Page 34 of Sugarplum Dreams
“That’s a mature way of looking at it,” Pastor Connelly said as he slowly walked beside Wilson to the door.
“You’re welcome to stay, there’s plenty of leftovers from lunch, and Charity has a pie that she hasn’t cut but has been saving for this occasion.”
“I think the Mrs. and I would like to get home and take a nap,” Pastor Connelly said with a smile as he looked over at his wife who was obviously saying goodbye to the ladies.
“I understand that desire. I think with children though, my naptime is going to be limited.”
“For a while. But then, the kids grow up and you get that time back again. It just seems like it’ll never end while you’re in it, but one day it does, and then you miss it.”
“That’s what I hear,” Wilson said, knowing that his mother had said something very similar to him.
“So, son, I’ve been thinking about this whole marriage of convenience thing,” Pastor Connelly said, looking around and lowering his voice.
Wilson lowered his head so that he could hear a little better. “And?”
“And I think that men and women are a little different. I know you know that, but I just wanted to remind you and to let you know that I think it might be a good idea for you to…to know each other a while before you…move on, if you know what I mean.”
He assumed the pastor was talking about intimacy, although he didn’t come right out and say it. But nothing else seemed to fit.
Wilson nodded. “I wondered how long.”
He felt like he was ready tonight. He had a certain little feeling every time he looked at Charity. She wasn’t hard to look at, and for Wilson, marriage always meant that it came with certain benefits. That wasn’t the reason he wanted to get married soon, but he certainly wasn’t going to turn that down since it came with the territory.
He had agreed to sleep on the couch tonight, but he assumed that when they moved to his house, they would be sharing a room and a bed together.
“Well, I couldn’t tell you for sure how long, but it seems to me that if you were dating or courting, you would spend six months or a year getting to know each other. That seems applicable here. I would say a year, just to be on the safe side.”
A year? Wilson tried not to look too dismayed. He had been thinking a couple of weeks, not…a year?
But he respected the pastor’s opinion and knew that the man wanted the very best for them and their marriage.
“You want to build a strong foundation. A good, solid friendship. You want to trust each other. You don’t want the physical side to get in the way of building something that will last a lifetime. Remember, son, you’re probably more eager for the marriage bed than she is, and if you give her time to adjust, to get used to you, and don’t push her, you’ll have something better than if you rush in.”
“I understand.” He didn’t like it, wasn’t very happy about that, but he understood. It would take Charity a little longer to get used to him. That made sense.
“Are you sure a year?” he asked, just to confirm. Maybe the pastor actually meant a month and got a little confused about what he was saying.
“I believe that to be a good idea. There are no stipulations in the Bible, so I can’t give you a chapter and verse. But I do know that if you were getting to know each other without being married first, you would spend approximately a year doing that. Some people get married in a shorter amount of time, some people spend longer.”
Wilson wanted to ask about the verse where Paul said it was better to marry than to burn, but he figured Pastor Connelly knew that verse and was giving his advice with that in mind.
Of course, Wilson was already married. Although he didn’t feel that way. And he still hadn’t remembered to get rings. Well, the jewelry store had probably been open yesterday, but he hadn’t had time to go check.
Still, would a ring make him feel more married? He didn’t figure it would.
“All right. I can see God’s hand of blessing on this marriage, and I wish you the very best,” Pastor Connelly said as his wife came over and he put his arm around her, and they walked out the door together.
Somehow seeing them leave made Wilson feel bereft. Which was so odd. Maybe it was the idea that he had a whole year in front of him and he needed to look at it in a different way. It wasn’t about denying himself, it was about courting Charity. He needed to spend that year courting his wife, wooing her, doing all the things that he didn’t do before they were married, so that next year this time, she was comfortable with him and looked at him like someone she wouldn’t mind sharing a bed with and waking up beside.
He nodded his head. He could do it. He could get advice from someone. Someone who knew what women wanted andcould guide him in that direction. After all, the Bible said that he was supposed to dwell with his wife according to knowledge. He should know her, should know everything he could about her, and he had a whole year to do that. And then, after that, he had the rest of his life for the things that he was most eager for. He could wait.
Chapter Fifteen
“And even though the wise men didn’t actually come on Christmas, since we’re celebrating the birth of Jesus, we kind of lump it all in together, and that’s how we end up with wise men at the manger scene on Christmas,” Wilson said, sitting on the floor beside the bunk beds where Gifford and Banks were already tucked in.
Charity stood at the door, smiling at the scene. The only light in the room was a nightlight, and she could see the outline of Wilson as he sat, looking toward the bed, his hands folded in his lap, his posture relaxed.
She had put Lavinia and the two little ones to bed, and Wilson was still chatting with the boys.
