Breaking the News
Disi woke to soft, feathering touches to her face. At first the touches were nice, but then they started to be annoying. She pulled away from them, her eyes fraying open to see her scrumptious husband looking at her with chocolate orbs full of love and tenderness. Yawning and turning away from that affectionate gaze, she finished stretching herself awake.
"Um… We're here?" she asked to break the sexually charged atmosphere.
"We are, Bliss," he smiled, leaning in for a kiss. She looked nervous and jittery suddenly, and he grabbed her arm to keep her from escaping, planting his tongue in her mouth before she could get away. Disi shivered and moaned, relaxing into his hold on her. The two stayed that way for a while, just enjoying each other, until Tyr tapered the kiss. She whined in the back of her throat at the loss of him, which pleased him. "Are you ready to meet your friends as a married woman?" This seemed to snap her out of her daze.
"Hayley is going to kill me. Let's go get this over with." With that, she exited the sinfully expensive car and headed through the parking lot to the elevator bank. Tyr followed his woman, ignoring the looks he was getting from the females in the parking lot. He caught up with Disi, holding her hand as they made their way to the unit together.
Sarai was manning the front desk this afternoon, a casual employee who had no idea what had been going on with Disi since Friday.
"Hey, Disi. I like your dress."
"Thanks, Sarai. I had to wear something special for my wedding."
"That's nice. How can I- did you just say that you're married now?"
Disi smiled happily. "Indeed I am! We went to the Justice of the Peace and settled things between us just this afternoon. We just got back from the marriage!"
"You married that rapist?" Martha said angrily. Disi blinked at the harsh words.
"There was no rape. I wouldn't marry a rapist," she said firmly, hugging her man close. Martha was not convinced. She looked over the couple with a discerning eye. Surely the girl was joking. But here she was, snuggled against the tall man from the club that night. And she looked so happy…
"Attention, unit 71, come to the front desk. Disi just got married." Sarai announced suddenly. People started rushing to the front desk as if a Code had been called. It was pandemonium for a few minutes as Disi fought to be heard over all the happy chatter and accusations.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please," Hayley finally yelled over the crowd. "I'm sure there's an explanation for little Disi marrying her rapist."
"There was no rape," Disi huffed. "I spent a drunken night with a stranger and now we're married. If anyone cares about the 'why' instead of making up your own narrative, I'd be happy to explain. Just… Stop calling my husband a rapist!"
"Let's hear this explanation then," Veronica said, feeling belligerent as another of the women present that night. She'd been spreading the word about her coworker's rape since she went home with the stranger.
"I was drunk that night, but not under duress. I admit it, I did something incredibly stupid, going home with a stranger. But I wasn't forced into it. Tyr and I talked for hours about everything last night. We really connected last weekend. So we decided to get married. We went to an actual Justice of the Peace and officially bound our lives together."
"Do you have any idea how crazy this all sounds?" Anisah said over the murmurs. "You barely know this man a-and you've just randomly decided to marry him? This isn't some fairytale, Qudsiyya. Almost no one ends up all 'happily ever after' with the jerk they lost their innocence to. If you still want to be married for the sake of an ideal, go ahead. Hell, it sounds like the ink is barely dry on your marriage certificate. But this is not going to end the way you want it to. He could be anything! A pedophile, a Casanova, an axe murderer, a-"
"-Good man," Disi said flippantly over Anisah's bile. "I refuse to just… walk away from him because no one understands. As much as my head insists that it was stupid to go home with a stranger, as much as I would never recommend this course of action to anyone… I have faith that this is the right path for me. I just know that I am doing the right thing at this point in my life. Maybe I'll regret things in time, but - much like when I moved to Canada and everyone else thought I was insane - I'm going with my heart on this one. I won't be a coward with the biggest challenge of my life so far. I love him." That shut everyone up. This wasn't just some spur-of-the-moment decision. The girl had put some real, non-sexual thought into this.
"Can I see the ring, Disi?" one of the three women named 'Maria' on the floor asked. Disi smiled and displayed her hand to her friend. Others joined in on admiring the small token of his love for her. Disi's face fell when Veronica, Hayley, and Martha walked away with looks of disgust and disapproval on their faces, but she marshaled her optimistic outlook and continued to display her ring. This wasn't the first time she had to endure such a reaction to her life choices. Once people were finished admiring the ring and had dispersed back to their posts, Disi went to her boss for more unpleasantness.
"I've decided to apply for stress leave," Disi told her boss matter-of-factly. "I talked with EFAP and thye agreed that I needed some time away."
"I thought you said that you were happily married," Hayley said without looking up from her paperwork.
"Even good stress is stress," Disi huffed, slamming her bundle of papers on top of the pile. "My plan was to call you today and scan it all in for you. But since I'm already here…"
"And if you'd called me, I might have-"
"Fine. Then I'll go over your head with this."
"No," Hayley said in a panic. She'd already been in trouble with her boss for a similar situation of someone accusing her of favoritism. "I will file these papers right away. Is there a number they can reach you at?"
"Yes, my cell phone. I'm going home."
"Back to Philadelphia?"
"Yes. My mother is not happy with me about all of this. And I really need a break from everything that has happened. A few weeks back in Philly is just what my doctor ordered. It says so in the paperwork!"
Hayley sighed. "Qudsiyya, I want you to really think about this."
"I have thought about it, Hayley. The deed is done. The certificate is sent and my mind is made up. I'm going back to Philly to explain these things to my mother and the rest of the family. It'll probably make this little blow-up seem downright pleasant by comparison." With that, she turned and walked away, husband a silent shadow in her wake.
"Disi!" The girl looked Heavenward for strength before turning to face Lucy on her way out the door. The Unit Clerk ran up and hugged her tightly, shocking the woman.
"I'm glad you were able to get some happiness out of all of this," Lucy smiled at her friend. Disi smiled with tears in her eyes.
"And you," she indicated the man standing next to her. "You've seen for yourself just how much we love little Disi. You'd better treat her right, buddy. Or there'll be hell to pay!"
"I swear on my life that I will protect her joy with all my heart and strength."
"Her joy?"
"Yes," Tyr shrugged. "Happiness comes and goes. Joy is what lasts in the end. Yes, I make her happy, but I also bring her joy. We will hit snags in this relationship, but I'm confident that we will work things out."
"That's so romantic," Lucy swooned. She hugged Disi again. "You take care of yourself, Disi. We'll see you back here in a few weeks."
"Count on it," she grinned, turning to leave. At least someone believed in her.
... ...
The rest of the day was a whirlwind for the girl. Tyr had her apartment moved into his mansion. Everything fit in a single bedroom. In the meantime, he took her shopping for a bunch of flattering clothes that actually fit her shrinking body. By the time they were finished, the girl had half a wardrobe, complete with sexy undergarments she'd never considered buying, dresses, and everyday wear. She'd booked a four-week flight to Philadelphia for tomorrow at an inflated price in the car, her eyes bulging when Tyr simply transferred the money back into her account. God, he was so rich! The man had even arranged to move to Mahogany, a new, extremely affluent community down by her hospital, so that his bride would be close to her job. He would start house hunting after dropping her off at the airport. He'd thought of everything!
Disi snuggled tiredly against her new husband as they drove to his home, purchases stuffed in the trunk. "I've never tried on so many clothes at once. My friends tease me that I have no fashion sense, but you… I never would have expected half of those things to fit! Much less flatter my form! How did you-"
"You are a joy to shop with," he said, draping his arm around his wife as he drove them down Deerfoot Trail to get home faster. "We'll have you fed and packed up for your trip in no time. Then you are going to sleep, little one. You've had an exhausting day."
"You don't wanna… you know." She asked in embarrassment.
"You need your rest, love. You're carrying my baby after all. There'll be plenty of time to consummate our marriage when I join you in Philly next week." He ignored the embarrassed look on her face and cuddled her close to his body. The warmth of him lulled her to sleep within minutes and he took the rest of the drive to really think about his situation. In the past half a week he'd found his soul mate, impregnated her, married her, and decided to uproot his life for her. Not that he minded, he'd been waiting over a century for her after all. Giving the sleeping woman a one-armed hug and chuckling when she snuggled against him, he gave his full attention to the road.
His eye was dead on when picking her wardrobe for the trip. Disi was nervous about seeing her family again, but Tyr didn't seem upset at all. The clothes were given to the house staff to clean and pack while she slept. After that, the girl was treated to a meal fit for royalty by the housekeeper. She was drooping by the time she finished her dessert. Tyr tucked his tired bride into bed, going to sort through her belongings for what could be thrown out. He joined her in bed shortly after midnight, setting his internal alarm for four in the morning so that they could be ready for her seven o'clock international flight.
"I'm going to miss you," she said tearfully outside of the airport at four forty-five the next morning. She had her purse and backpack with her mini laptop in it. A great deal of her music was on it, along with a few movies she liked and Kindle books. She would be fine for her fourteen-hour trip to Philly. The only reason she didn't have her Esty projects with her for the plane ride was she was never sure if she was allowed to use her crochet needles and scissors on the plane. Holding her husband's hand tightly, she fought valiantly against her tears.
Tyr, secretly pleased that she would shed tears for him after such a short period of time, kissed his bride gently. "It'll only be a week and then I'll join you. But you need some uninterrupted time with your family first."
"This is going to be a nightmare. Imagine the awkwardness and anger of the unit confrontation, but tenfold."
"I know, Bliss," he said, rubbing the fresh tears away. "Just remember that I will always come for you. I won't leave you alone to face this situation for long. No matter what they say, I'm right behind you." He gave her one last drugging kiss before sending her into the building. Soon after Disi was too busy dealing with customs to worry about her heartbreak at leaving her new husband. It took until she was waiting for her chance to board the plane for thoughts of her husband to creep in. Then they stayed with her for the duration of her trip.
By the time she landed in her hometown, she was exhausted from crying, but she dutifully called her parents to pick her up. The first bad sign was that both of her parents showed up at the airport to pick her up. Usually, it was her father or her mother, never both. Taking a deep breath to steel herself for the inevitable, Qudsiyya headed over to greet her parents.
"Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad. How are things?"
"We're disappointed in you," her father began without preamble. He gave her a hug but didn't lose that saddened look that made her stomach churn uncomfortably. He wasn't her preferred parent, but both her parents knew that her biggest fear had always been disappointing them. As the only one of their children not to have gotten into gangs or drugs or alcohol and bad grades, she'd always been the one they could brag about. Now she'd joined the ranks of her brothers as a massive disappointment. With a sigh, she went and hugged her mother in the car. "Anything to add, Mom?"
"How could you do this to us, Babygirl? We've always supported you, even with your crazy idea to run to Canada of all places! You could have stayed in Philly if you wanted to be an unwed mother! Not to mention the inevitable divorce from the man who married you. Was it really worth it to get laid? There are attractive men in this city if you truly wanted to have sex. Men with staying power. And you didn't have to marry that man just because he popped your cherry. You could have waited for a man that you knew the first thing about. We would have helped you raise the baby."
"I'm sorry," she said, tearing up for a reason other than her absentee husband. Not even fifteen minutes into her visit both of her parents were already tearing into her. They both had much more to say, but she tuned them out, staring out the window at the familiar skyline of the city of her birth. The rest of the week went the same way, her parents taking her on the 'tour of shame' to visit all her relatives in the city. All of them had condescending things to say about her life choices. The one-night stand got a lot of discussion, but no one seemed to think of the marriage as an improvement on the situation. Disi didn't bother defending herself after a while. She took the abuse silently, barely saying a word all week. She ate dutifully when her mother reminded her, and spent a lot of time crying and missing her husband. Was he missing her? Had he moved on to his next conquest as her mother insisted that he had by now? Would he divorce her before the baby was born or would he wait and take the baby with him when he returned to his royal alien throne? It wasn't like she could do anything about it either way.