Chapter 8

Hadassah was genuinely pregnant, said the doctor. Her two missed periods had indicated at least a month, and the doctor said it was closer to two months – six weeks was her estimate. That gave us a due date of February 23. Of course due dates are approximations, as we well knew – Hadassah had come two weeks "late." But we knew the wedding had to take place before then – preferably before she began to show, which would be around four months. She was already two and half months along, so we decided that, though we would not rush things for the sake of appearances, it would be best if Hadassah and Joshua sealed their marriage no later than the middle of November. It was going to be hard on both of them, and on Gill for that matter – it would be, no matter how we tried to make it a relaxed few weeks, a rushed affair without the elegant touches that so many women crave. But we all – Hadassah and Joshua as well as Gill and I – wanted a family when the baby came, and indeed when she began to show. She would face looks and whispers at school and at church, but perhaps they would be fewer, and less malicious, if she could introduce her husband.

We all wanted it, that is, except for Joshua's parents. They had refused to soften their position by so much as an iota. Indeed, one chilly night Joshua came over to our house, not knowing where else to turn. His father, he said, had told him that if he married "that girl," on that very day he would no longer be welcome in the house. "They think she's bewitched me," he said, tears running down his face.

Hadassah was sitting next to him, her arms around his shoulders. "I have, though, haven't I? Isn't it something like enchantment when two people come to love each other?" She looked at him, looking as though she adored him, which I was sure she did. He didn't see her, for he was looking downward, but clearly all her love focused on him in that moment.

"Maybe, I don't know. I just know that I want my parents to love me and support me, not cut me off because I'm doing what's right."

"You aren't," I said, "marrying Hadassah just to 'make an honest woman of her, ' I hope."

"No, no – I love her, Mr. Garvin. I told you, I wanted to marry her anyway. But this is the right thing ... isn't it?"

"It is, Joshua, I assure you that it is. Hadassah needs a husband. Your child needs a father. You two do love each other. The circumstances are wrong, but the action, in those circumstances, is correct and godly. You were ungodly, but you're doing what you can to heal that breach. Joshua," I said leaning forward, "I know you want your parents' support. I wish you had it. I know Gill wishes it, and I'm sure Hadassah wishes it. But whatever happens, you have my support."

"And mine," said Gill from beside me.

"And you know, Josh, that you always have my support," Hadassah told him.

"I know, and thank you." He looked at Gill and me. "And thank you both for supporting me. If I can't have my own parents supporting me, I can depend on you, and that helps."

I leaned back again. "Are you scared?"

"I'm terrified!"

"Good – you should be. More mature men and women, facing such a dramatic and fundamental change in their lives, are scared; if you weren't, I'd doubt your readiness to marry my daughter. And you understand, I think, that I'm thinking of her first."

"So am I, Mr. Garvin." He looked at her, and then lifted a stray curl from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. "I'm thinking of her, not me. If I could undo this, I would – not because of what it's doing to me, though that hurts. I'd undo it because of what it's doing to Hadassah."

"What is it doing to you, daughter?" I asked.

She looked at me, and squared her shoulders. "It's scaring me, and interfering with my sleep, and I'm sick most mornings now, and I've already had to hurt and disappoint two sets of parents. I've hurt Josh, and that hurts me. And when I start showing ... even if no one ever looks at me funny, or says anything mean about me, I'll feel like they are, and I'll be so ashamed. Just thinking about it makes it harder to do my schoolwork. I've had to ask for extra time on my Latin assignment – I told Mr. Contreras that I haven't been feeling well, and that is the truth, even if it's not all of it." She clenched her fists on her knees. "I'm still learning what it's doing to me. It's made me so afraid of myself when I'm with Josh. I think it's made him afraid of himself, and that hurts me. And I don't know what the church or the school is going to do to me."

"Yes, those consequences are coming, aren't they?"

"But we'll be with you through all of it, honey." Gill leaned forward, and rested her hand on my knee. "Hadassah, Josh – we'll be there, no matter what happens. I know you're both terrified, and ashamed, and you should be ashamed, shouldn't you? But we're here." She looked at Joshua alone. "Bill told you that he considers you already his son-in-law, and hopes to soon think of you simply as his son. I add my voice to that. And we will never desert our daughter, nor her husband, nor their child."

"You know this one, Hadassah," I said. "Listen to the Word of the Lord: 'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.'"

"You're right, Dad, I do know that one – Hebrews 13:5. And I know it's true ... but it doesn't feel true, not right now." She sounded like a lost girl, begging for directions to take her back home.

"That's what faith is – believing God even when your emotions tell you not to. You trust Him to tell you the truth, and to stand by His promises. You know the hymns too, I know – 'standing on the promises of Christ my King, ' you've sung many times. That's what He's calling you to do right now." I heard myself going into lecture mode, and shoved it back down where it belonged; my daughter wasn't a student, but a hurting young lady who needed reassurance rather than facts to regurgitate on a test. "But you know these things. Live them, Hadassah."