Chapter 3 - The Wedding Stopped
Now paramedics were on the way.
The ceremony was stopped.
The guests were standing.
And Eleanor still looked offended by the inconvenience.
Caleb held Mara’s hand while Lucinda wiped her forehead with a clean towel.
Mara looked at the bride and whispered, “Your dress.”
Lucinda almost laughed through tears.
“Mara, I swear to God, if you apologize for my dress right now, I’m going to scream.”
Mara gave a weak, broken smile.
Then another contraction hit.
Caleb’s face went white.
Lucinda turned toward the bridesmaids.
“Get the venue manager. Clear the hallway. Tell the pastor there’s a medical emergency.”
One bridesmaid ran.
Another called for water.
A third stood frozen until Lucinda snapped, “Move!”
Eleanor stared at her daughter.
“Lucinda, your guests are waiting.”
Lucinda rose slowly.
Her white satin gown brushed the bathroom tile.
“So was Mara,” she said. “Behind a locked door.”
Eleanor’s lips parted.
For the first time, she had no reply that made her sound superior.
The paramedics arrived before the full truth did.
They moved quickly, respectfully, asking Mara questions and guiding Caleb through what they needed. They did not allow Eleanor near her.
“She’s family,” Eleanor protested.
Caleb answered before the medic could.
“She’s the reason you were called.”
Eleanor’s face hardened.
But everyone had heard.
The venue manager.
The bridesmaids.
Lucinda.
The pastor.
Guests standing near the hallway.
All of them.
Mara was taken to the hospital.
Caleb rode with her.
Lucinda watched the ambulance doors close from the front steps of her wedding venue.
Her groom, Adam, came out behind her.
He had been waiting at the altar.
Confused.
Worried.
Still wearing his boutonniere.
“What happened?” he asked.
Lucinda looked at her mother standing near the doorway, clutch still in her hands.
“Mom locked Mara in the bathroom because her labor interrupted the schedule.”
Adam stared.
Then quietly removed his boutonniere.
Lucinda looked at him.
“What are you doing?”
He took her hand.
“I’m going to the hospital with you.”
“But the wedding—”
He looked toward Eleanor.
“If this family can’t stop a wedding for a woman in labor, I need to know before I marry into it.”
Lucinda cried then.
May you like
Not because the wedding was postponed.
Because someone had just said the truth without dressing it up.
