Chapter 22

We went to the Sunday school class and enjoyed the lesson. After it was over, we met Mister and Missus Stover to go into the sanctuary. I noticed Agnes looking around. Jimmy wasn’t there. I figured that wasn’t good.

Agnes and I were holding hands and she reached across her body to hug herself to my arm. I didn’t mind. That feeling was good. We made our announcement and enjoyed the service. Once it was over, we talked with a few people who knew Agnes. Others talked with her parents. Agnes and I talked with Pastor Templeton about the date and working out timing to meet with him.

He said, “I’ve known Agnes most of her life. She has never jumped into any situation without thinking it through. We will need to meet three times to talk. I can do that over weekends for you.”

Agnes said, “Thank you. We have decided upon a rough date but have to talk specifics with Eric’s parents and work out details at school. We’re both on scholarships and don’t want to mess those up. We don’t have to get married so could wait.” She grinned. “We just don’t want to wait.” She hugged my arm. Pastor Templeton smiled.

We left for their house and lunch. Jimmy was still not there. I felt that wasn’t good whether he had Suzanne with him or not.

We had a grand country meal before going to our rooms and packing to return to school. We carried our cases out to the door but then sat in the living room to talk with Agnes’ parents. They were becoming more used to the idea of Agnes marrying in December. I think they were more comfortable with the thought of our marriage in December than Jimmy and Suzanne ever marrying. Finally, we left for school making it in time for supper.

Upon our arrival, we found that all had been well with our friends. Monday, we would go to student assistance to talk our possible change in condition.

After English, we went to student assistance and talked. We were told that there should be no problem with our scholarships in athletics as long as there was no pregnancy. Our merit scholarships were dependent upon our grades not our marital status. Then, we looked at married student housing and were told that was even less a problem since there were two vacant apartments available now. We were given the keys to go check them out. We managed to do that without too much kissing and touching. Agnes picked one that she liked. The student assistance was generating letters to assure us about our scholarships. We were told those would be ready after lunch. Agnes would pick them up after her history class. We would meet after my geography class.

When we met, she had the letters signed by the appropriate deans and coaches. We also had reserved the married student apartment that Agnes liked. We could move in at any time since it was empty. I looked at Agnes and grinned. “Eric, we can’t move in until we’re married.” I purposively put a pained look on my face. “Eric, we can wait. Please.”

“I’m just kidding you, dear lady. We’ll wait. I do enjoy sleeping next to you. I think making love to you will be even better. We do have time. I think we should move our things into the apartment when we leave for the break. That way, we won’t have to struggle to get moved later. On a different subject, where do you want to go for our honeymoon?”

We talked with my parents by phone that evening. They were guardedly in favor. They liked Agnes but thought it a bit fast. I could tell my mother wanted to ask if we “had” to get married. I decided to cut that off early. I said, “Mom, we don’t ‘have’ to get married. We ‘want’ to get married. We love each other and both sets of parents have given us good examples of the happiness of married life. We know there will be struggles but we want to struggle together.”

That seemed to clear the air. My dad went over our discussions with the college and the letters we now possessed. He was satisfied with that aspect. Mom had a few questions but they were practical ones for us once we were wed.

Dad finally said, “You two seem to have planned everything out and covered the bases.” He grinned. “Son, I don’t blame you for wanting to marry Agnes. I’m just trying to figure out why she wants you.” He chuckled.

Agnes said, “I’ll have my personal Viking for the rest of our lives. We’re looking forward to exploring a new world.” She grinned.

I decided to keep quiet but grinned, too. After we got off the phone, Agnes and I kissed passionately.

All our friends were in shock because of the speed except for Melody. She said, “I’m surprised they’re waiting that long. They really care and are already thick as thieves in their discussions about everything. It fits. My only problem is that I’ll have to get a new roommate.”

From that time, the planning went quickly. The only “fly in the ointment” was Jimmy and Suzanne. They were living together but he hadn’t formalized their situation with an announcement of their engagement. We had some time to talk on our trips to the farm and I wasn’t impressed with anything about her except for her physical attributes. However, I found her looks were only skin deep. My fair lady had an active mind and a kind heart. Suzanne wasn’t mean but just not quite smart and seemed used to getting her own way all the time. I wasn’t positive about the situation for Jimmy or Suzanne though kept my mouth shut except to Agnes. I found that she agreed.