"What...what do you mean?" Taylor asked her dad, with a shocked look on her face as she walked into the kitchen. I was stunned into submission, unable to move as the ramifications of Taylor and I being overheard went through my head.
"Look, you two are both consenting adults, so we all kind of knew that this could potentially happen. But, it was still a little disappointing to walk in last night and that was the first thing we all heard. Your mom was petrified and will probably be pretty upset this morning. We had just hoped you would at least wait until you were married," Mark explained to us.
Taylor looked back at me and held out her hand for me to take. Bringing me into the kitchen, she looked into my eyes as we both nodded at each other. Turning back to her dad, she said, "We are married."
It was Mark's turn to stare at us in stunned silence. "Wait...what?" He finally said.
"Yes. We got married right before we went to St. George. I'm sorry that we lied to you and it's been killing us inside to hide it, but we truly believed it was for the best before one of us made a mistake that we would regret," Taylor explained, holding tightly onto my hand.
"But the wedding and all the plans," her dad started to say.
"It's still on. It'll just be our Temple sealing. If you and Mom aren't too mad at us," Taylor said, trying to reassure Mark.
"Well, I mean, I can't be too mad," Mark said, still trying to process the information. "Wow. Is this because I told you two no?"
"No, Daddy, it's not," Taylor said, letting go of me and walking around to her dad. She wrapped her arms around him to hug him and kissed the top of his head. "It really did kill us inside to not tell everybody or have you all there. And it really was my idea to hide it. If you're mad, please be mad at me and not Christopher."
Mark quietly laughed and said, "I'm not mad. I never could be. Maybe a little sad. But, I'm glad that you made a decision that you thought was best for you and I'll always support you when you do that."
"Thanks, Dad. I love you," Taylor said, as they both hugged.
"I love you, too. You better go tell your mom," he said. "Probably alone, too. No telling what she would do to Christopher."
"Yeah. No kidding. Or she might just break down crying," Taylor said, walking away from Mark. When she reached me, she kissed my cheek before saying, "I'll be back."
I watched her leave before turning back to Mark. We stared at each other before he said, "If you call me Dad, it might make my hair go even grayer than it already is."
I laughed and said, "No worries there," before walking around the counter and sitting down next to him. "So, what would Sally do to me if I was up there?"
Mark laughed and said, "Depends on if she goes into protective mother mode or upset mother mode. If it's the first one, good chance you'll get a yelling at. If it's the second one, a sharply said word or two as she lectures Taylor. Or, like Taylor said, she might just start crying."
"YOU DID WHAT!?" We heard Sally yell from upstairs.
Mark cringed at it and said, "Protective mother mode. She'll be fine. You would be too."
We sat in silence for a few minutes until we heard Sally yell, "YOU KNEW THIS WHOLE TIME?"
Mark turned to look at me with a questioning look on his face. I laughed a little and said, "Michelle found out that we were married a week or so after it happened."
"Figures. If anybody would know that, it would be her," Mark said, shrugging his shoulders and standing up. The kids were starting to stir in the living room and Mark started to pull out supplies for breakfast. When Sally, Taylor, and Michelle came downstairs a few minutes later, Sally immediately walked over to me and gave me a hug, welcoming me to the family.
Walking over to her husband, she said, "So, we just gained three new grandchildren."
"Thank goodness we missed Christmas time and birthdays," Mark said, making us all laugh.
A few hours later, we were all packed up and saying goodbye to everyone, laughing as we all literally lived in the same neighborhood and would be following each other home. As we drove home, Taylor and I talked to my kids about us being married, answering questions from them and dealing with a little drama from my oldest. But, overall, they were happy about it.
The weekend after our Memorial Day trip, Taylor and I decided to take it slow, letting the kids play outside and try to relax for once. That Friday night after we both got home from work, and the kids were home from school and the babysitter, we grilled up some food outside, ate outside, and sat on the deck for the majority of the night.
After getting the kids to sleep, I walked out of the bathroom to find Taylor sitting on our bed, wearing a black tank top and black shorts, with her brown hair tied up in a bun on top of her head.
"Kids are asleep," she said.
"That's good," I replied, taking off my shirt and shorts.
"I have a favor I want to ask you," she said, seductively.
"OK?" I asked, giving her a side eye glance as I wondered what was going on in her mind.
"Will you tie me up and make love to me?" She asked with a sheepish smile on her face.
"Seriously?" I asked as I stood up straight and looked at her.
"Yes," she replied. "I've been thinking about it for a while. I want to know what it feels like to have you in complete control."