Page 10 of Bartholomew
In my room, my sisters and mother met me and helped me into my dress. It was a beautiful, simple dress that fit me well. Though I still missed the delicate lace, I ran my hands over the smooth fabric, enjoying the feel of it against my skin. I wore no gloves, but Mother had insisted on the same veil my sisters had worn. Mother’s veil. Plain and modest, it covered my face well while still letting me see where I was walking.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom to take a look,” I said with a giant smile on my face. This may not have been a marriage of love, but it was an exciting day, and I was bound and determined to enjoy it.
“Oh, we have no time for that. Plus, it’s not about what you look like in the dress, Delilah,” Elisheba chided. “You know, Mother and Father should have named you Genesis and named Genesis Delilah.”
“Oh, come now, Elisheba, be kind. We had no way of knowing that our little Genesis would be the beauty of them all.” Mother insisted.
“You do look beautiful, Delilah,” Hannah whispered from beside me. She was the youngest of my sisters and by far the kindest. It was still odd to me that at a mere eighteen years old, she had already been married for two years. While it wasn’t uncommon to marry off girls at a young age here in Zion, it was still strange to me. It was quite the spectacle to be at my current age of twenty-five, just now getting married, while my youngest sister had gone through all of this at the tender age of sixteen.
“Hurry, let us get to the church, lest the Temple family change their minds,” Mother nagged, guiding us towards the stairs. My sisters filed out quickly, their husbands in tow, and headed to the cars. I stopped in the doorway of the place I had called home my entire life and took the moment in. Goodbye house. Goodbye old life. Goodbye Delilah Christian.
“Hurry up, Delilah! Lord’s mercy reign down on us. It could still be the school rooms for you if you don’t get a move on!” I rolled my eyes and smiled, letting the moment pass as I walked to the car and got in.
CHAPTER3
BARTHOLOMEW
“I still can’t believe you fucking showed up at Abditory last night, man,” Gideon teased me.
“How did you even know I was there?” I asked, surprised he had seen me at all.
“I hear things,” he jested, rocking anxiously on his heels.
“I needed to blow off some steam,” I explained with a nonchalant shrug. The full-length mirror was just slightly too short to fit my full frame. Still, it gave me at least some semblance of style for my big day.
“You mean blow your load,” Malachi cajoled, and I shot him a grin.
“We are in the nursery room of a church. You are all ridiculous,” Levi scolded the lot of us, not that it did any good.
“Oh, please. No one can hear us down here. Why are we down here, by the way? Couldn’t we have used a Sunday school room or something?” Malachi bitched.
“I honestly have no idea why you are down here, Malachi. You, Gideon, and Zeke are all supposed to be up in the sanctuary being good little Christian boys for Mother and Father,” Levi shot right back.
“Yes, run along, Malachi, and go be a good Christian boy,” I teased, shoving him with my shoulder.
“Oh, I’ll show you a good little Christian boy. Just meet me in the woods and we’ll have a run. Let’s see who lasts longest,” Malachi chuckled, shoving me right back.
“Not my kink,” I remarked.
“But still valid,” the rest of my brothers filled in.
“Seriously, you three should get to the sanctuary before Father comes looking for you,” Levi reminded.
“Not until Ollie answers my question. Why Abditory last night?” Gideon pressed on, not letting it go.
“I already told you. I needed to blow off some steam,” I answered, or rather, evaded.
“What’s the real reason?” Zeke asked. For a quiet dude, he could be oddly observant when he wanted to be.
Levi’s eyes caught mine in the mirror and I knew he knew exactly what it was.
“I just needed to be me for an evening. Not Bartholomew, the son of Titus. Not a soon-to-be husband. Not some man with a myriad of expectations poured onto him like bricks of a pyramid meant to crush him into a million tiny pieces. I just… I needed to be me for a little while longer.”
The quiet in the room after my statement was nearly deafening.
“Fair enough, but next time maybe send out a group text or something,” Gideon chuckled, pushing the door to the nursery open and walking out. Zeke and Malachi followed him shortly, giving me a somber but supportive look before they each took their leave. I glanced at the clock again. Only half an hour before the ceremony would begin.
“This is really it, huh?” I asked, rather rhetorically.
