Chapter 12
The paper went easy on Gary over the next few days. He and Kaitlyn had time to go to Mike's office and have their blood work done. They went and applied for their marriage license and visited the jeweler to pick out their wedding bands.
Gary was able to take care of the paper in between running wedding errands with Kaitlyn. He liked the fact that she was by his side. When he was called upon to break up a fight between two women in a toy store over a limited edition Barbie doll, Gary was getting no where fast trying to tell the two women they were being ridiculous. Kaitlyn stepped in and stopped the entire confrontation, with a gentle voice and a smile as she handed a Barbie doll to one of the women. Both women left the store with smiles on their faces.
"Where did you get that?" Gary asked.
"See that guy standing over there?" Kaitlyn said as she pointed to a man down the isle.
"Yeah." Gary said.
"I talked him into giving me his." Kaitlyn said with a shrug.
"How much did that cost me?" Gary asked.
"Nothing. I just gave him a sob story about how my daughter really wanted that doll for Christmas. So he gave it to me." Kaitlyn said nonchalantly as Gary looked at her and smiled.
"Should I be jealous?" Gary asked.
"No!" Kaitlyn said as she smacked him in the chest. "Come on lets go." She said as she grabbed his hand and lead him out of the store.
31200
Kaitlyn was sitting in the church office waiting for Gary it was 1:25. They were to meet with Reverend Manning at 1:00 to talk about the wedding date. She knew that he had some things to take care of with the paper. Gary had promised her, he would be there in plenty of time for their meeting.
"Can I get you something to drink?" Reverend Manning said.
"No, thank you." Kaitlyn said as she looked at her watch. "Maybe I should reschedule. Gary is obviously running late and I don't want to hold you up. I'm sure you have other important things that you have to take care of.
"Oh, no don't worry about that. My schedule is open for this afternoon." He said with a smile. "We could start without him. If you want?"
"Okay." Kaitlyn said.
"What date were you considering?" He asked.
"October 28th." Kaitlyn said.
"Next year?" He asked.
"No, this October 28th." Kaitlyn said.
"A week from tomorrow?" He asked.
"Yes." Kaitlyn said.
"Your mother was in yesterday. She thought you would be looking at something in June." He said.
"Well, well, see, Reverend I'm going to be up front with you. My mother isn't aware that we want to get married so soon. You see, um, Gary and I decided we want a small ceremony with just close family and friends. My mother wants this huge wedding and it has become sort of a fiasco. That's why we haven't told our parents. We're going to tell them the day of the wedding. But, we don't want to wait until June. We want to get married now. Is that a problem?"
"Kaitlyn, since you moved here you have been a very important member of this Church. You have been through some tough times, enough for a lifetime." He hesitated. "I have gotten to know Gary these last few months as well. What is the reason for the rush."
"Reverend, I appreciate everything that you and the members of this Church have done for me." Just as she was about to finish, the door to the office opened and in walked Gary.
"I'm sorry. I got held up." Gary said.
"It's okay Gary." He said. "Please have a seat. Kaitlyn was just filling me on the situation." Gary gave him an awkward smile. "We were discussing why there is such a rush for a wedding."
"Well, we're ready to get married." Gary could tell that the answer he gave was not what the Reverend wanted to hear. He continued. "Kaitlyn and I love each other very much. We both have been through not so pleasant marriages before." Gary looked at Kaitlyn and took her hand. "From the moment I met her my life has been complete. I want to start that life with her now." He turned to the Reverend. "For me, there is no reason to wait."
The Reverend hesitated for a moment. Looking at Gary then at Kaitlyn and back at Gary, he finally smiled and said, "That's a good enough reason for me. I think that we already have a wedding scheduled for next Saturday. But, let me just go out and check the book to see if we can work something out." He said as he headed out the door.
After the Reverend had left, Gary pulled the paper from his pocket. "We've got to wrap this up." He said.
"What?" Kaitlyn asked.
"I have a fire I have to get to." Gary said. "We just have to wrap this up." Reverend Manning came back into the room carrying his appointment book. Gary quickly closed the paper.
"Well, we already have a wedding scheduled for 1:00 next Saturday." He looked at Kaitlyn and saw the disappointment on her face. "But, we could do something around 11:00."
"11:00 would be perfect." Gary said quickly.
"Kaitlyn is that okay with you?" Reverend Manning asked.
"That's fine." Kaitlyn said.
"Then we'll see you at 11:00 on Saturday." Reverend Manning said.
"Is that it?" Gary asked.
"Unless there is something else you would like to talk about?" He asked.
"No. No, I don't think so. You ready, honey?" Gary asked Kaitlyn.
"Thank you." Kaitlyn said.
As she and Gary walked out the Church door he turned to her and said, "Give me your keys."
"You can drive, but I'm coming with you." Kaitlyn said.
"Oh no. Fires are nothing to fool around with." Gary said. Kaitlyn stopped walking and put her hands on her hips in frustration.
"The only way you are going to get there on time is if you take my car. If you take my car you take me." Kaitlyn said.
"Fine." Gary said as he took the keys from her hand.