He reached over and took her hand. “It’s going to be fine. The council won’t oppose our marriage, this is all just a formality,” he said. “I wish we didn’t have to do it at all, but it won’t be that bad, I promise.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes, you know that,” she said, then shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just nervous, I guess. These people are important to you; I want them to accept me.”
“We’re bonded, Paula. They don’t really have a choice,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Now stop worrying; you’re going to do great. We're going to have a beautiful life together. Let's go enjoy Christmas with our friends and family.
She pushed the worry aside as soon as they walked in. It was easy with the celebration going on, and it felt good to be surrounded by people she loved. After breakfast, they opened presents, then split into groups to play games, watch movies, or just talk until it was time to put together the big meal of the day.Helping in the kitchen came naturally to her, and she jumped in to help along with everyone else, and they soon had a feast ready.
They were just about to sit down at the table when the kitchen door burst open and a woman came rushing in, leaving the door open behind her. “Ryan, there you are, I’ve been so worried,” the woman said, running across the room and throwing her arms around him. “You haven’t been answering your phone, and it’s Christmas. I was sure that something was wrong.”
“Erin, I told you I was staying here for the holidays,” Ryan said, extracting himself from her arms. “You should have stayed home and waited for me to call you.”
“But I wanted to spend the holidays with my fiancé,” Erin whined. “Everyone expected you to be there, it was so embarrassing.”
“Erin, we’re not engaged, we never were,” he said, backing away from her. “That was all my mother’s idea, it wasn’t mine, I never wanted to…”
“What you want doesn’t matter, young man, you’ll do what’s best for the family,” his mother said, sweeping in through the back door. “You’re coming back with us right now, there’s still time to make the big party at the country club, you can propose there. Hurry up and get your things, the car is outside waiting.”
“Mother, I’m not going with you,” Ryan said, walking over and putting his arm around his bride. “I’m staying here with Paula and my friends, where I belong.”
“Oh my God, she’s wearing a ring,” Erin screeched from the other side of the room. “She’s wearing my engagement ring. What’s going on here?”
“Well, it makes sense that my wife would be wearing it, doesn’t it?” Ryan said, giving Erin a big smile. “We were married three days ago. I would have told you if you’d waited for me to call. I didn’t mean for you to find out this way Erin, and I’mtruly sorry for that. Deep down, you must have realized that my mother was responsible for our arrangement. Don’t you think you deserve to be with someone who truly loves you? I know this must seem unfair to you, but in the end, you will thank me.”
“You’re lying, you wouldn’t dare go against me,” his mother cried, rushing over to them and grabbing Paula’s hand. “Take that off this instant, that doesn’t belong to you.”
“We’re married, Mother, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “I’m going to spend my life with Paula and if you don’t like it, well, that’s just too bad. Now I think you and Erin should be going. Erin is humiliated enough. You don’t want to miss your party.”
His mother stood staring at them for several seconds, her mouth opening and closing. Then she took a deep breath, and he found himself cringing. “If you stay with her, I’ll cut you off; you won’t get a penny,” she finally growled. “You’ll be dead to me. I’ll disown you. Then what will you do? I bet she was just after your money anyway.”
He opened his mouth, but Paula elbowed him and stepped in front of him. “I don’t care about your money, in fact, I don’t want anything to do with your nasty money,” she said, glaring at his mother. “Maybe it’s time you learned that money can buy you a lot of things, but it can’t buy happiness or love. Ryan and I already have both of those, so take your money and get out of here.”
“Are you going to let her talk to me that way?” Ryan’s mother screeched. “I’m your mother, I gave birth to you. You wouldn’t be here without me.”
“Yeah, thanks for that,” he said, then shrugged his shoulders. “But that’s not enough to make me give Paula up. Face it, Mother, you lost.”
“This isn’t over, the council is going to hear about this,” Ryan’s mother said, then turned and stomped back out of thehouse, Erin following along behind her, sobbing loudly. “You promised me he’d marry me and we’d get your money! Now what am I going to do?”
CHAPTER 20
***RYAN***
Some of the joy had been taken from the celebration after his mother’s visit, but everyone still enjoyed the meal and did their best to make it seem like a normal holiday. After the table was cleared and the kitchen cleaned up, the group began to break up again, and it seemed like a good time for them to head for his sister’s house, even though they were both reluctant to leave their friends and family behind.
“Are you sure your sister won’t mind if we stay with her?” Paula asked as they got in the car. “I can’t imagine your mother is going to like it. I don’t want to get her in trouble before we’ve even met. It might be nice if at least one person from your family talked to us.”
“Don’t worry, Tami and my mother haven’t spoken in years. There’s no love lost between the two of them. My mother tried to rule my sister’s life, and she rebelled,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Tami cut ties with my parents as soon as she could; it’s been years since they’ve even spoken.”
“That must have been hard for you,” Paula said. “I guess it’s true what they say, money can’t buy happiness.”
“In my experience, it does the opposite, but we’ll never have to worry about that; teachers don’t make that much money,” he said, grinning at her. “Unless you’re going to make it big.”
She laughed, “I don’t know about that, we may have to be happy just being middle class,” she said. “Most journalists don’t make that much money either.”
“Another reason we’re a perfect match,” he said, starting up the car and pulling away from the fraternity house. “It’s a couple of hours to my sister’s house. Why don’t you take a little nap? I’m sure you’re exhausted.”
“Yeah, someone kept me up all night,” she said, grinning at him. “But you’re probably tired too, I should stay awake and keep you company.”
“I don’t need as much sleep as regular people, sweetheart, I’m fine,” he said, reaching over and brushing her hair behind her ear. “You’ve had a lot to process the last few days, and we still have the council to go. You’re going to need your strength.”
