"Well, it's this a great way to celebrate Easter Monday?" Father Gregory Harper said as he came down the back stairs to his kitchen. He was a handsome, fit man just over 50 with slightly greying hair and chiseled features: he wore his huge red velvet dressing gown with his bare legs and feet protruding beneath.
Sitting on a chair were his two tenants, Sister Janice Harper, his second cousin, and Sister Shelley Abrams, short chubby women in their mid 40s who were wearing tan dressing gowns as Shelley, the smaller woman, sat on Janice's lap. Lacking their wimples, Janice's short salt and pepper hair was a contrast to Shelley's cropped mop of red hair starting to transition to grey. Greg interrupted them as they were kissing with their free hands buried beneath each other's garments. Janice looked up and said: "And a Good Morning to you, Reverend Father. How nice to see you up earlier than usual this day after the Triduum marathon."
"I'll need another day or two to recover from that, Pookie," he said. "Been used to getting up with the sun often enough I couldn't convince myself I could sleep in today."
"How terribly awful for you, Father," Shelley chimed in a high, mocking tone. "Lent's over and you're still bearing with an incredible penance."
"I offer it up, Sister, I offer it up for the glory of God and his Church. Is there any chance you two have left me something for breakfast?"
They looked at each other for a long moment, feigning deep thought before Shelley said: "There is a bit leftover: a little gruel, some lightly toasted worms, a piece of cardboard. . ."
"We've got the full spread, Greggers," his cousin cut in. "Sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy. Stuff guaranteed to stop your heart one day when you least suspect it. Aunt Mindy sent us some grape jam, and Monica Deveraux dropped some cinnamon rolls by when you were out yesterday afternoon. Ducky here will even get off her fat ass and cook it for you, give you a day off, if I spank her a bit. Interested?"
"I'd be happy to do the spanking myself, if you need me to," he said with a leer. "Sure, bring it on."
Shelley jumped to her feet, exposing a large swatch of pure white skin full of freckles beneath her robe before she flipped it shut, and went over to the stove. "That's quite enough of that nonsense. Give me five minutes and keep your hands to yourselves. Eggs over easy, correct Father Snidely?"
It took less than five minutes for Greg to receive his breakfast. After serving him, Shelley refreshed everyone's coffee, and they chatted about the Easter celebrations. "What do you think they did back home yesterday?" Greg mused.
"They had the big dinner at Nana's old house, as always," his cousin Janice replied. "Baked ham, sweet potatoes, asparagus, everything they did when we were kids. Your mom started organizing it after Nana passed, and I think everyone within driving distance made it. At least that's what my sister Gloria said."
"My family still gets together in Cleveland, you could set your calendar by it," Shelley cut in. "My father enjoys playing the host, and still hides the Easter eggs for the kids. Still colors them himself the week before, big kid that he is."
"Yeah, I haven't gotten home for Easter dinner since I was ordained," Greg said as he sipped his coffee. "Always been too busy and too far away."
"Same here," the two nuns said simultaneously.
Greg put down his cup and thought a moment. "I thought you'd both be gone since the Catholic Education convention's this week."
"No, no, Father Snidely," Shelley replied, "We've tired of that party. Twenty five years with the same agenda is enough, and the talks get worse and worse. Just want to kick back this week without the kids around and rest. Is your calendar free this week, Father Snidely?"
"Nope. Just the usual stuff, daily mass; no meetings, no appointments."
"I thought you'd have a wedding this weekend."
"Nope. The only one I've got on the calendar is mid-June. Kids are too happy just to live together these days, fortunately. If they can survive my pre-marriage training, they deserve to get married with the Church's blessing."
They sat drinking their coffee and listened to the flights approaching Midway Airport for a while. The weather outside was mild for a Chicago April, and birds were chattering in the trees. From time to time a bus pulled up to a stop across the street, pausing momentarily before continuing its journey across town. "You know," Janice said out of the blue. "There's something I've always wondered."
"What, Peaches?" Shelley replied.
"I've always wondered what it would be like to be crucified."
There was an awkward pause as Greg and Shelley looked at each other in disbelief. Shelley's lip curled dramatically and a wild look came to her eyes. "That's strange, Peaches," she said at last.
Janice shrugged. "Well, after watching that Mel Gibson movie, I've wondered."
Greg frowned. "That was an awful movie: made tons of factual mistakes, the place didn't look anything like Jerusalem, some really stupid imagery and metaphors that weren't biblical, used that crazy German nun's vision as basis for the story rather than the Gospels, and Mel could have called it 'Let's kick the shit out of Jesus for a couple of hours.' Waste of time."
"But people in the Philippines do it every year, literally get nailed up on a cross for a while," Janice continued. "They see it as important to their faith."
"You don't want nails driven through your flesh, do you?" Shelley cut in.
"Well, no," Janice replied. "But being tied up for a while, in controlled circumstances, like the old courtyard in the middle of this place, would be worth something."
"That can be done," Greg mused. "It seems like you've been planning this for a while."