Washing Away the Pain Ch. 05

Sherry and Derrick had toyed with the idea of admitting to their friends that they were actually sister and brother, but decided against it. They really didn't know how everyone would react to that news. They did want them to all know that it was an unofficial wedding. Keeping what they said as truthful as they could would be easier for them to remember what they had said.

Even though the actual date was pretty far off, the following weeks were busy for the love birds. Sherry and Avery started on the long list of things that had to be addressed. Derrick explained to his fellow executives at work that he and Sherry were going to get married, but there would be no license, so it was in name only.

It was Friday night, a little over a month later. When Derrick had gotten home from work he found Sherry at the kitchen table surrounded by various notes, trying to get a grip on their wedding plans.

"Hey, don't forget to invite Dominic."

Her brother had never explained his friendship with Dominic. The few times she had asked him about it he went totally silent. It was obvious that Dominic was connected in some way to the underworld and she couldn't help but wonder how they had met. It would probably be very interesting.

She looked up and could tell that he wasn't feeling good, "Are you all right?"

"I think I'm coming down with a cold or something." He saw her give him a look of concern. "Actually I'm not feeling all that great, if you don't mind going and getting it, can we just get take out for supper? I think I will just stay home while you get it."

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Derrick went to answer it. Sherry figured it was Avery and went with him. When they opened it, both of them just stood there in shock as they stared at their mother, father and Uncle Michael. After their last visit, brother and sister had both figured they would never see them again. There was also another man they Sherry had never seen before, but Derrick had.

On this visit, Adrian did the talking and Timothy, Michael and the other man remained silent. "Can we come in?"

Sherry could feel instant tension in the room as she invited their family inside, "Sure."

Tim couldn't understand why his son hadn't said anything. Derrick was like him, taking on a problem head on and damn the consequences.

Avery noticed right away that her son was sick. "Derick are you all right?"

Derrick nodded and sluffed it off, "I'm fine mom, just coming down with something."

They all just stood there, everyone was very uncomfortable, not saying a thing. "Your father and I, and your Uncle Michael all feel terrible about how we left and what we said."

"Oh stop this garbage!" Timothy wrapped his arms around his son and daughter. "I'm the one that caused all of it." He took a deep breath, "Please forgive me, I don't...I didn't...I want..." he just couldn't seem to say what he wanted to.

Derrick hugged him, "I love you dad." Sherry and her mother both started crying.

Sherry eyed the man she didn't know.

For Michael, that was his cue. "Relax, he knows. This my partner Jimmy." Both Sherry and Derrick shook his hand.

Sherry led them over to the kitchen table. "These are the notes I've made for our wedding." She saw their curious looks. "It's going to be in name only. We can't do it for real, it's against the law."

Timothy sighed heavily, "Now I feel even worse about what I said." He also got pissed off again. "Why the hell is it anyone's business but your own?"

Even though he knew that the quickest way to get his father on your side was to mention the government, Derrick was still astonished, "You are now ready to fight for us?"

Timothy nodded, "I should have been ready to stand beside my son and daughter anyway." He glanced over at Michael. I also shouldn't have made it so hard for my brother to tell me what he needed to tell me."

Derrick was pleased at the turnaround his father had made, but was still bewildered, "Dad, this seems to be a very big turnaround for you in only a month."

Timothy looked over at Adrian, "Your mother told me a few things about myself." He took a deep breath, "She is the only one who could ever tell me I was behaving like an ass and make me shut up and listen."

"I did some soul searching and I didn't like what I found." Tim shook his head, "Bigot, prejudiced, intolerant and hypocrite were at the top of the list. I realized that I was going to lose my son, my daughter, maybe my brother and eventually my wife, and it was all my fault." He took a deep breath, "I need my family. If I had done this sooner, you two would still live in the same city as us."

Sherry shook her head, "No we wouldn't. After I shot my ex, the whole neighborhood made our lives hell and wouldn't leave us alone."

Tim nodded, "That is also partially my fault. If I had loved you enough, I would have found out that he was beating my little girl and put a stop to it. You needed your father, and I should have been there for you."

Sherry hugged her father, "I have a different last name than your son. I would love it if his father would walk me down the aisle."

For one of the few times in his life, Timothy was at a loss for words.

Derrick still didn't feel very good and needed to sit down. "Hey we were just going to get take out and bring it back here to eat. Want to join us?"

Sherry grabbed her mom, "Mom you know what dad and Uncle Mike like, let's go get supper."

Jimmy spoke up, "Just get me whatever you get Michael."

While they were gone the men sat around talking. "Dad I'm happy that you have accepted Sherry and me as a couple, I know that couldn't have been easy for you."

"You two never planned this when you were younger did you?"

Derrick shook his head. "No. We both felt an attraction, but we honestly thought that all brothers and sisters felt that way."

Timothy nodded, "I believe that." He could see that Derrick was getting worse and hoped that he was right about it being the flu or a cold.

Twenty minutes later, Sherry and Adrian returned with the food. Adrian saw that her son was now looking kind of gray, "Are you sure that you are all right?"

Sherry had already been worried about him, now she was entering panic mode, "You need to go to the hospital!"

Derrick didn't want them to worry so he still played it down, "Really, I'm just coming down with something; I'll be fine." He didn't have much of an appetite. He tried but his stomach was hurting too much for him to eat.

Adrian felt her son's forehead and could tell he had a slight fever, "I agree with Sherry, you should go to the hospital."

"I'm fine," but he steadily got worse. Finally he headed for the bathroom and threw up. When he came out he was looking at the faces of some very worried family. "Yeah, I think you should take me to the hospital."

Derrick got checked in, had some tests done, and was rushed to surgery for appendicitis. His stay at the hospital lasted little more than 24 hours. All of the family was scared to death with thoughts of losing him, having no one to give them comfort except each other. He came through the surgery with flying colors.

His mother, father, uncle and Jimmy spent all night in the waiting room. They finally stopped worrying after the surgery was over and being assured by the doctor that Derrick was going to be fine. However, that wasn't good enough for Sherry, who refused to leave his side and slept in a chair next to his bed.

Sherry woke up and saw Derrick smiling at her as he watched her trying to doze sitting in a hospital chair. She stood up, leaned over and kissed him.

He felt her soft lips against his, "Now there's the medicine that will make me feel better."

Everyone came in to see him. "You scared us to death."

Even though it was his mother that had spoken, he looked up at his father. "I guess I shouldn't try to act like a tough guy all of the time."

Timothy stated laughing, "You are so much like me."

The family visited for a while and then left. They had no idea how long he would be there, and had a long drive back.

After he was sent home from the hospital, Nurse Sherry made sure he stayed on his clear liquids and then slowly progressed to a regular diet. She got him to sit up on the edge of the bed and walk short distances several times a day. He took about 2 weeks to make a full recovery.

Time seem to pass very quickly. Soon it was only a little over a month until their wedding when Derrick told his sister the bad news. They had made love and were still a tangle of arms and legs enjoying being in each other's embrace. "I have a wedding gift that I want to give to you, but it means we can't make love until our wedding night."

Sherry propped herself on her elbow to look into his eyes. "What kind of present will make us do that?"

"Have you ever been curious as to why I got a vasectomy so young?"

"Yes, but you never seemed to want to talk about it."

"My ex didn't want children at all, but also didn't want to go through the pain of a hysterectomy. Plus she didn't want to have a scar from the operation. I've always liked having them around, but I was in love and she didn't want to take birth control pills for years and years. So, I got a vasectomy for her. After our marriage fell apart and we split up, I just never did anything about it."

He swallowed, his emotions making his mouth dry, "I want to get it reversed. I want to give you a baby."

Sherry sucked in her breath, definitely having an 'OMG' moment! Happy tears flowed down her face. "I thought that you didn't want children."

"I want them, especially now that they will have grandparents. I've seen you with the children of our friends, and I know that you would make a fantastic mother."

She actually felt herself blushing at the compliment. "Our wedding is a month and a half away. How can you get it done and recuperate by then?"

"It easy, I've been thinking about this for some time. My operation is this Tuesday and it should only take a few weeks for me to recuperate. I can't have sex until my doctor says it's all right, but he said it is usually only a few weeks."

"Wait a minute, you told me that your last couple of doctors' visits was a checkup from the appendix operation."

Derrick grinned, "Surprise!" He saw that she wasn't upset. "Anyway, that's why I'm bringing it up now. It's an outpatient procedure, but I don't want to do it unless you're sure you want children."

She kissed him deeply, passionately with all of her heart. "I want your baby. But, why can't we make love before..." She didn't get to finish.

Derrick shook his head, "Nope, we're celibate until our wedding night. It might take one to two years for me to produce sperm again, it may not happen at all. But, it might also happen a lot sooner than that."

With her face just above his, her eyes only inches from his, Sherry saw him picturing something in his mind.

"On our wedding night, I will take to my bed, my virgin wife. She is an innocent soul, knowing nothing of such things. We will discover each other's bodies as our hearts join together in love. Her spirit will join with mine and I will try to make this wonderful woman realize just how much I need her."

Sherry started crying, her tears dropping into his eyes. "I love you so much."

-------

The wedding chapel was full of family and friends coming to see two people that were very special to all of them, join in holy matrimony. By birth they were forbidden but by choice they felt that they should be allowed. It may have been illegal, but who had the right to say it was wrong?

Besides Derrick and Sherry, only their family knew the truth. A secret they now accepted and would keep.

At the end of each row of seats, scented candle lights hung from naked tree branches. Rose petals were spread down the aisle.

The Wedding Song "There Is Love" by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary started playing. The maid of honor and the bridesmaids wearing floaty chiffon dresses with sweetheart necklines walked down the aisle to the waiting groom, best man and groomsmen who all had on tuxedos.

Then the wedding march played and everyone stood. Sherry entered practically radiating the essence of love. She and Derrick had deliberated over which song to use, but both had leaned toward the classic "Here Comes the Bride".

Derrick was in awe. He always knew that Sherry was pretty even as a kid. But at this moment, his bride was breathtakingly beautiful. Her hair was made up so that her curls fell to her shoulders. Her eyes sparkled with the emotions she was feeling. He was wearing the same tuxedo that she had picked out for him to wear at their first wedding ceremony, but she wasn't wearing the wedding dress that she'd had worn for it. Much to his surprise, Sherry was wearing their mothers wedding dress. Their mother used to take it out each year on her wedding anniversary. Somehow she and their mother had kept it a secret so he wouldn't know about it until now.

He saw that their dad was puffed up with pride as he escorted his daughter down the aisle. Derrick remembered watching him and her doing that very thing at her first wedding. He felt a shiver run down his spine at how close their family had come to never having contact with each other again.

The wedding officiant had been told that this was not a licensed marriage but was asked to conduct the ceremony as if it were. He was actually used to such requests. When the bride was at last standing next to the groom, he started. "This wedding is being held at 1 o'clock in the afternoon or as Derrick used to say as a boy, 13 o'clock."

Derrick's knew only a family member could have told him of that. His head snapped around and he saw a big grin on his father's face. He had only one thought 'you old softy'.

"Marriage is not something to enter into on a whim. It is a solemn joining together of two souls. Sherry, Derrick never forget that neither of you are perfect but always remember that you are perfect for each other. Who gives away this woman to be married?"

In his soul searching, Timothy had discovered that he had only thought he was a good person. His wife was ashamed of him. His holeyer than thou attitude was responsible for alienated his family. His students were actually afraid of him and his colleges avoided him except for an occasional greeting in passing. It had been the worst time of his life.

Even now, Timothy still felt really lousy for how he had reacted to the news of his son and daughter being in love as a couple. Instead of blind anger, he could have at least listened. Maybe he would have still walked off just like he did, but he had owed his son and daughter the opportunity to tell him what they had to say.

He and Adrian had talked about how he would answer this question. He felt that it was his responsibility to ensure his son and daughter that he fully accepted this. Loud enough for everyone to hear, he announced, "Her mother and I do."

Of course most everyone there only knew that Timothy was Derrick's father and thought that he had made a mistake. One look at him from Derrick and Sherry let them both know that he had not made a mistake. He meant every word of it. He then turned to rejoin their mother.

"If anyone knows of any reason that these two should not be joined in holy matrimony let them speak now or forever hold their peace." None of their friends and associates said anything. Both Sherry and Derrick looked over at their mother, father, Uncle Michael and Jimmy, they saw no one had any intention of saying a thing. The rest of the family had not been told, Timothy knew they would never shut up about it.

"At this time the bride and groom wish to read their vows."

The best man handed Derrick a piece of paper and he started to read:

"If we get a dog, I vow to take your hand when it's too dark, and the dog wants out when it's too early."

"I promise not to drink your drinks, even though I am thirsty and your drink is literally right there."

"I vow to always do all the stuff you want us to do even though I know that I really, really don't want to do it."

"I vow to protect you from spiders as long as we both shall live."

Then the maid of honor did the same for Sherry who read her vows:

"I vow never to steal your covers, unless you are hogging them."

"I promise to get up and get the remote from across the room, even if it was not I who placed the remote so very far away."

"I vow to stand by your side when the zombie apocalypse comes and, should you be turned into one, I promise to let you bite me, so we can un-live happily ever after."

"I vow that someday, if the stars align, I may even let you win an argument."

There had been total silence as they had read their vows out loud. Upon the finish, the wedding officiant had to wait until the laughter stopped. Then he continued with the ceremony requested by Sherry and Derrick:

"Derrick will you answer me right now these questions as your wedding vow?"

Derrick replied, "Yes, I will answer right now your questions as my wedding vow."

"Will you take her as your wife? Will you love her for all your life? Will you have, and also hold just as you have at this time told? Will you love through good and bad? Whether you're happy or sad? Will you love her if you're rich, or if you're poor, and in a ditch? Will you love her when you're fit, and also when you're feeling sick? Will you love her with all your heart? Will you love till death you part?"

Derrick replied, "Yes, I'll love with all my heart, from now until death do us part. I will love her when we're rich, and when we're broke and in a ditch, and when we're fit, and when we're sick. I will love through good and bad, and I will love when glad or sad. I will have, and I will hold. I'll love her my entire life. Yes, I will take her as my wife."

"Then Derrick if you'll take her as your wife, and if you'll love her all your life, and if you'll have, and if you'll hold from now until the stars grow cold, and if you'll love through good and bad, and whether you're happy or sad, and love in sickness, and in health, and when you're poor, and when in wealth, and if you'll love with all your heart from now until death do you part. If you'll love her through and through, please answer with the words, I do."

Derrick answered, I do."

The same questions were asked of Sherry who also replied, "I do".

"You're married now so kiss the bride, but please, do keep it dignified." Sherry and Derrick kissed and the wedding guests went crazy with cheering and laughter.

The reception was held right there in a banquet room. It was as fun as the wedding had been. No champagne, but toasts to the bride and groom were done with champagne glasses filled with cold beer. Of course, there were non-alcoholic drinks as well. The food was bar-be-que, corn on the cob, baked beans, potatoes salad and Cole slaw. The wedding cake top was a regular wedding cake so that the newlyweds could take it, freeze it and eat it on their one year anniversary. The bottom layer was an ice cream cake.

The mother and son dance and the father and daughter dance were held at the same time at Sherry's request. Sherry welcomed the love as she was surrounded by her father's embrace. "I love you dad."

Tim smiled, "I love you right back."

"Thank you for the wedding present."

"You haven't opened it yet."

She pressed her lips to his, "You and mom being here is the wedding present I wanted most."

Tim sighed wishing he would have acted differently when his son and daughter had needed him. "If he is who makes you happy, then I am happy."

Derrick felt as light as air as he held his mother. "I'm so glad that the family is together."

Adrian smiled, "I never lost hope."

After everyone had congratulated them and had eaten, Sherry and Derrick opened their wedding gifts. When it was time for them to leave for their honeymoon, Dominic approached and held both of their hands, "I'm afraid your reservations have been changed. You're flights are now first class and your cruise package is now the ultra-honeymoon package." He laughed at their reaction, "Oh yes, the money that you paid for your honeymoon is being returned to you. Enjoy yourselves."