(A/N: New chapter? So soon? It must be a miracle!)
It was all so confusing.
Yosef took a small piece of metal from the pile. Normally the amorphous shape of the steel wouldn't bother the skin on his hands, but not today. Today, his mind was on something else.
Miryam...he had never met anything quite like her. She was bright, pure and wise. Especially for her age (though that might have had something to do with her being able to read emotions and thoughts). Her simplicity in heart had always captivated many people in Nazareth the moment they met her.
He gripped the piece of metal tightly, feeling it change under his fingers.
So why is she pregnant?
The steel piece had morphed into a nail, ready to be used. Yosef walked back to his craft, nail in hand. He put its tip to the wood plank – the last nail needed. Then he let go of it. Now the carpenter was free to cross his arms and lose himself in thought.
Who was the father of the child? Did he even know he had impregnated Miryam? What happened?
The nail wedged itself through the wood like his thoughts cut deeply through his mind.
What do I do now?
He watched the nail intensely, before running a hand over his face. It had never felt so good to get sweat off his face before.
I could tell her parents. Or my parents. Do they know? Does all of Nazareth know?
No.
Should everyone know?
He pursed his lips. His mind was set.
I love her too much.
The nail was in. Done.
He made up his mind to divorce her quietly, and wash his hands of the whole affair. Whatever happened to Miryam after this was none of his business –
–and yet there was some part of him that wanted to keep her in his life, to see her smiling face, to hear her calming words.
Yosef took up the table, looked it over, and was satisfied with his work.
I can't keep her. Not while she's pregnant with another man's child.
Yosef went home, tired from his work and from his thoughts. He had decided that he would start planning to divorce her the next morning. This he tried to concentrate on, and not the look that would surely be on Miryam's face when she would no doubt hear about the news.
Would it even matter to her if he separated from her just a few weeks away from their wedding, anyway? She had chosen another man over him.
But she would have no one to take of her once her parents find out. Once the whole town finds out.
She might die anyway.
He fell asleep feeling very bitter.
"Yosef..."
The Mechanical stirred. Was this a dream? The voice didn't sound anything like any other voice he had heard before. Probably a dream.
"Yosef, son of David."
Yosef opened his eyes, partly out of curiosity, and gasped.
Standing in front of him was an angel, bright and tall. The only thing brighter than the angel, in fact, was the stairway behind the angel, with more angels of the Lord coming up and down the stairs. And at the top shone the firmament of God – His throne.
Yosef was dizzy with awe. In a corner of his mind he remembered the story he was taught when he was still a boy, of how Jacob dreamed of the "House of God" while on the run from Esau, and wondered if this was it.
"Yosef, son of David," the angel repeated one more time, and at once Yosef looked to the angel. The heavenly messenger continued, "Do not be afraid to take Miryam your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her."
Before Yosef could ask what the angel meant by this, the latter continued, "She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save His people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the LORD had said through the prophet:
'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
And they shall name him Emmanuel.'
This name means 'God is with us'."
And all at once, Yosef understood.
Yosef sat up on his mat, pressing his fingers together over his knees. He contemplated the dream for many minutes, trying to figure out what he should do now.
Obviously, that was a dream from God. Like the dreams of the prophets of old.
So that meant...Miryam hadn't rejected him as a husband after all. It just meant that she was waiting for him to accept her as a wife.
And she was just obeying the orders of the Lord.
Then who was he to delay the plans of the Lord?
And who was he to hold his love away from his wife?
Immediately he got up from the mat, and put on his day clothes and cloak, before running out into the night, all the way to the house of Miryam's parents.
By the time he had arrived at Joachim's house, Yosef was exhausted and thirsty, even leaning on the wall of support while trying to catch his breath. But once he had, he walked to the door and knocked.
It was Joachim's wife, Anne, who answered the door. A surprised look appeared on her matronly face when she saw him. "Yosef!" she recognized. "What are you doing here so late? Shouldn't you be sleeping at home?"
"Sorry, madam," Yosef apologized. "It couldn't wait. I am here to talk with your daughter Miryam."
Anne looked apprehensive, and looked back inside the comfort of her house. The wind softly billowed inside the building, reminding Yosef of the Elemental pin that hung on Anne's bosom. Eventually, footsteps sounded from inside as well, and Anne whispered, "Miryam."
As if on cue, the head of Miryam, daughter of Joachim, appeared from behind the door, asking, "Yes, Mother?"
Anne let the breeze blow towards the Mechanical carpenter, and that was when his betrothed looked up at him with her beautiful eyes. She glanced at him for only a few seconds before she opened the door wider, allowing Yosef to come inside her home.
He came inside, thanking them under his breath, removing his sandals and laying them by the door. The Mechanical cleared his throat for a while before he finally found the words to say.
"Miryam..." he began, "I am here tonight to tell you that, at first, I was going to divorce you because of the present circumstances that surround us."
The young woman's mouth opened, and was about to say something when her betrothed continued, "But it was then, Miryam, that I heard God's voice telling me that everything was going to be fine. He told me that I should not fear the future."
He grabbed Miryam's hands and said earnestly, "So I tell you, Miryam, daughter of Joachim...that I want to marry you. And I want to be your partner until death separates us."
The Spiritual looked as if she was on the verge of tears, and lowered her head.
"I am honored to be your wife," she finally said, "my love."
Contented, Yosef brought her hands closer to him and kissed them. "Then I am the happiest man in Nazareth."
"We are the happiest," Miryam let out a relieved laugh.
Their wonderful moment did not fade, even when Joachim entered and asked what was going on, why was Yosef in the house. Anna explained everything to him, and when she was done he was just as happy as his wife.
And even that could not match up to the couple who were overjoyed that Miryam's child – no, their child, if only for the rest of their life together – would have a loving family to grow up in and be loved by.
(A/N: Ah, love.)
