With Gareth supporting him, Vine stood to his feet and slightly opened his eyes.
"He is too drunk. He surely will sue me…"
"Leave that to me. He won't sue you for anything. Let's get it done, pastor."
The pastor pulled out his bible and looked around the room in fear. He did not want to proceed with the marriage.
Travis held his daughter's hand, and all the while she was praying that Vine would just not wake up at all so that there would be no marriage. Kiara's heart sank when she saw Vine fully opening his eyes and he looked at the people in the room.
"What on earth is happening here?" he asked in a murmur.
"Your wedding, Vine. You're getting married," his grandmother explained.
"No, I am not," he was about to slump back into the sitting position when Gareth held and supported him.
"Why can't we wait until he is sober enough to do this?" Vine's grandfather asked with a voice full of concern.
"My dear husband, I have said this before, and I will say it again: Vine and Kiara must get married. The last thing I want is for this baby to be born to unmarried parents. We are the Pinkerton family; we have values and morals to uphold. They will have to get married."
"Well I understand that, my dear wife. But all I am saying is, we all know that there is another man in the picture. What if in the end we find out that the child belongs to him?"
"We will see what to do when that happens. For now, we are doing the right thing. Until we prove who the father of the child is, we will take care of Kiara and the child as our own; because the last thing we want is to later on regret that we should have taken good care of them. And I assured Kiara that in case the child is not a Pinkerton, she will be free to leave this family. I really do not wish to keep repeating myself when it comes to this matter. I thought I had explained everything to everyone clearly."
There was silence in the room. Aletha also wished to have the wedding postponed, but she dared not voice her feelings. She knew that Travis was not with her on that one, and she also feared lady Pinkerton. The woman was very controlling and intimidating. Aletha dared not oppose her, especially seeing that she was already is a bad mood.
"Please proceed, pastor." Vine's grandmother said.
"Oh, ok. So, the man is obviously unaware of what is happening. He will need to respond to me and make some vows, you know. I mean, can't we wait…." The pastor tried to explain himself but lady Pinkerton cut in and told him to proceed with the marriage.
"Ladies and gentleman, we're gathered here to witness the joining in holy matrimony of Vine Lucas Pinkerton and Kiara Angela Noels. Before I proceed, is there anyone here who has a reason why this marriage may not proceed? You may speak now or forever hold your peace."
There was silence, and the pastor went on to say, "What about you, the bride and groom, would you have any reason why this marriage should not go on?"
He looked at Vine, whose eyes were closed and it was difficult to tell whether he was hearing anything or not. He asked Kiara, and she looked up at Vine, and his words rang in her mind, "I do not love you.", Doing her best to push the words to the back of her mind, Kiara shook her head and said, "I know not of any reason."
The pastor's voice could be clearly heard… "Do you promise to love her above all others…to value her friendship…to build your relationship under the guidance and care of God….to stand beside her in sickness and health…in times of prosperity and decline….in peace and in turmoil…as long as you both shall live…"
Vine was silent.
The pastor turned to look at lady Pinkerton and he said, "he is not in a condition to make any vows. He won't be able to sign the certificate."
"Go ahead, pastor," the lady gave her command.
"Vine, do you promise to take her as your lawfully wedded wife, and to love her?"
Gareth gave Vine three tiny slaps and said, "young master, say something. Say I do."
"What? What do you want?" Vine asked.
"Just say I do," Gareth repeated.
"Why, why should I say that?" Vine asked and he fidgeted, trying to get out of Gareth's hold. "Let me sit down."
"Just say I do."
Vine slumped into the chair, threw his hands on the table and muttered, "I do". Before anyone knew it, he was already snoring.
"This is illegal, ma'am. I cannot possibly say the young man knows what he is doing."
"It's OK pastor, please proceed."
The pastor repeated the same words to Kiara, and she responded with "I do."
The pastor looked around and then speaking with much fear, he said, "they will need to sign the certificate. There is no way Vine will sign it like this."
Lady Pinkerton thought about it for a while, and she asked, "Is it possible for him to sign it on another day? Tomorrow, maybe?"
"I…I have never done anything like that, ma'am. As it is, this wedding cannot be registered."
"Let Kiara sign it, then."
"Yes but it needs two signatures."
"I know. Just let her sign it for now, we will see what we can do later on."
Kiara was seriously exhausted. She picked the pen and signed her name, wondering if she could call herself a married woman or not. Married to who? To herself, maybe, because as far as she knew, Vine was not part of the marriage at all. She took the two rings and upon being asked to, she had to put Vine's ring in his finger, and she herself wore her own ring by herself.
There was a nicely prepared dinner, and the family sat down to eat. Kiara had to go upstairs to remove the wedding dress which weighed heavily on her already exhausted body. Tessa and Aletha went up with her. Aletha had gone into the bathroom when Tessa asked,
"Do you like the ring?"
"I like it," she smiled briefly before saying, "Tessa, may I use your phone? Your personal phone."
"Umm, I'm sorry but we work under very strict conditions. I was given an order that if you want to use a phone, you use that one which you have been using before."
"But it records all my calls. I don't like it when all my privacy is taken away from me." Kiara protested.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but lady Pinkerton said that's the only phone you must use until she gives us a different instruction."
"Why should my calls be recorded anyway? I am not allowed to call anyone except my mum and dad! I have friends too, I should be able to call them!" Kiara said.
Tessa did not respond. She remained starring at Kiara, and told herself that there was no way she was ever going to allow Kiara to use her personal phone. She could not imagine what Gareth, under the instruction of lady Pinkerton, would do to her if she ever dared to do that.
Aletha came out and started to undo the many buttons which were at the back of the dress. In silence, Kiara changed into a comfortable dress and they walked back to the dining area.
"So, mum, am I married or not?" she asked her mother while they were walking.
"My child, I don't even know. The pastor said the marriage cannot be registered, and understandably so. I think tomorrow they may have to ask Vine to sign that certificate."
"I don't think he will agree. He does not love me."
"He doesn't? How do you know?"
"Well, he told me so himself. As straight forward as that: I do not love you."
"Aww, my poor child, come here!" Aletha hugged her child and kissed her on the forehead. "How are you holding up? He actually told you that? In those exact words?"
"Yes. He told me that…I guess I am becoming tough. I have learnt to ignore him and not even take to heart whatever he says."
"Does he say a lot of bad things about you?" Aletha asked, deep pain stabbing her heart.
"He does."
"Congratulations my child!" Travis' voice called out from the dining area. He walked forward and hugged his daughter.
"You are now a married woman. Be patient with him, I know he gets drunk and all, but it's really not a big issue. He promised to love and to take care of you, so just be a good wife and everything else will fall into place."
"Did he, dad? Did he really promise to love and care for me?" her voice was trembling.
"Of course," Travis chuckled.
"Well from what I saw and heard dad, I am the one who promised to love and care for him. He made no such promise. It was a one-sided promise."