Patrick Before the Wedding
Based upon Call The Midwife, developed by Heidi Thomas
- - Poplar, Early Spring 1959 - -
Patrick parked directly in front of the church. He didn't want Tim to have to walk too far. The boy was already half out of the vehicle by the time he made it around to assist him. Patrick smiled at his son; determined to the end.
Timothy paused at the bottom of the steps, but only for a moment. Patrick was grinning, it was hard not to, today. Timothy looked up for a brief second, grinned back and started the climb up the steps.
"There's the man of the hour," Constable Noakes greeted him as they made their way into the narthex.
"And he's brought Doctor Turner with him," Mrs. Noakes commented, earning a smile and a sideways glance from her husband.
"Everyone's here," Constable Noakes said, gesturing towards a room to Patrick's left. Both his and Timothy's gaze followed the gesture.
Patrick looked down at his son, "Why don't you pop in an let everyone know we're here. They were concerned about us being late."
Timothy smirked; a smirk that Patrick was sure Timothy saw on his own face too often. "I may get around slower these days," he tapped his calipers, "but it's you they were concerned about being late."
Patrick grinned at his son, "Hold your cheek, Son. Or perhaps we'll leave you at Nonnatus House while we take our holiday. I'm sure Sister Evangelina could use some help with not only cleaning equipment but on the district roster as well." The threat was hollow, mostly because Patrick felt incredibly playful today.
"I wouldn't mind," Timothy warned in an equally playful tone, "The Sisters have better rates than you do."
Patrick laughed as his son made his way to the preparation room. He watched Timothy for a moment, he saw the door open a crack, Nurse Franklin peak her head out before bustling the boy inside.
Grinning like an idiot, he turned his attention back to the Noakes', who were wearing matching gleeful expressions.
"Ready, Doctor?" The Constable asked.
Patrick nodded. He had been ready for this for some time. "I was ready before Christmas, someone had other plans, though."
"What whatever His reasons, we trust them. For He has given us everything we have." Patrick turned to see Sister Julienne join them, holding Freddie in her arms. She handed the infant over to Mrs. Noakes.
"Sister, I was hoping to get a chance to speak with you before everything got started."
"Of course, Doctor," she replied. Taking this as a cue, the Noakes' made their way into the Sanctuary
"I wanted to thank you," he said softly.
"For what?" she asked.
"For everything." He paused. "She struggled for so long. She felt as if she was abandoning her family. But you never abandoned her. You were there when she needed you and your support means everything to her, therefore it means everything to me."
"She is our family, as are you. And to see your love and mutual joy . . . I see God it in." Even her kind eyes smiled at him.
"And I wanted to thank you for giving her to me."
She took his hand and squeezed it gently. "We did not give her to you, He did."
Patrick nodded. "And I've been thanking Him every day."
He noticed Timothy returning, and Sister Julienne released his hand. "Is Mum alright?" he asked.
"Smashing," Timothy replied with a smile. "She wanted to make sure we were at the altar when she got up there."
The cheek. Patrick laughed.
"Enough milling about," Sister Evangelina broke his revelry. She and Sister Monica Joan were headed towards the Sanctuary. "We've all got a wedding to attend," she looked pointedly, as if he had forgotten why they were there.
Sister Monica Joan paused in the doorway, and peered at him. "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves." She paused and turned to gaze at Timothy, "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
Patrick smiled and responded with one of the few verses of holy scripture he knew, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and he shall be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Sister Monica Joan smiled broadly and continued her way into the Sanctuary, leaving Patrick and a mildly bewildered Timothy behind.
It wasn't long until Timothy finally spoke, "Dad, it's our turn."
Patrick took a deep breath. Before God and their community, she would be his. He glanced at Sister Julienne before stepping forward to the Sanctuary, Timothy at his side. "And I'm very glad."
They made their way up to the altar and waited. The music changed and he knew Shelagh was behind him, making her way up the aisle. He saw Timothy turn to watch her.
For a second, Patrick was afraid to. He feared that if he turned, it would all dissolve and he would find himself sitting in his car in the rain, his heart aching and Sister Bernadette receiving treatment at Saint Anne's Sanatorium.
Timothy tore his eyes away from the aisle to grin at him. The smile mustered his courage and he turned. His breath caught. She looked like an angel.
He suddenly recalled the first time he had ever heard her sing. It was late, they were at Compline. He hadn't wanted to interrupt them, but he needed Sister Julienne's assistance. He decided to step into the chapel and wait for one of them to notice him. Patrick froze at the doorway. Her voice rang out alone. At that moment, he had the conscious thought "This is what an angel sounds like." Then the others joined her, beneath her voice, complementing it. He stared at the back of her head, in awe, until he saw movement. Sister Julienne has seen him and was leaving the others. He followed her out of the chapel, pausing for a moment, memorizing the sound.
He hadn't been in love with her, not then. After he realized he was in love with her, but before she returned to him as no longer Sister Bernadette, but as Shelagh, her voice haunted his dreams.
After she returned to him as Shelagh, her voice graced his life. And standing next to her in church on Sunday mornings, he felt closer to God than he ever had before in his life.
During his musings, she had reached him. She turned towards him and he hesitated for half a second, no more, before lifting her veil.
Not for the first time that day, he thanked God for giving him his own personal angel.
- - END - -
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and Genesis 2:24
