Chapter 2

Mark returned home a few hours later with a bouquet of white roses. A joint gift from both him and Steve. Though Steve had been too chicken shit to come with him. He heard Chalice in the bathroom as he walked up the stairs of their two story house and took a deep breath. Opening the door enough to stick the bouquet in, Mark waved it gently like a white flag and quickly stated, "I surrender, just don't throw anything!"

Chalice didn't move or say anything, too focused on staring at the water. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her face was clearly tear streaked as she raked a hand through her hair. She sniffled a little as she went under the water, soaking herself completely. Not wanting Mark to notice she'd been crying before he arrived. Mark hated seeing her cry or any sign that she had so Chalice made it an effort not to cry in front of him.

When nothing was said and nothing was thrown, Mark hesitantly stepped in. Knowing his fiancée had one Hell of a temper and could be waiting for him. He spotted her under the water and stood there, one hand in his pocket. The other was holding the roses, waiting for her to come up. He knew she was crying because he'd heard her sniffle through the door and could already feel his heart breaking.

Chalice had dunked a second time before slowly resurfacing, rubbing her eyes, which were burning now, and stared straight ahead at the wall. "What do you want, Mark?" She finally asked, her voice low and cold, wrapping her arms around her knees again as she sighed raggedly from crying. "I'd like to enjoy what's left of my bath if you don't mind."

Mark sighed, kneeling down next to the edge of the tub, holding out the roses to her. "They're from me and Steve." He said softly, not surprised when she didn't move to take them. "Darlin', I'm sorry. I know you had a bad day and your brother and I shouldn't have fought."

Sighing, Chalice finally looked over at the roses and smiled just a little, taking them from him, and sniffed them as she closed her eyes. "They're beautiful." She murmured before setting them aside, not wanting to ruin them. "No, I didn't mean to snap at you and Steve, sweetie. My mom pissed me off to the point where I couldn't see straight, which is when you called. So I'm sorry for taking it out on you." She touched his hand with her own, her eyes shimmering with tears. "Forgive me?"

"You know I do. Forgive me?" When she nodded, he smiled in pure relief, raising her hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. "What happened today darlin'?"

"My fucking mother won't leave me alone about having my father walk me down the aisle. I finally got fed up with her and left her at the dress shop. I can find my own fucking dress and I told her that if they don't like the fact that I want my brother, who's been there for me through everything, good and bad, to walk me down the aisle, then don't come. I'd rather not have them there anyway, especially with how they've been acting lately." She explained, growling, and felt her anger boiling over again, but finally released it with a heavy sigh. "It just was not a good day today." She whispered heartbrokenly.

Nodding, Mark gently turned her so her back was to him and began to rub her shoulders, working out the knots he felt in her muscles. "How bout you call up one of your friends and have them go with you? Or maybe Steve? He is pretty good at that sort of thing. I would've been lost today if it weren't for him." He admitted, not ashamed of it, especially when it was the truth. Steve had seriously helped him out with the measurements and everything.

"No, I will do it on my own. I'm going on David's Bridal tomorrow on the computer and I'm going to find a dress that's for me and nobody else. Fuck what my mother says. Fuck what my father says. Fuck it all." She stated and leaned forward, allowing him to rub her back, even though it was tensing. "The only thing that matters to me is you and my brother walking me down the aisle, Mark. Everyone else can go shove it up their asses if they don't like it."

Mark sighed, knowing as long as she was still angry; he wasn't going to get any of these knots out. He bent forward to kiss her back, his arms wrapping around her shoulders. "Would you rather just elope, Chalice?" He asked softly, leaning his forehead against the side of her neck.

"I don't know." She finally whispered out with a heavy sigh and stood up from the tub, stepping out. His hands fell from her sides as she wrapped a towel around her body tightly. She then leaned forward on the sink and stared in the mirror, shaking her head, and scrubbed her hand down her face in frustration. "When did getting to plan a wedding become so damned complicated and downright stressful?"

"I'd say when interfering relatives get involved." Mark replied absentmindedly still mortified over the hips to balls comment from earlier. He stepped out into the bedroom, not closing the door and pulled off his shirt, suddenly feeling exhausted.

After brushing her teeth and hair, Chalice finally stepped in the bedroom, carrying the flowers with her. She'd put them in cold water in a vase that was underneath her bathroom sink and set them on the dresser. She fluffed them out a little and retrieved her clothes for the night, not caring if it was only five o'clock in the afternoon. She slipped on a pair of red panties and a bra with a matching night gown that went just past her knees and was spaghetti strapped. Chalice then started cleaning the room up, retrieving Mark's clothes as well as hers since they were both lazy when it came to throwing them in the hamper. Sighing, she raked a hand through her damp hair and walked into the bathroom, cleaning up her mess, and then went back into the bedroom. She turned on the lamp on the nightstand and crawled into bed on her side, turning the television on, not believing the sun was still out.

Mark rolled over to drape an arm over her way, pulling her body against him. "Nice…" He murmured appreciatively, feeling and seeing her nightgown. "Tired darlin'?"

"No, I'm frustrated." She softly answered, snuggling further into her future husband, and sighed heavily. She still couldn't believe the fight she'd gotten into with her mother, for however brief a time it was. She hated her mother for making her feel bad for picking Steve to walk her down the aisle instead of her father, who'd never been there for her to begin with. Granted, he loved his boy, always was there for all his football games and everything. However, when it came to Chalice, he completely blew her off. Was it a wonder why she chose her big brother instead of him?

He kissed the top of her head, his hands stroking her soothingly and softly asked, "Want to talk about it?"

Sighing heavily, Chalice sat up in bed a little bit, her knee bending while her other was beneath it Indian style, and raked a hand through her hair. "My mother is a bitch and I can't stand my father. Why can't they realize that this is MY day? For ONCE, it's not about THEM. It's about ME and getting married to the love of my LIFE and if I wanna choose my fuckin' brother to walk me down the damned aisle, THEN I'M FUCKING GOING TO DO IT!" She snapped, not meaning to, but all the frustration was slowly getting to her.

Mark just lay where he was, rubbing her back with one giant hand, knowing she wasn't aiming her venom at him. "Darlin', you know Steve and I will back you on anything. If they can't understand that then that's their problem. They'll be the ones missing out." He said soothingly, hating to see his fiancée this upset and aggravated.

"I told my mother that if they didn't like or couldn't accept it then it was really simple: Don't fucking come and I meant it." Chalice said lowering her head as the tears stung her eyes, knowing it would hurt her not to have her parents at her wedding. "Am I a bad daughter, Mark?" She suddenly asked in a whisper, trying to blink her tears back.

Mark blinked, looking downright startled when she asked that. He sat up and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his strong arms around her waist, holding her tightly against him. "No Chalice, you're not a bad daughter. You're not a bad person, period. They're blind if they can't see what a beautiful, intelligent, kind woman you are. Darlin', one day they're going to wake up and realize what they've missed out on."

"I try so hard to please them. I really do, but my father has never been there for me and even Steve agrees." She quietly whispered, silent tears falling down her cheeks, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry for crying, I know it breaks your heart, but I can't help it. I love you so much and I want this day to be perfect and special." She started trembling in his arms a little as his hold tightened around her. "Maybe I should just walk down the damned aisle by myself. That way it won't tear my family apart…"

"It's up to you, but if you want Steve to walk you down the aisle, Chalice, then do it. It's YOUR day, not theirs. You do what makes you happy. Maybe it would help if you went to talk to your father?" He suggested, not really meaning to, but he hated seeing her cry and getting this upset over their wedding. It was their wedding, not her parents and the sooner they realized that, the better off they'd be.

"No, he'll just yell at me and tell me how stupid and worthless I am to even consider picking Steve over him." She protested with a shake of her head, sighing raggedly as she slowly pulled away to wipe her tears. "Fuck my parents. If they can't listen to reason and realize why I'm picking my brother, then I don't really want them at our wedding." She meant what she said. Every word.

Mark's green eyes narrowed to dangerous slits when he heard Chalice say that first sentence. "Your father would yell those things at you?" He asked in a deceptively, neutral tone of voice, trying to keep the anger hidden.

"He's always said those things to me, Mark. Ever since I was little, he's always thought of me as lower than Steve just because I'm the girl he never wanted. He even told me one time that he hated me for being born because I was a girl." She started crying again, burying her face in her hands, and could feel her heart breaking at the memory. "It was right before I graduated high school and I haven't spoken a word to him since then, which has been over a decade."

"Then he don't need to bring his ass to the wedding." Mark growled, his temper on the rise at the THOUGHT of this man and how he treated Chalice, the love of his life. "Does Steve know bout this, Chalice?"

"Why do you think Steve never goes home on his days off? Father thinks everything is fine, that nothing is wrong between me and him, but he doesn't have the slightest clue how much he hurt me. That's why I went to college straight out of high school and Steve supported me. He even helped me pay my way and told me not to worry about paying him back." Chalice explained, sniffling a little, and wiped away more of her tears as she sighed. "If my father doesn't go, my mother won't. She's always been on his side from day one, no matter how much he's hurt me or broke my heart with his hurtful words."

Mark didn't know what to say to ease her pain, knowing this was something that had a lot of time to fester. Get worse. Over a decade was a long time to go without talking to someone, especially her own parent, but it sounded like his soon-to-be father-in-law was a giant cocksucker. One that Mark wouldn't mind knocking down a peg or two. "It'll be alright, darlin'. Things will work out." He whispered reassuringly, burying his face in her hair, and sighed at the scent of jasmine.

"I mean is it MY fault my mother spread her fuckin' legs and got pregnant with a female instead of another male like my father wanted?" She rhetorically asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and allowed the tears to stop on their own since she was having no luck in the first place.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm glad your mother 'spread her legs' and had a girl. I'd really hate to think there'd be two Steve's out there. Especially since that'd make me gay." He teased, trying to cheer her up, and hoped to make her smile.

"You're not funny." She stated as she looked back at him, trying to hide the smile, and couldn't do it even if her life depended on it. She started laughing and shook her head, not believing Mark just said that, but appreciated him trying to cheer her up. She scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his massive chest. "That's why I asked you if you really wanted to marry me, Mark because of my father. I mean, our family is fucked up beyond words and belief. You can still back out and I wouldn't blame you if you did." She quietly said, trying not to cry again, but the tears slowly flowed down her cheeks again at the mere thought of Mark backing out of the engagement.

"Your family isn't the only messed up one in the world." Mark assured her quietly, reaching up to gently brush away her tears with his finger. "And you're not getting rid of me that easily. I'm marrying you if I have to hog tie you in front of the priest."

Laughing softly, Chalice's heart warmed at his words, knowing he didn't care about her father. He loved her and wanted to be with her no matter what. She slowly sat up in his lap and kissed his lips softly, pressing her forehead to his, and whispered, "That's why I love you so much because of your big heart." She pressed her hand to his chest and smiled, her blue eyes slowly lighting up with happiness again.

"Ssshhhh, I don't want anyone overhearing you." Mark whispered dramatically, looking around as if someone might be listening in. He then gently pushed her back on the bed, bending down to blow raspberries on her stomach through the nightgown.

Chalice giggled out as she squirmed against him, laughing out loud, and finally pulled his face up to meet hers, running her fingers through his hair. "I know you're trying to keep your 'Undertaker' image, but even when you were in that mode, you still couldn't hide your big heart from me." She reminded him softly, kissing him, and groaned when the doorbell rang downstairs.

Mark echoed her groan, raising his head and stared down at her beautiful form. "Do we have to get it?" He muttered, already knowing they did. Sighing, he rolled out of bed and stated, "I'll get it darlin'. You just wait there. This ain't over yet."

Smiling softly, Chalice shook her head, pulling on her silky black robe, and darted past him out of the bedroom. She giggled when she heard him grumble under his breath. Walking downstairs, with Mark behind her, Chalice headed for the front door. Opening it, Chalice's eyes instantly narrowed to slits upon seeing the individual standing before her and cleared her throat loudly, the smile disappearing from her face.

"Father."