Contract Marriage starring Love and Revenge
Chapter 81. Like a Father/Like a son-in-law

Chapter 81: 81. Like a Father/Like a son-in-law

"Sister Champagne?" Oh no. I didn’t even realize my pastor was sitting amongst them. Well, he is a married man after all. "Do you possibly mean that she—"

Duke doesn’t even allow the man to complete his words before answering, "Yes."

"That’s my wife." A kind of eerie yet exciting Possessiveness seems to surround his words. He suddenly makes me sound like something that wholly and only belongs to him. Something to not be shared with anyone else and something he doesn’t want to share with anyone else.

"Sister Champagne! Really?" Somebody is saying.

"So you’re the husband we know exists but have never seen." Another person is saying.

"We finally get to see the mystery man who swept our dear sister champagne off her feet."

"In the flesh." Duke responds.

"Wow, brother Duke you stole such a beautiful sweet girl, hope you’re making up for that?" Some asks teasingly.

Duke nods and says, "Every day."

"Sister Champagne, why haven’t you been dragging him to church with you all this while, look how well he fits into the house of God, like he was made to be right here amongst us." Someone says and all I can do is stand here and shine my teeth nervously to every they say.

Duke Grand is out of his mind. This I know for sure now.

...

"You’re crazy." I mumble to myself, "I swear, you’re totally crazy."

"I thought you knew that already." He whispers to me.

"I’m not prepared for this."

"Pagne, stop tapping your foot." He says and I look down and realize that truly, my foot is tapping the ground repeatedly without following any particular beat or rhythm. I’m just nervously repeating the motion because of my panicked state of mind.

I try to stop but I quickly discover that my brain and foot are not in sync at the moment. Nothing in my body is in sync right now.

After Duke crazily announced that he is my husband my pastor, pastor Nathan asked us to see him before we left so here we are, in the waiting area in front of the pastor’s office, waiting for our turn.

"What are you even doing here?!" I say in a tone that is a little louder than I intended and it causes stares from the other people who are waiting to see Pastor Nathan.

"I thought you wanted me to go to church." Oh he is insufferable! Now he’s going to use that card? Really?

"Have I ever pressured you to come with me to church?" I ask in turn.

"No, but I know you want me to, you just don’t want to make me feel uncomfortable, that’s why you don’t say it." Seriously now that he’s saying it like that I can’t even get mad at him because his words show how attentive he has been.

Urgh!

"Oh my gosh you’re insane." I simply say, while still tapping my foot.

"At least you’re talking to me now." I hear him mumble. Not much of a mumble since I can still hear and understand what he said.

"When have I not talked to you?" I ask.

"You’ve been avoiding me."

"No I haven’t!" I lie with a loud voice only to quickly apologize to the woman staring at me in a funny manner.

"Whatever, you can’t just suddenly show up here like this." I can’t help but wonder what is going on in the minds of people. I wonder what they would be thinking about us right now.

I was just so surprised to see Duke of all people sitting in a meeting for married men, in a church! "Dear God, you almost gave me a heart attack." I say as the image of him sitting amidst them flashes through my head again.

"And Janey says you’ve come here before. When was that?" I ask and without waiting for an answer, I continue, "Sweet Jesus in heaven I almost died of first hand embarrassment. I mean why did you have to announce right there and then that I’m your wife?"

"Dearest," His hand suddenly snakes over my knee, gently pressing it down, stopping my foot from tapping any further. Gradually, his face moves closer to mine, breaching my private space and at this very moment all I can think of are the gray eyes like a gray cloud in front of me. The kind that comes before a drizzle. That kind of drizzle that brings a warm and soft shimmer of sunlight to the world after it.

All I can focus on are these very beautiful eyes.

"Dearest, you are my wife." Oh this man will be the death of me. The sweet words he says, the way he says them, the spontaneous things he does, the way he does them.

The overwhelming love he shows and how he shows it, it’s all with such reckless abandon that you can see and tell just by watching from afar that he’s giving his two hundred percent into me.

And this... this makes me want to instinctively, naturally do the same.

*Cough!*Cough!*You’re both in front of the pastor’s office*Cough!*

My lashes fly open at the sound of the intruding fake coughs! Jesus have mercy when did I close them in the first place? Champagne! Seriously!!

I push Duke away from me and he’s smiling like a cat while I nervously smile at the woman who just coughed me back to my senses.

I straighten up my dress from shoulder to calf again and again, brushing through my hair with my fingers as though we had done something bad just now. Well, we almost did! And it’s all his fault.

Can’t believe I was respecting a kiss right in front of my pastor’s office! Who does that? He keeps bringing out the naughty sides in me. Sides that should for no reason exist in the first place.

The door to the pastor’s office opens and a man steps out, "Sister Champagne you can go in now." the man says.

Oh God help me, "Th_Thank you." I say to myself as the man walks past me.

I stare at Duke and he’s smiling so charmingly as though he wasn’t the one who got us into this whole mess in the first place.

Oh dear Lord, am I really doing this?

...

"So, you are Duke Grand." Pastor Nathan asks while staring calmly at Duke.

"Yes sir." Duke responds.

"Well Duke, is it alright if I call you Duke?"

"Fine by me."

"I’m pastor Nathan, I believe I’m in a position that puts me in place as Champagne’s spiritual father and I’ve been wanting to meet you ever since she told me about her marriage to you."

I watch as Pastor Nathan talks to Duke while Duke calmly and patiently listens without interrupting.

"I told you earlier that I’m her spiritual father, so is it alright if I ask you some questions as a father?"

"I’ll answer as a son-in-law then." Sharply my head turns to look at Duke. Did he seriously just say that?!

"Why did you marry my daughter?" Th_that question— "And I don’t need a superficial response, give me something credible. Something concrete." Why is pastor Nathan suddenly looking like a drill sergeant?

His voice is deep and his facial expression is firm and a little intimidating right now.

I’ve heard him speaking with this deep voice before, and I’ve seen this look, but it only comes out when he’s scolding someone for something.

Although I’ve never really had to face this scary side of Pastor Nathan, I’ve seen others in that position. And I always pity them because of how they tremble when he scolds.

But right now, I’m using my side eye to steal a glance and Duke doesn’t seem fazed at all. How is he so calm in the presence of sergeant Nathan?! I mean, Pastor Nathan?

"I know she’s a beautiful, smart, hardworking, faithful, vibrant young lady. I know that because I’ve watched her grow, so don’t tell me things I already know. Give me a solid believable reason why you chose Champagne."

Oh, this question is a bit—

Do I explain to him that the marriage was just a contract at first? I don’t know what pastor Nathan is expecting to hear but I’m sure he’ll be shocked if Duke tells him he married me because he needed someone to be the mother of his children.

I’m certain Duke must be feeling uncomfortable about the question even though he isn’t showing it. I mean, it’s not like he can tell the truth at this point and say he originally married me to be a mother to his children.

He’s taking so long to answer, so he must be racking his brain for a good lie to tell Pastor Nathan.

Uh, I really didn’t mean to put him in this kind of a situation and I—

"The reason I married Champagne is—" Oh dear Lord, what lie will he tell?