“No friggin way! I’m not saying it like that. It goes against everything I believe in,” Melora groused. To further underscore her point, she ripped up the paper he’d handed her to read and tossed the scraps into the air. They fell to the ground like dying magician’s doves.

“But that’s the traditional wording,” Mike said. He could feel his pulse quicken, the pressure building behind his eyes. This was not going well. Melora’s high handedness was yet again rearing its ugly head.

“You can say it then. I’ll say your part. How about them apples?” She stood and planted her hands on her hips, her puss in a peevish pout.

“Melora, honey, be reasonable.”

“Why is that an unreasonable suggestion? Why do my vows have to include ‘obey’ and yours don’t?”

“These are the only vows my church will permit,” he lied. In truth, they were the only words he’d accept, the only ones he’d honor.

“Then let’s go to a different church that’s more modern-thinking.” Shuffling through the folders in their wedding planner, she withdrew a sheet of paper and handed it to him. “I’ll say these vows and only these.”

Mike took the paper from Melora and focused on the words printed there. These again. They’d already had a knockdown, drag out fight over these vows and he thought they’d compromised and moved on. Obviously, she hadn’t, otherwise why would there still be a copy in the planner?

He gritted his teeth and said, “We have already discussed this and agreed that these are inappropriate and unacceptable.”

Melora walked over to him and said in a voice she’d stolen from an old Marlene Dietrich movie, “Those are the only vows, I’ll utter.” Continue reading →