they’ll set it up for you, but I’d like to make it as soon as possible; most methods require some time in advance before they are effective.”

I assumed I wouldn’t get an appointment for weeks, but to my astonishment they scheduled me for Friday morning. Now the only problem was explaining to Micah what we were doing that morning. I took a cup of coffee and joined him on the deck. He looked up at me and smiled-maybe I’d tell him later, like Thursday night-late Thursday night.

Linda called to let us know, for a substantial price, the monastery was ours for the entire afternoon and evening on the fifteenth. Our invitations would be ready Wednesday after one o’clock, but she wasn’t going to be able to pick them up due to a family matter. I told her that was no problem, Micah and I would pick them up.

Tuesday we drove down to St. Bernard’s to see the monastery in person. Micah and I were both a little awestruck as we toured the buildings and grounds. The photos certainly didn’t do the oldest building in the western hemisphere justice. It left you with a deep feeling of having entered a place that was holy and acceptable to God. We took care of the deposit for the wedding and reception and thanked our guide, and we left to go to the Acqualina.

We didn’t say anything for the first five minutes or so in the car; it had simply been too overwhelming, but Micah was the first to break the silence.

“Annalisa, I honestly didn’t think I’d care where we said our vows, but I’ve got to admit I’m glad Linda was looking for something special for us.”

“I know what you mean, I just kept thinking: eight-hundred years of history, what a place-”

“To commit our lives to each other,” he finished. “I was thinking the exact same thing.”

We were all smiles by the time we pulled into the Acqualina. We were taken up to see a deluxe, 1,600 square foot, ocean side one bedroom suite and then shown around the restaurant and grounds, before finishing out our day in the spa. We lay out, side by side and enjoyed an intense massage, four massage therapists and eight hands working every ounce of tension from our bodies. What an incredible ending to a great day.

Wednesday afternoon we drove to the printers for the invitations. All the preparations seemed to be going by so fast and yet the wedding still seemed so far away. Eleven weeks to go was starting to feel like an eternity.

“Hi,” I said as we walked into the small print store, “I’m Annalisa Winslett and this is my fiance, Micah Gavarreen. Linda asked us to stop by and pick up our wedding invitations today.”

“Oh yes,” the balding man behind the counter said, “I finished boxing them up about two hours ago. Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

He returned quickly and placed the two boxes on the counter. “Here is one of the invitations so you can make sure it looks good to you.”

I was looking at the color and cut and the font, but Micah was looking at something entirely different.

“The date is wrong,” he observed as soon as I opened the card.

“What?” the gentleman behind the counter and I said at the same moment.

“August 15^th is what Linda had written down,” the man stated pulling out her order form.

“No, September 15^th is the correct…” I paused and turned to Micah.

“I’ll scrap this and start over,” the man was saying as he tried to grab the boxes.

“No, don’t do that.” I prevented him from taking them away. “Micah, do you know what this is?”

“Yeah, the wrong date.”

“No-God does everything for a purpose; this is the right date. We’ve got to move the wedding up!” I was excited to my core. We’d both said we couldn’t wait and now it appeared, to me at least, that God was in agreement; we’d marry in six weeks.

“Leese, I’d like to move it up too, but what about the church? They may not have an opening August 15^th.”

“I’ll call right now.” I grabbed my cell and dialed information. I motioned Micah to stay where he was as I stepped outside for better reception. When the phone was answered, I explained who I was and that there had been some confusion about our wedding date and we wanted to move it to August 15^th. My request was met with a very long pause. “I know that isn’t far away, but I was hoping that-”

“I have a feeling,” the man on the other end of the line began, “that the Good Lord must be with you on this one because no more than an hour ago, both weddings we had scheduled for that day cancelled-we’re available all evening.”

I charged back inside and leaped into Micah’s surprised grasp, tears rolling down my cheeks. “They had two weddings planned for that day,” I cried, still clinging to his neck.

He pulled back enough to see my face, “Had?”

I nodded. “Both weddings cancelled an hour ago-it’s ours for the night.” I swallowed at the annoying block of emotions in my throat, “Six weeks, baby-only six more weeks.”

I don’t know how long we stood there holding on to each other trying to understand what had just occurred, but eventually the gentleman behind the counter cleared his throat, “I guess then these are okay?”

Micah planted a soft kiss against my lips, never turning his head to look at the man, “They’re perfect,” he whispered.

When I finally got in touch with Linda later that afternoon, she flipped.

“But you said everything was coming together, and we were practically ready anyway?” I reminded her.

“I know, but-but six weeks! Okay, look I’ll just have to put everything in high gear. Don’t worry about it, I’ll have it done and it’ll be beautiful.”

I wanted to tell her I wasn’t worried in the least; God moved up the date and He would make sure that it was perfect.

Micah and I spent the majority of Thursday with Linda finalizing every detail from Micah’s tux to my bouquet, to what we were serving at the reception, music, songs, lighting, seating, and on and on. I never realized how much work went into a wedding.

We were both exhausted by the time we left her and went to dinner.