Enlightened

by A. L. Waddington

  I got up and walked over to my bed and sat down beside him. “Daddy, whether or not we go to the same school, we’re still going to be together. But I can tell you that I would be much happier if we were together.” I took a deep breath trying to believe that I was actually saying this to my dad of all people. “Daddy…” I placed my hands over his. “Jackson is not pressuring me to have sex. He respects me too much to do that. He loves me and doesn’t believe in sex before marriage. I promise, Daddy. I’m still a virgin.” I could feel the blood rushing to my face.

  I glanced up at my dad, whose face had blushed every bit as red as my own. “I’m—I’m glad to hear that. But the more time you spend with him and the longer you two are together, the less likely you are to retain that status.”

  Wow, his bluntness caught me off guard. “I agree. But that is also my decision and it has nothing to do with where I attend college. I believe we both know that.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then Daddy, you have to trust me. My decision to be with Jackson is not going to change. Neither are my feelings for him.” I looked at him, pleading for understanding.

  “Did he ask you to marry him?”

  I looked into his mournful eyes that were so like my own and nodded slowly.

  “And you said yes.”

  I nodded once more afraid to speak.

  He looked down at his hands briefly and exhaled deeply. “And when were you planning on telling us about this?”

  “Spring Break,” I answered in a low voice feeling horrible about my betrayal.

  “And the wedding?” He looked up at me with tears in his own eyes. “Before next fall I’d imagine.”

  “Yes.”

  My dad wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly. “Well then, I guess I’d better go have a long talk with this young man.”

  He let go of me and stood up.

  “What? Daddy! No!”

  But he was already out the door and down the stairs.

  I rushed over to the window and saw my dad crossing the street towards Jackson’s house. There wasn’t even time for me to call and forewarn him. I pulled the curtain back and sat down pressing my forehead against the cool window. I hated to think of what he was actually going to say to Jackson, let alone his parents.

  Ethan strolled into my room silently and snuck up behind me. “Hey what’s going on? I heard the front door slam. Where’s Dad going in such a rush?”

  “Damn, Ethan.” I nearly jumped out of my skin, “Dad’s going over to Jackson’s.”

  He took a seat on the other end of my bay window and glanced outside. “So? What’s the big deal about that? He’s probably just going to talk to Robert about something.”

  I looked over at him unable to hide my own tears. “No. He’s going over there to talk with Jackson.”

  Ethan gave me a confused look. Then his eyes grew bigger and bigger. “Oh my God! You’re pregnant! Damn…Dad’s gonna kill him!”

  I reached over and slapped his arm. “No, stupid. I’m not pregnant.”

  “Then what?”

  “I told him that I plan to go to BU next fall with Jackson.”

  “So?” he shrugged slightly.

  “And…” I hesitated not wanting him to also explode on me. “I told him that Jackson proposed to me and I said yes.”

  “No shit! Wow. I wasn’t expecting that.”

  He took a deep breath and looked back out the window across the street. The Chandler household remained silent with my father tucked neatly inside saying God only knows what to Jackson and his parents.

  “I wonder what’s going on over there,” I muttered in a soft voice.

  “I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough,” he chuckled.

  “Yeah, I know.” I couldn’t tear my eyes off the house across the way.

  Ethan looked over at me crinkling his eyebrows. “Are you sure about this?”

  I gave him a scornful look in return.

  “I’m being serious. Aren’t you a little too young to even be thinking about marriage? What about college and grad school?”

  “I’m still going to college and grad school. And yes, I am positive about this.” I knew he wasn’t going to take this well either.

  “But you’ve only known him…”

  I immediately cut him off getting irritated with always hearing the same excuses. “A few weeks. Yes, I am aware of how long I have known Jackson Chandler.” I took a deep breath and leaned my head back against the window. “I can’t explain it, but I know he’s the one I’m destined to be with.”

  Ethan stared at me for several moments trying to decide what to say. I could tell from the look on his face that he was struggling to find the right words. “Trust me on this E. Jackson is everything, and I promise you, I love him with all that I am.”

  “When are you planning on getting married?” his voice dropped an octave.

  “July.”

  “That soon? What did Mom say?” He had his all-knowing smirk across his face.

  “That if I decide to do this then I’m on my own to pay for my education.” I rolled my eyes and couldn’t help but laugh.

  Ethan laughed too. “Sounds like her.”

  “I know, doesn’t it? And I believe her too.”

  “No, I don’t think Dad would jeopardize your education as a punishment. So she’s probably going to kick and scream about this for a while and then accept it. You know how she is.”

  “Yeah, I hope you’re right.” I wished I was as optimistic as he was.

  We both fell into an uncomfortable silence with our eyes locked on the house across the street. There was no movement from within and I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not. Occasionally, Ethan would lean over and touch my hand in reassurance, but he never uttered another word.

  Two hours passed before my father emerged from the gray shadows. He appeared years older as he slowly crossed back towards our home. A part of me wanted to call Jackson, but the other wanted to interrogate my dad first. Either way, I was terrified of what one had to say about the other. I was frozen in my place unable to react. Ethan’s eyes were locked on me curious to see what I was going to do next. So was I.

  I couldn’t breathe when I heard the front door open and shut and then footsteps on the stairs. Within moments, there he stood, in my doorway looking worn out from the encounter.

  “Ethan. Out.” Dad’s voice was soft which scared me even more. It was always better when he screamed. At least then I knew that he was getting it off his chest. When he was calm, that was when I truly needed to be scared.

  My brother scrambled to his feet and left quickly without saying a word. He didn’t even bother to glance back at me before he rushed out closing my door behind him.

  My dad took a seat on the corner of my bed facing me. I shifted towards him, but couldn’t find a way to break the silence between us. Several minutes of awkward silence passed before he finally opened his mouth.

  “Well, I had a long talk with Jackson and his parents.”

  I said nothing, but stared at the floor only looking at him uncomfortably when he spoke.

  “And I can tell you that you have a very mature young man with a good head on his shoulders who seems to be very much in love with you.”

  I only nodded.

  “And it seems that there is no way of changing his mind about getting married to you next summer, either,” he shifted with tense emotion. “Jackson has also reassured me that he respects you enough not to pressure you about your intimate relationship before you are married. He promised me that you would finish college and grad school and I can tell you I’m going to hold him to that.” His voice got a little harsher, but remained low.

  My dad took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before continuing, “So I guess we are planning a wedding then.” He looked over at me and smiled weakly.

  I jumped up and rushed into his arms as a flood of relief fell over me. “Oh, thank you, Daddy. Thank you!” I kissed him repeatedly on the cheek. />
  “All right. All right. Calm down. We still have to deal with your mother and that’s not going to be easy,” he laughed lightly.

  I straightened up and tried to compose myself. “Your support means the world to me Daddy, you know that right?”

  “Yes, I do. And I want you to know that I’d rather be supportive of you in this and gain a great son, and he really is great, Jocelyn, than risk alienating you and ruining our relationship. I love you, sweetheart. And don’t worry about your school money. You will still be able to use the trust we set up for you,” he smiled lovingly with tears in his eyes. “It’s just going to be very difficult for me to let you go.”

  “Don’t worry about that, Daddy. You’ll never have to do that.” I leaned over and gave him a reassuring hug. “Thank you so much, Daddy. Oh God, I need to go see Jackson.”

  I jumped back off the bed. “I’ll be home later.”

  “What about your mother? We still need to talk to her,” he hollered as I headed for my door.

  I paused, turning around to face him with a smirk. “You talk to her. You can calm her down before I get back.”

  “Great,” I heard him mutter as I smiled and ran out the door.

  ***

  Jackson was waiting for me when I arrived hours behind our earlier intended schedule. He opened the door before I even reached his porch.

  “It is about time,” he greeted me. “What happened? Your father caught me completely off guard.”

  I leaned on the doorframe feeling completely foolish. “I’m sorry. My mom and I had an argument last weekend about our relationship and us going to the same university. She kept pushing all the right buttons and I blew it. I acted like a two year old and told her fine, I’m an adult and I could marry you if I wanted to and there was nothing she could do about it.”

  Jackson busted out laughing, “Wow. I am glad I missed that one.”

  “Yeah, me too. I didn’t come across very well. I’m sorry about my dad. I’m surprised he waited this long to confront me about my tantrum. He was probably trying to figure out how to handle it before he blew up also.”

  I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him to me kissing him lightly on his full lips.

  “Oh, sorry.” Emily paused midway down the stairs. “I thought maybe Amy was coming over to yell at me next.”

  “Sorry about my dad.”

  “Do not worry. He was very polite and gracious. Just being a concerned father. I would be the same way if Phoebe was in your place.” Robert walked into the foyer. Emily walked down and joined her husband putting her arm around him. “No, darling. Shane handled things calmly and rationally. You would have not been nearly as gracious in this situation. And if I recall, even though Phoebe was quite older, you still did not take the news well,” she patted him lovingly on his chest.

  “No man likes giving up his little girl. It is hard,” he pouted, and I couldn’t keep from giggling.

  I was so happy that my dad had not come over here and made a complete ass of his self.

  “Come on in. I have some incredible news to share with you.” Jackson pulled me into the living room.

  I joined him on the couch while Emily brought us in some hot chocolate before she and Robert disappeared into another part of the house. Jackson was beside himself with excitement.

  “Guess what happened last night, or rather 1878!”

  “What?”

  “You finally found out about EVE.”

  “Are you serious?” I couldn’t believe it. Was all this barrier crap over with, finally?

  “Very much so.”

  “And? How did it go?” I wondered if I’d handled it any better there than I did here.

  “Not great. Worse than here, but you are dealing,” he grimaced.

  We snuggled up on the sofa and he gave me a detailed account of all the excitement. I was embarrassed by my behavior and reactions even though I had no control over any of it. The more he described the events, the worse I sounded and felt. I was thrilled that at least I was aware of everything now in both my lives, but for some strange reason I didn’t feel any different.

  “So how come I don’t feel any different? I mean, if I am now aware of both worlds, in both worlds, shouldn’t I be completely conscious of both lives now?” I rested my head on his shoulder with my arm across his chest.

  “It will probably still take a little time for everything to set in for you to become fully aware of both existences,” he shrugged casually.

  “I wish it would speed up. I’m so sick and tired of asking you everyday what happened in my other life and all the strange memories. They’re almost annoying because they tell me so little,” I complained. “And here I thought this day couldn’t get any worse.”

  “This is great news, Jocelyn. Now it is only a matter of time before the barrier is completely gone. You should be happy.” He kissed me lightly on the forehead.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I just figured that knowing would somehow magically change everything and that suddenly the barrier in my consciousness would disappear.”

  “It will. You need to give it a little more time. Soon it will seem normal to you to exist on two separate planes and we will be laughing at the comparisons between the two worlds.” Jackson gave me a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

  “It’s so hard to imagine,” I said more to myself than him, staring off into space. “I mean, the two worlds are so drastically different. Everything about them couldn’t be further apart and the more research I do on the time period, the harder it is for me to imagine actually living there.”

  “I know, but you will get used to it.”

  “It’s so strange to think of myself living in a time when there’s no electricity, no cars, no refrigerators, microwaves, computers, cell phones. All the stuff that I take for granted everyday and think nothing of.”

  “It definitely gives you a new perspective on life,” he laughed. “That’s for sure. I remember once when I slipped up and made a remark to my brother about antibiotics in front of your father Patrick when Olivia’s little brother was fighting pneumonia, and he almost clobbered me. Penicillin was not discovered by Alexander Fleming until 1928, and even then, it took years of studying to figure out how it worked and wasn’t available in quantity until 1944, just in time to treat the Allied soldiers wounded on D-Day. My brother ripped me a new one when we got home and so did my father. Luckily, your father never said anything further about it, but it could have caused a lot of problems. We always have to be very careful of what we say when others are around.”

  “It’s not going to be easy. Is it?” I stared into his deep green eyes.

  “Not at first, but you will get used to it. Hopefully, the barrier will not be completely gone by the time we get married at Christmas. That way, you will be protected around your family and it will give you some time to adjust without risking exposure,” he grinned slightly.

  “I keep trying to wrap my brain around all this. It’s so hard to make sense of it. Having two totally different lives, it sounds exhausting.”

  “It can be. You should try going to college in both existences at the same time. It is hell! All I ever did was study,” he shook his head with his adorable lop-sided grin across his face. “It makes high school seem like a breeze now.”

  “How am I supposed to switch from being who I am here and what I am accustomed to currently, to a place where women are subservient and have no rights at all? I’m not sure I can do that. I am way too outspoken to sit by and not be able to offer an opinion on anything that happens. That’s going to be impossible for me.” I knew my big mouth was going to get me into a world of trouble there. It was only a matter of time.

  “Trust me. It will not be as bad as you believe. You have to remember that once the barrier is gone, not only will your personality here shine through there, but who you are there will merge into your personality here. You will become an even mixture of both with full memories and the cultures of each world. It will not b
e nearly as difficult as you imagine.”

  I sighed deeply, resting my body against his. A silence fell between us as we both became lost to our own thoughts. I closed my eyes and listened to his heartbeat, feeling the warmth of his body flowing into mine. My mind recalled all the various episodes of my life in there that I witnessed trying to put them all into chronological order and perspective. From all that I had seen, I did have a good life and was very happy. My family really loved me and I them. Still, it felt more like a movie than a world I lived in.

  The doorbell rang, breaking my thoughts and bringing me back to reality. My mind immediately jumped to my mom and her occasional irrational behavior. I hoped that she hadn’t decided to come over here after talking with Dad about my plans for next summer and scream her displeasure at Jackson and his parents. While it wouldn’t surprise me at all, I could only hope that my dad had managed to calm her down a bit before she embarrassed me to no end.

  I heard Emily greet someone at the door and felt a rush of relief when Jenna’s voice responded. Jenna came storming into the living room followed closely by Ethan and Kyle. With her hands on her hips and a smirk across her lips she demanded, “Okay, explain!”

  “Excuse me?” I was baffled.

  “The wedding? Your parents know! We just stopped by your house,” she gestured towards Kyle, “because you hadn’t bothered to call like you said you would, and Ethan tells me that you’re over here and then asks me if I know you’re getting married next summer. When I didn’t answer him, he tells me that your parents know about it and that your dad came over here this afternoon and had a talk with Jackson! What in the world is going on?” she couldn’t keep herself from laughing.

  “It’s nothing. I had a fight with my mom over Jackson and going to BU next fall and it all sort of slipped out.” I rolled my eyes.

  Jenna flopped down on the loveseat giggling like an idiot. “Man, I wish I could have seen that. She must be coming unglued.”

  Kyle sat down beside her and Ethan sat down in the chair next to the hearth.

  “I’m not sure. I’m hiding over here while my dad calms her down.”