"So, you do know that its going to be a minute before I can get my Temple recommend again, right? Especially after I talk to the bishop and tell him everything I've done," I said, still sitting in bed with Taylor, having just agreed that we should get married.
While members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints could just get married civilly, the majority of couples strived to have a temple marriage, or more commonly called, a temple sealing. It still counted as a civil marriage, with an officiant, witnesses, and a marriage license signed, but it did have some parts of it that were unique to the LDS faith.
"I know. But, maybe it's something we could work towards?" Taylor suggested.
"Is that something you really want? You've always wanted a temple marriage and I don't want you to settle just for me," I told her, beginning to rub her back.
"I know. And I love you for that. But, I don't want something like that to hold us apart. Like I said, there's no reason why I don't see that we shouldn't just go get married," she said.
I sat there for another minute, trying to think of someway to convince her that we should wait. But, I couldn't think of one. I finally said, "OK. Let's at least let your parents know our plans soon."
"Absolutely not!" Mark said very sternly. A week had passed by after Taylor and I had agreed to get married. We were sitting in his living room, having just told Mark and his wife of our plans, not ready at all for his reaction. "Look, I told you that I have no problem at all with you two dating, and I meant it. But to get married? After only a month? No. I won't allow it."
"But, Dad, why?" Taylor said. "I love him and he loves me."
"Taylor, you just barely turned twenty-two. Christopher is what? Thirty-five? Thirty-six? Christopher, you know I like you and its nothing against you, but, Taylor, how can you know for sure?"
I sat in silence as Taylor listed her reasons why. To his credit, her dad did listen to her, but he refused to change his stance. Before he left the room, he said, "Look, you're both adults, so I obviously can't stop you. But, I don't have to support it. I will come, because I love you but I won't be paying for anything. Have you guys even talked to the bishop about it? He might have some good guidance for you both."
After he left the room, Taylor tried to plead with her mom to talk to her dad and she promised that she would.
As we left their house to go back to mine, Taylor said, "Well, that backfired. Maybe getting married isn't the answer?"
"Maybe not. Maybe we should talk to the bishop," I said.
"Maybe," Taylor said, falling deep into thought.
That next Tuesday, I was sitting at my desk in my office at work, getting some paperwork ready before I went back into the warehouse I was the supervisor of. The office was small and I sat right next to the door, so it was easy for me to reach over, scoot my chair to the side, and open the door when I heard a knock at it. I was surprised to see Taylor there and quickly invited her in and shut the door behind her.
It wasn't the first time Taylor had come to my office, but she usually let me know she was coming to make sure I would be in it. She sat down and said, "Sorry, but I've been thinking about something a lot lately and I think I've finally come to a decision. No, I know I have. And I just had to tell you. Now."
"What is it?" I asked.
"I still want to marry you. And now. I don't want to wait. And I don't care what my parents think. If they really love me, which I know they do, I know they'll come around. Well, it's mainly just my dad. My mom said that she doesn't have a problem with it," Taylor said.
"So, what? We go ring shopping, plan out a ceremony, hope that your dad doesn't cause too many problems, and see how things go?" I asked.
"Nope. I don't even want to do that. Let's go get our marriage license and go in front of a judge. We can plan for a bigger ceremony when things settle down. Maybe after we get sealed in the temple? Actually, I think that sounds great," Taylor said.
"I think we need a couple of witnesses even to do that," I said, opening up Google on my computer and looking it up. "Yes, we do. And it can't be the officiant or any of the county clerks."
"Oh," Taylor said, sitting back in the chair next to mine. After thinking about it, she perked up and said, "What about Madison's parents? They seemed pretty supportive when you told them the other day."
Indeed, after the disaster that happened when we told Taylor's parents, we went to Madison's parents house to pick up my kids and to also tell them what we were planning. Both of them were happy for us and said they couldn't wait, temple or not.
"And what? Just hide it from your parents?" I asked, a little shocked.
"We can hide it from everybody until we're ready to tell them. I'm already spending a ton of time at your house. I can just tell my parents that I'll be over there more to help you with the girls, especially in the mornings. Plus, like they said, I'm an adult, I can pick for myself where I spend my time," she said, confident in her reasoning.
"Taylor, as much as I love you and want to marry you, I have a hard time not thinking that this isn't just for you to have sex," I told her. "Well, us, I mean.'
"Well, yes, that is part of it. And you can't deny it. But, that's not all of it. If all I wanted was sex, I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to go find somebody my own age or a few years old and be sealed to each other in a few months. A fast marriage is nothing for young people in our culture. But, I want you. I don't want anybody else," Taylor said.
"Alright. I'll call Madison's parents tonight and see if I can go talk to them," I told Taylor, as she got up, gave me a quick kiss, and left my office.
Madison's parents had some reservations about being witnesses for us, but after talking it through, they agreed to do it for us. Unfortunately, they were going on a cruise and would be gone for the rest of the month. So, we ended up setting a date of April 4th for all of us to meet at the courthouse.
