His Punishment (22 page)

***

She can’t believe what has been
happening around her. The day their parents arrived at Subic was the day they
all left for Manila. The two mothers were in euphoria as they continuously
talked about their children’s upcoming marriage.

Their parents are both socialites
and when they say party, it went even beyond the normal definition of
celebration. They tend to overdo themselves when it comes to organizing. Tara
insisted on just keeping it simple when she knew the party or the guests
wouldn’t matter to her anyway. It was the man who will be standing in the aisle
waiting. That would be her only concern.

But it was a battle between one and
five people. Of course both their parents wanted the best for their only
children. And James definitely wanted her to have the wedding of the century.

“I still can’t believe I am fitting
my gown for your wedding Hon!” Lyn can’t explain her excitement as she slid in
her almost complete maid-of-honor dress.

Tara didn’t know that James called
Christian and asked him to call Lyn to come home immediately, the night she was
confined at the hospital. The day after they arrived in Manila, Lyn came home
from America.

“I can’t believe it too.” She said.
“From what I remember, he told me three years back that he would never ever
like someone like me! And now, God! Hon, he loves me. I know it. I feel it.”
She can’t hide her happiness.

“Oh I am so happy for you BFF!” Lyn
hugged her as she went down the ledge after the dressmaker’s assistant finished
pinning her dress for adjustments.

“Watch it! You might poke my wife
with your pins!” they heard James entered followed by a laughing Christian.

“Hey don’t you yell at my fiancée!”
Christian teased him.

“Fiancée?!” the girls both yelled.

“Well, soon to be.” Christian
kissed Lyn.

“Not soon, babe.” Lyn broke away
from the kiss.

“Don’t you want to be?” he sounded
hurt at his girl friend’s hesitance.

“I still want to have a career you
know. I want to be an established accountant with a big accounting firm!” she
commented before she went inside the dressing room to change back to her normal
clothes.

Tara and James just laughed at
them. It was the first time they saw them argue in front of them.

“But I want kids too. Like them!”
he pointed at the soon to be wed couple. “I want lots and we have to start
early.”

“No! I don’t want lots of children.
One or two would be fine.” She kept protesting even inside the changing room.

“I want a team babe!” he can’t agree
on his girlfriend’s terms.

“Then marry someone else!” she
exclaimed. “I wouldn’t want to be a pig giving birth every year!”

“But babe! I have always dreamed of
a big family. Just like mine. We are happy. And I could provide for you
anyway.” He still continued on with their argument.

“Urgh! I’ll see you later Hon!” she
kissed Tara and left the three of them in the couturier’s shop.

“Babe!” Christian stormed out
following her.

Tara and James were still shocked
but laughing at their best friends disagreement.

“How about you?” James asked Tara.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“How many children do you want?” he
asked lingering his lips on her ears.

“How many can you do?” she asked
seductively and definitely affected with his nibbling on her lobes.

“Woman! Are you mocking me?” he
pulled her to embrace her tight with his arms encircled on her waist.

“That depends . . .” she
beautifully looked at him with looks so tempting.

He stared back at her still not
letting go and kissed her hungrily from lips down to her collar bone.

“Oh!” she exclaimed when she
suddenly felt something poke in front of her.

“I am always ready for sampling
wifey.” He still kissed her without moving any inch away from her.

She laughed lightly at her fiancé’s
teasing.

“Who said I am not?” she teased
back.

“Oh! You are so dead after the
wedding! You still haven’t showed me if my engagement gift fit you right.” He
was referring to the Victoria’s Secret lingerie he gave her.

“Miss Tara?” they heard the
couturier’s assistant back at the room where they were.

“Yes Lily?” she asked.

“Can you get into your inner lining
so we can check for adjustments?” she asked.

“OK.” She moved away from his
embrace before kissing him again.

“Call me if you need help with the
zipper.” He teased her lobes with his tongue one more time before he let her
go.

“Not here!” she smiled seductively
as she turned away from him.

Hell! Who said I didn’t have a
new wildcat? She is exactly how I hoped she would be.
He tried to fix his
pants as he felt an incontrollable bulge in front of him. He knows how lucky he
is with her. He was so wrong three years back when he said she is not his type.
He recently realized she is not just his type. She is his ideal wife.

After they finished the gown and
tux fitting, they decided to go straight home as he sensed she was already
tired from what they have done the whole day.

Earlier before their fitting, they
went to check for wedding bands. She was the one who chose the rings. It was a
simple ring that had continuous diamonds all around its sides, not the top. He
didn’t want to agree at first because he really wanted to give the eternity
ring with diamonds measuring a carat each.

After picking their rings, they
went to do the photo-shoot with their hired photographer for the video
presentation for them at the wedding.

And their last stop for the day was
the couturier.

“Do you feel heavy?” he asked her
as she slid inside his red S-type Jaguar. He didn’t want her to feel any
uncomfortable in his SUV while getting up and he knew the jag’s ride was
smoother.

“What?” she asked as she leaned
back lusciously at her seat.

“I mean your tummy? Is it heavy?”
he asked concerned.

She laughed at his question.
“James! I am just two months pregnant!”

“I don’t know. I mean, how would I
know when it starts to get heavy? I’ve never been pregnant!” he said
defensively. “Do you crave for any food yet?”

“No. I eat anything. I don’t look
for any unusual kind of food yet but I always want to see you. That’s all I
have noticed.” She admitted.

“You mean, you didn’t want to see
me when you weren’t pregnant?” he’s faking his pain.

“Yes. I mean, I want to see you
more now. Like, I want to see you when I wake up and see you before I sleep.”

“What? How about the hours in
between?” he asked frowning.

“That too. I’m not done talking
yet!” she said defensively when he didn’t let her finish her first sentence.

“Well, I can do something about
that.” He winked.

“What do you mean?”

He pressed Siri and asked her to
call his mom.

“Mom? I’m bringing Tara home
tonight OK? She said she wants to see me when she wakes up and before she
sleeps, I was thinking if I don’t let her, my child won’t look like me.” He
joked.

“Great! See you soon.”

He saw him hang up and then he
spoke to Siri again and asked her for her mom this time.

“Mom?” he glanced her way and saw
her chinky eyes rounding up. “Can Tara sleep with me tonight? I think she is
craving for seeing me instead of food. Would that be okay?” she eyed him while
smiling at his words.

Was he literally telling my mom
that I am craving for him?

“Thanks mom! We will drop by so she
can pick up some clothes.”

“Wifey! This is perfect!”

“I can’t believe you talked to my
mom like that.”

“What can I say?  I’ve got the best
mother-in-law!”

***

Tara woke up the next day not
finding James beside her bed. She pouted. She thought she would wake up to the
handsome face of her husband to be but she was wrong.

She went to the bathroom to pee and
wash her face and brush her teeth still thinking where James was. She can’t
believe he left her sleeping and let her wake up by herself.

She started to go down the stairs
to ask for breakfast as the little one growing inside her is unusually hungry
these past few days. She held her tummy as she went down to the kitchen. The
growling was starting to get louder and she laughed a bit. Her little baby
dinosaur is impatient like his father.

“Good morning.” She was startled
when she turned around and found him about to embrace her.

“Where have you been?” she pouted
again. “You left me alone in the room. I didn’t wake up to see . . .” her voice
was silenced as he replied with a long kiss.

“These lips of yours are simply
amazing. Whatever you do, it just makes me want to kiss you.” He said after
giving her the good morning kiss she was waiting for.

“How’s my baby today?” he kissed
her tummy afterwards.

“I think we have to go to the
doctor for a scan, I am already having a hard time talking to it. I can’t say
him or her. I want to know soon.” She felt excited.

They have not yet checked for the
baby’s gender and they have not done any ultrasound yet even when she was
confined overnight. She was just given medicines to help the baby stick
stronger in her womb.

“Yes wifey, we will go to the
doctor after the wedding.” He paused a while and gave her a kiss after he
breathed deeply. “Come, I have something for you.” He let her lips go and
pulled her by the hand to the kitchen.

She was stunned to see the
countertop full of food. Pancakes, toasts, eggs, chicken, ham, bacon, almost
everything was there.

“I cooked.” He said proudly.

“You did? You know how?” she was
happily surprised.

“Nah. I fried the other food and
the chef cooked the real food.” He had to admit as she might request for more
than he can ever do.

She laughed at his confession.

“Point for effort.” She smiled as he
pulled one of the stools to the counter top for her to sit.

He made her sit in front of the
pile of pancakes with whipped cream on top. But instead of a fruit resting on
the tip, it was a ring. The biggest ring she has seen in her life. She looked
up at him who was smiling from ear to ear.

“I didn’t fry that one.” He pointed
to the ring.

“Oh my God! James, this is worth
millions!” she wasn’t exaggerating. He took the six carat heart shaped diamond
ring from the whipped cream and knelt in front of her for the second time.

“You are priceless wifey. You know
I can buy you more of this and it wouldn’t sum up to how much you mean to me.
The price tag was tiny compared to how I value you.” He was still kneeling and
extending his arm for her to take the ring.

The solitaire diamond is almost the
size of the home button of her iPhone, the glitter of that happy heart shape
was glistening and blinding her eyes. She was still shocked that he is giving
her something even more expensive than his red Jag outside.

“I know I already asked you to
marry me and you said yes. But I have not yet asked you to stay with me
forever.” He took her hand and slowly slid the enormous shining ring on her
finger. “Til all my hair falls out and til all your hair turns gray, til I had
my third laser treatment for my eyes and til you wear your one inch thick
reading glasses, til my skin crumples like prunes and your skin sags like water
balloons, til my last breath sweetheart, stay with me.”

She cried at his romantic words of
their future. She was definitely growing old with this man. She wanted nothing
less.

“Yes darling, ‘til my last breath.”
She said and kissed him while kneeling.

“No! I must die first. I’m not sure
if I could endure if you die ahead of me.” He cupped her face and kissed her
back.

“Grow old with me. No annulment. No
legal separation. No divorce.” He is asking her to promise him.

“I promise. I’ll be your first,
last and only wife in this lifetime.” He stood up and encircled his arms on her
when he heard her promise.

***

He can’t sit still. He kept walking
around the entire perimeter of his hotel suite.

“Christ dude!” Howard scolded him.

“Can you please stop pacing back
and forth?” Matt hollered.

Christian and Paco are getting
dressed as they came in later than the two boys.

“Hey! It’s your wedding day!”
Christian trying to calm him down.

“That makes me giddier.” He
admitted.

“Why? Are you not sure with this?”
Paco asked.

“What?!” he exclaimed.

“Why are you so nervous?” Paco
asked again.

“I don’t know. What if she changed
her mind? What if she doesn’t show up?”

All the boys laughed at him.

“Dude, that’s what you call wedding
jitters.” Christian patted his back. “I haven’t been married, but I think
that’s just normal.”

“Can we go to the church now?” he
asked them.

“What? It’s still two and a half
hours early.” Howard exclaimed.

“We still have a pictorial in the
church.” He tried to convince them.

“The pictorial could be done in
fifteen minutes dude! You don’t need two hours for that.” Matt said.

“Please . . . Can we just go now?”
he asked like a little boy asking for a new Starwars collectible.

“OK! OK!” Christian stood up.

“Be thankful it’s your wedding
day!” Howard said as he followed Christian to the door.

Matt and Paco stayed beside him.

“Congrats dude!” Matt said shaking
his hand.

“Yeah! You’re marrying one of the
prettiest girls in school, I’m envious.” Paco patted his shoulder.

“You’re really lucky man!” Matt
said again.

“And you knocked her up!” Paco was
jolly. “Is she better in bed than Rhea?”

“Fuck you man!” he said. “Don’t
talk about her like that.”

“Can’t believe you chose to fall
for your stalker.” Matt still can’t believe they’re getting married.

“You can never choose who you fall
for.” He said dreamily. “It chooses you.”

“Shit! You’re so cheesy!” Matt
exaggeratingly wriggled in his tux.

They arrived at the church two
hours ahead of schedule. They had enough time for the pictorial with the
entourage. His palms are sweating in nervousness.

Now, he literally waited for his
bride for hours.

He went back to the car to wait for
the bridal car to arrive and didn’t realize he fell asleep.

“James! Dude!” Christian nudged his
elbow to wake him up.

“Chris!” he can’t believe he fell
asleep while waiting for her.

“She’s already here. The entrance
of entourage is starting in a couple minutes. I’ll see you down the aisle man.”
He slapped his hand with his and gripped on it tight.

He left before James and then he
followed and marched down the aisle. He was so excited and he felt like he was
walking without recognizing the people around him. He felt like gliding towards
the altar.

He waited for her along with
Christian.

He saw her enter the church with
much elegance in her long-sleeved, off-shoulder stretchable lace with
sweetheart neckline. Her long veil covered her face and entire body. It was
hard for him to see her face but he secretly hoped that she was as excited as
he was.

After walking like a five-mile long
aisle because of suspense, she was finally handed over to James by her parents
and he led her to the altar with him.

She knelt down beside him in front
of the Bishop that would seal their matrimony. He couldn’t help look at her and
saw through her veil and gasped.

“Surprised?” Rhea asked.

He stood up and shouted to the top
of his lungs.

“James! James!” Christian tried to
wake him up.

“Shit dude! I had the worst
nightmare.” He was panting when he woke up.

“That happens when you’re too
excited.” His best bud in his tux was laughing at him.

“Goodness. I am so glad I’m awake
now.” His nightmare was horrible and he couldn’t breathe while dreaming. The
scene was so vivid and it felt so real.

Christian was still laughing at him
as he opened the limousine’s door.

“Get out.” He patted the groom in
the arm before he went out of the car himself.

The church is slowly being packed
by their relatives and friends. And he slowly got out of the car to greet them
while waiting for her bride to arrive.

“The entourage march is starting in
ten minutes.” He heard the coordinator tell him once he approached his parents
who is talking with her.

“But where’s Tara?” he looked
around for the white Chrysler 300C they rented for their wedding.

“She arrived a couple minutes ago
and they are parked two minutes away from here for no one to see her yet.” It
was Tara’s mom who offered the explanation.

“Are you sure she’s here?” he
couldn’t hide his worry after his horrible nightmare.

“Oh yes son, don’t worry, she won’t
run away from you.”  Her dad patted his shoulders.

His parents laughed at her dad’s
assurance.

He smiled a bit at his
father-in-law’s remark.

“We should start lining up inside
the church for the procession.” The coordinator spoke again as they were led
inside the church with the entourage.

Just before the church’s main door
was closed, he saw the wedding car park right in front of the entrance.

He sighed in relief to know that
she is already there, but the tension from his nightmare was still catching up
with him. He was sure the apprehension will only be gone if he sees Tara in
front of him while exchanging vows.

The pianist and violinist started
playing Brian Crain’s version of Canon in D as they were informed that the
march is about to start. The two little boys walked as they held onto the bible
and their rings and followed by Christian as his best man and then followed by
his parents.

He looked across the church
nervously seeing it packed with their guests. He can feel his tiny arm hairs
rising from the setting. The music that his bride chose for the processional
was perfect to create a very solemn and romantic atmosphere.

He started walking towards the
altar in genuine smiles that he found so peaceful. Finally, it’s his day. Yes,
it is his day, the start of his wonderful life with the woman he loved dearly
and exceedingly more than he loved his life.

They only had two sets of Principal
sponsors who were dressed in their ecru colored long gowns with a bouquet of
yellow Holland tulips and their partners in black coats and golden yellow tie.

They had twelve beautiful flower
girls dressed in yellow sleeveless dresses that reached the floor and with a
three inch orange belt, that were matched with orange gerbera daisies as head
pieces. They all carried baskets full of yellow and orange rose petals that
they scattered down the aisle as they walked. Most of the little five year olds
were their nieces and some are daughters of their parents’ friends.