Chapter 25

Chapter

Twenty-Five

Unaware that any of this was happening with Matty, Nico was hard at work at the clinic. He had interviews arranged with two potential nurses and was happy to share with Doc Louis that his friend Otto would be joining their staff in the near future. He’d worked hard during medical school, but that was nothing compared to the responsibilities he had at the clinic. He had been going home exhausted but feeling great at the same time.

On this particular day, Nico was heading down the hall when he heard a familiar voice praying over a seriously ill female patient. Father Andrew had apparently been summoned by the patient’s husband or children. He waited politely for the prayer to end, and when he heard the word “amen,” he stuck his head in the door and said, “Afternoon, Father Andrew. It’s good of you to come. ”

Strangely, Father Andrew merely raised his head and glared at Nico. He snubbed his greeting and went back to his praying.

Nico found this response odd since the priest had always been cordial to everyone in his family in the past. He thought perhaps he’d interrupted something and suddenly felt like a fool. He stepped away from the door and resolved to apologize as soon as possible. He went immediately into the exam room of the next patient to check on the man’s wound. About the same time he finished dressing the wound, he heard footsteps in the hallway and excused himself after instructing the patient to keep the wound clean.

“Father Andrew, a word please?” Nico blocked the hallway and gestured into his private office as he stood in front of the priest, giving him little choice but to follow his direction.

Getting right to it as soon as he closed the door, Nico said, “Father, I apologize if I interrupted your pastoral visit with Mrs. Carpenter. Your presence is always a comfort, I’m sure, to the patients and their families.” So far Father Andrew had yet to smile or even nod, so Nico continued, “I’m glad you’re here because I’ve been wanting to ask you if you would agree to officiating my marriage to my fiancée, Eden.” Nico was fairly certain at this point that he wasn’t going to find anyone to marry all three of them, and he worried Matty might find it emotionally difficult to conduct the ceremony, so he’d best get on with things and marry Eden. They would figure out what to do with Matty on their own, but he knew how anxious Eden was to get married.

“Is she Catholic?” was his terse reply.

“No, sir. Lutheran.”

“The only way I will preside is if she agrees to convert.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t see why that’s necessary. She’s a baptized Christian. How long would it take to convert, if she were to agree?”

“A year or two.” This wasn’t exactly true because the conversion for a practicing Christian could be accomplished in as few as a couple of weeks, but Father Andrew did not feel like being accommodating on this day.

“Eden doesn’t want to wait that long to get married. Thank you anyway, but I guess we’ll have to find an alternate solution.” He studied Father Andrew’s petulant expression and asked, “Is there something else wrong, Father? What am I missing?”

“You are ruining everything!” he snapped.

“Sir? What exactly am I ruining? Do you disapprove of my taking over the clinic? I assure you I am completely qualified and have Doc Louis’ full confidence. We also have some wonderful plans to add staff and expand the practice…”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, you conceited brat!” he interrupted as Nico gaped at him. “You’ve turned Father Matthew away from me! He was mine to mold and mine to…”

“Matty is his own person, Father. He doesn’t belong to anyone,” Nico interrupted right back. “I haven’t done anything except love him and encourage him to decide his own path. My entire family loves him. You know that.”

Father Andrew snorted. “Love him. Hah. You don’t know the meaning of the word.”

“Pardon me?”

“You think because your family coddles him and tries to interfere in his true calling, you love him. I’m the one who truly loves him! I’ve watched him suffer and struggle for years, all the time keeping the purest faith in the Almighty. He has the most beautiful soul in the world. But you think because you show up to mass once or twice a year, you know what it’s like to be a good Catholic. You and your heathen parents who lead the most immoral lifestyle imaginable—you think you know how to love? Hah! You are all a bunch of corrupt sinners, and I pity this fiancée of yours who’s getting dragged into your family’s depravity!”

Nico was beyond stunned by this outburst. Instead of raising his voice, however, he asked quietly, “Father Andrew, what has happened to you? You’ve always been a friend to my family, and it was their impression that you accepted them with grace and understanding. Now you call them names and accuse us of trying to manipulate a person I’ve grown up with and love as dearly as I love my parents and my fiancée. How were you able to dine at their table over and over and then go home and look at yourself in the mirror? If you reviled them all so much, how can you be such a hypocrite? And why have you been avoiding Matty when all he’s wanted to do was talk to you? You confuse me, sir.”

Father Andrew, who’d been standing with his chest puffed out, suddenly collapsed into a chair and moaned, “It’s all falling apart. All of my careful plans. Everything was going along just fine until you came back. You showed up with that woman.” He glared at Nico. “You tempted him with your sinning ways and turned him against me and the beautiful, loving partnership we could have had. I waited patiently, you know. He was too young, so I waited until he was a grown man, and I knew he’d be ready for me.” There was a strange, almost mad twinkle in Father Andrew’s eyes as he continued, “I had it all figured out. It’s a lonely life, the priesthood. But it doesn’t have to be. Not if you have someone you can rely on. Someone you can come home to. Someone you can… work through your temptations with. Sin can be absolved, as long as you are sorry. As long as you know it’s a sin. That’s what’s wrong with your family, Nico. You don’t have any shame! And now you’re pulling Matty away from me, away from what we could be…”

Trying to keep the shock out of his voice over this revelation, Nico said, “You’re jealous! Father Andrew, you can’t seriously think you could somehow force Matty to love you just because you want him to.” Receiving nothing but an angry stare from Father Andrew, he continued, “Well, I can’t presume to speak for Matty because this is his business, but I sincerely recommend that you come to the house and talk to him yourself. You can’t keep hiding from him. I believe you owe an apology to my parents for taking advantage of their hospitality while judging them, and you owe Matty an apology for trying to run his life for him. And something else, which has been bothering me for some time… why would you tell Matty you hadn’t given his father last rites? You know that hurt him far more deeply than he let on.”

“He needed to feel a little of my pain.” Father Andrew stood and bolted from the office and out of the clinic.

“Whew,” Nico said, shaking his head. “Wait until Matty hears this.”

The docket of patients was blessedly light for the rest of the day, and Nico was able to head home early. He desperately wanted to bathe and get into comfortable clothes, so after a quick greeting to his mother, he headed straight for his room. Opening the bedroom door, he smiled to see Eden and Matty wrapped around each other and sound asleep. On closer inspection, he realized they were both naked under the blanket. He nodded happily and quietly headed to take a bath, thinking, Good for them. They needed this . He didn’t feel an ounce of jealousy, he realized, and smiled again.

A little while later, Matty awoke to the sound of Eden making appreciative noises in his embrace, and he saw that Nico had joined them. He was immediately torn between making love and telling Nico about the interesting conversation they’d had with the bishop. Well, first things first . He kissed both of his lovers, and they proceeded to explore one another in the most interesting ways possible. Mouths and hands were everywhere, and the sounds of passion filled the room. Finally, he asked softly, “Nico, may I take you this time?”

Eden’s eyes sparkled, and she smiled as Nico thought it over.

Nico answered with a lopsided grin, “I never thought I’d feel like the virgin amongst us. Yes, Matty. Please do.”

“You’ll enjoy it,” Matty promised. “And I’ll be careful.”

“I know you will. I trust you. Eden had no complaints, did you, love?” He kissed her cheek.

“None at all. It feels very naughty, though. Now, make love to me, Nico, while Matty gets you ready.”

Several minutes later, Eden was enjoying Nico’s steady thrusts into her body when she heard him gasp loudly and throw back his head as if in complete abandon. Matty was behind Nico and had obviously claimed Nico’s backside. Matty’s face was a study in concentration as he began thrusting in and out of Nico, and Nico could not suppress a case of the shudders as this assault on his senses continued. He gripped the bed on either side of Eden and let Matty control the speed and rhythm of their lovemaking. Harder and harder, Matty pounded into Nico and Nico into Eden until Eden nearly screamed with the incredible sensation that poured through her. One after the other of them succumbed to their passion until they all lay in a satisfied heap.

“Did you like it, Nico?” Eden asked when her breathing returned to normal.

“Oh, God yes. Making love to both of you at the same time is amazing.”

Matty chuckled. “It is. Now… will you both marry me?”

Nico rolled so he could look at both of them at once and said, “You know we will.”

“Absolutely,” Eden added. “How?”

“I have an idea.” Matty told them. “How about this? If I preside over your wedding vows to each other, you two can be legally married as you originally planned. Then, as part of the ceremony, we can all three participate in a handfasting ceremony.”

“What’s that?” Eden asked.

“It’s an old Celtic ritual that goes back at least two thousand years. The Vikings also had a version of it in their culture. The marriage couple has someone wrap their hands together with a ribbon or whatever you choose, and they make promises to one another. Although the tradition has been practiced by many cultures since its beginning, it’s probably not legally binding in California. It’s definitely good enough for me though, as it is emotionally as binding as a legal marriage. The more modern belief is that if the union lasts for more than a year and a day after the handfasting, it will last forever. We could have one—or even all three—of your parents wrap our hands, Nico. What do you both think?”

“Oh, Matty, that would be beautiful,” Eden said with tears in her eyes.

“How soon can we do it?” Nico asked.

“As soon as the two of you get a marriage license, and we figure out the vows we each want to make. I propose we do it right here in the courtyard of the estate since this house is so special to all of us. I can’t think of a better place; it’s peaceful and beautiful out there with all of the bougainvillea and the fountain.” He looked down and then back up. “I don’t think the church is exactly where the three of us should do this.”

“About that…” Nico started. “I talked to Father Andrew today, and he made some rather eye-opening revelations.”

Matty nodded and said, “I’m not surprised. Eden and I met with Bishop Morrow this afternoon, and we also received some interesting and somewhat startling information.”

Eden interjected, “It’s almost time for dinner, so why don’t we get dressed and share all of this with everyone at the same time?”

“Great idea,” Nico agreed.

“Yes,” Matty said firmly.

“I told Father Andrew to come to the house tonight to talk to you and my parents about his behavior, but I doubt he’ll show up.” Nico shrugged. “He hasn’t yet, but we’ll see. Maybe he’ll man up. Probably not.”