Free March (Calendar Girl #3) by Audrey Carlan Page B

enough for all of us to hear on purpose. Hector’s eyes closed slowly. When they opened they were back to being filled with love, lust, and hope. It was so clear how much Hector adored Tony and vice versa. The stigma attached to their love was creating a wedge that could eventually bring down the wall around their relationship. If that happened, everything would come out in a flood that could drown what they had. That thought alone drove nails into my soul.
    “Good, because you are a good Catholic boy. You will get married in our church. St. Peter’s. The same church your father and I were married in all those years ago,” she said with triumph. “Admittedly, I was worried for some time that you would never marry. Now that we have Mia…” Her head turned and her smile in my direction was glorious. It literally shattered my heart into a thousand guilty shards. “…our family will be complete and you will carry on the Fasano name.”
    Mona put down the wooden spoon she was holding, turned around and hugged Tony. “You make me and your father so proud. If he was here today, he’d bless this union happily.” She wiped a few tears from her eyes, cleared her throat and went back to work. Hector swallowed visibly, choking back the emotion I knew had to be tearing him apart.
    “Speaking of Church, Father Donahue will be happy to perform the marriage. You’ll need to sign up for counseling though. Perhaps this coming weekend?”
    I’m pretty sure my eyes popped out of their sockets. Church? Counseling? I shook my head. “Um…I don’t know about that,” I started, but Tony cut me off.
    “Ma, we’re not decided on a date. We also haven’t discussed our religion.”
    Mona’s head flew back as if she’d been stricken. “What? That’s one of the first things you discuss. Mia dear, are you Catholic?”
    “I’m not anything. I uh…” Mona’s eyes seared into mine like white hot points. “I wasn’t raised in a religion.”
    She blew out a breath. “Have you been baptized Christian?” Her tone was accusatory. Instantly fear tingled against my spine which automatically triggered my defense mechanism.
    “No.” I clenched my jaw, my spine straightening.
    “Have you been married before?” She placed a hand on her hip, the other still holding the spoon.
    I shook my head, and she mimicked it. “Son, she’s going to have to start coming to our church immediately. In order to get married, she’s going to need to be in good standing with St. Peters, and you will likely have to undergo the longer version of counseling in order for our priest to marry you to a non-Catholic. And, she’ll need to be baptized. Soon. That is paramount. We need to get started immediately.”
    The weight of what she’d said flattened me like a steamroller. I had to get out of there. “Oh my god,” I got up off the chair feeling freaked out. My lungs felt tight, and I could feel a bead of sweat building at my hairline. I couldn’t breathe. Air. I needed air, right now. In a jumble of limbs I rushed to the balcony, flung open the door and sucked in the chilly March Chicago air. Thank God. No, not God. There would be no more talk of God that evening. I’d make sure of it.
    Two strong arms came around me. Even though they were wonderful, they weren’t the arms I wanted. Wes. I wished he was there. He’d get a kick out of this. From escort to mail-order bride. “Mia, it’s okay. Don’t let Ma get to you. We’ll figure this out.” Tony held me from behind. I took in long, slow breaths. The rapid beat of my heart started to go back to normal. When I felt I could stand on my own two feet I turned around and held a hand out to Tony pushing him back.
    “You have got to tell your mother the truth. This is going too far.”
    He hung his head in shame. “I know. I just…it’s so heavy. You know?”
    “Yeah I do.”
    We both sat down in the lounge chairs facing one another. “But I’m not the only one that’s getting slammed