The Morning After
I do not know what to say, so I kind of give this embarrassed laugh as I say,
“Sorry, I don't look so well. It was a tough night.”
I try to fix my hair, try to tame it, see if maybe I threw food on my clothes.
But then Cullen's mom finally gets back her senses. She pulls me inside the door with Bella and tells the other women,
“Give us five minutes,” then shut the door in their surprised, shocked faces.
She takes a deep breath, turns to look at me and says,
“What is going on? Why are you still in your wedding dress? And where is Cullen?”
"He's inside the bedroom... I'm sorry, I didn't know. I wasn't expecting guests. Was I supposed to expect guests in the morning? I look like a mess and my head is killing me..." I groan.
My mother-in-law took a deep breath and looked at Bella.
Bella said, "Did Cullen tell you anything about the morning of your wedding?"
"No," I shook my head. "The only thing we talked about is when he threatened me to not go in the bedroom and then went inside and locked it after him, and I haven't seen him since."
Both of their eyes narrowed at me.
"What?" his mother shouts.
I don't know her very well, but I can see that she's getting angry.
Beatrice goes to her and says, "Mom, please calm down. You're scaring Sarah."
That's when my mother-in-law turns to look at me and says, "Sorry, it's my fault. I will deal with him. Anyway, we should explain why we are here. I'm sure you have a lot of questions."
"Yes, I do. What's going on? Is there something I should know? Did something happen?"
Suddenly I started getting all these visions and ideas about everything that could go wrong, about everything that might be wrong.
She shakes her head and smiles, but she says,
"We should sit down."
She holds my hand, helps and guides me to sit on the sofa. She sits next to me, and Bella takes a seat on another sofa.
And then she begins, as she says, "You should have known about this. There is a tradition that has been in our family for ages. It's kind of an old tradition, but we're good at keeping traditions."
"Okay," I say, nodding my head, wondering what is coming next.
My mother-in-law clears her throat.
“Well, in the morning after the wedding night, there’s supposed to be a presentation of the sheets.”
Presentation of the sheets? What does that even mean?
She answers like she’s reading my thoughts. “It means that when your father made the agreement with us, one of the conditions was that you were supposed to be a virgin.”
I feel my face heat up instantly. My whole body flushes with embarrassment, but she pretends not to notice and continues on, calm and collected.
“Hence, the two of you were supposed to consummate your marriage last night, so that this morning, we.....” she gestures between herself and Bella, “....... can collect the sheets and present them after breakfast.”
I blink. I can’t even think of how to respond. My brain is a cloud of shame and confusion.
“We’ve been calling Cullen to check on you both,” she says, clearly annoyed, “but he’s not picking up, and we didn’t have your number. That’s why we came straight here.”
“I don’t have a phone,” I murmur. “I mean....I did, but my dad said I should leave it at home since I was coming here. He said he didn’t know if my husband would allow that. He wasn’t going to be in charge of me anymore, so…”
I trail off, then add, “But I do know his number. I never forget it. In case of emergencies, I have it memorised.”
I go silent. She just nods.
“So,” she asks, “are you comfortable with the traditions? Your dad didn’t say anything? Colin didn’t say anything?”
“No,” I admit. “This is the first time I’ve heard about it. And to be honest, my head is really aching, and I just… I really want to take a shower.”
My mother-in-law glances at Bella, her first daughter-in-law, her trusted one. Bella nods.
“Okay,” she says simply and heads off towards the front door.
Then my mother-in-law says, “Stay there.”
I was already sitting. It’s not like I was going anywhere. Still, I froze in place.
Then she, my mother-in-law stood up, marched to the bedroom door, and began knocking.
Not soft. Not normal.
She knocked like she wanted to break the damn thing down.
“All right, I’m coming,” Cullen’s voice boomed from inside the room.
Then came a soft click.
I wasn’t facing the door, so I couldn’t see what was happening but I could hear it. What surprised me wasn’t the sound itself, but the tone. Soft murmuring. Calm, hushed voices. That wasn’t what I expected at all.
I had braced myself for yelling, Mrs.Cincinatti had the kind of fire that could shake walls. But instead… murmurs.
Moments later, the door closed gently, and my mother-in-law returned.
“Okay,” she said, her voice composed. “I pulled Cullen out. You can go in now, take a shower, get comfortable. Your clothes were brought in yesterday. Do whatever you need, relax, take a bubble bath, whatever makes you feel better.”
Then she added, almost apologetically, “I’m so sorry about my son’s behaviour. I raised him to be better than that.”
I gave her a small, polite smile. “I never thought of blaming you.”
Just then, Cullen appeared.
He wore a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that clung to his frame. His hair was a mess, clearly unbrushed and he kept raking his fingers through it like that would fix it.
You had to admit: if you passed him on the street, you'd definitely take a second look. He had that boyish, dangerous look, the kind that left a mark whether you liked it or not.
But when he reached us, his eyes locked on me, and the glare that followed was unmistakable.
I got the message. This was my cue.
I stood up and walked toward the bedroom, slipping inside quietly. I closed the door behind me.
But something stopped me from heading straight to the bathroom.
Instead, I lingered by the door, my instincts kicking in. At my father’s house, I was a professional eavesdropper, nobody ever told me anything, so I had to pick up whatever I could just by listening in.
Old habits die hard.
So I pressed my ear to the door. That’s when I heard my mother-in-law’s voice.... and it was angry. No, furious.
There was no mistaking that tone.
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