I know I said no updates until June but I had this chapter sitting already written up from a while ago and I felt like you deserved something before my hiatus. So hope you guys enjoy it XX
•••
Sunday morning, half past eight is a busy time at the Walsh household. Kids run around, a teenager grumbles about it being way too early, and the parents try to feed everyone, keep them clean and get themselves ready at the same time.
Perrie is mostly happy to see Candace in a good mood, smiling and helping her Dad making breakfast for the little girls, while Josh is ready to go despite his grumbling. Perrie has promised him he gets to decide about going to church or not, when he turns sixteen - his dad thinks he should be eighteen, but Perrie has always been pretty confident she could get Josh off the hook earlier.
Perrie had been confident about a lot of things concerning Danny in the past, but things are different now. They have been very polite with each other, he even let her sleep in a little on Saturday because she came home late from Jade's and woke up with a slight hangover. Perrie has done all she can to be her normal, loving self, to bite down her annoyance and find patience somewhere, somehow, to deal with her everyday life while a storm is raging inside her head.
Danny drives the SUV a little faster than normal to get to the church in time. He's dressed in a dark blue suit with a grey shirt and golden yellow tie, and he looks good, although these types of clothes show his age a little more than jeans do. Perrie has done her best to match him with her light grey knit sweater dress, which is tight but hits below the knee. The neckline plunges a bit too low for church, which is why she threw on a light yellow scarf, matching Danny's tie. Her grey, suede pumps complete the look.
They are one of the last families to enter the church, Pastor Sanders greeting them as they all sit down, Trinity in Danny's lap and Austin in Perrie's. The church is small, just outside the city, and has been Danny's church since he grew up. They wave at his mother sitting a few rows in front of them. Perrie knows her smile to Patricia is a little tight, but it is the best she can do, and Patricia barely ever smiles, anyway. She still has no clue what Danny and Patricia discussed about her, and although she's adamant that he doesn't need to tell her, it still sits in the back of her mind.
The Pastor talks about the upcoming spring, activities that will be planned at church for Easter, and then starts his sermon. It is based around the humility of Christ and how we must all be humble and serve and respect the people around us. He quotes from Philippians 2.
"And the Bible says; 'Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others,'" says the Pastor, and he looks around the congregation over his glasses. Perrie swallows and cuddles Austin closer to her, his fat little hands grabbing her scarf.
"I want you all to think about this in the coming week. Are you humble? Are you putting others before yourself? Is there anything that you do in your life that is solely based on your own vanity or to get recognition from others?"
He pauses, and Perrie shifts on the hard, wooden bench, her thighs still a little tender from where she clenched them so hard around Jade's hand when she tumbled into orgasm on Friday night. Yes, she has definitely been doing a lot of things that serve no other purpose than to please her own desires, although she is quite sure she hasn't faltered in caring for or respecting others while doing it... apart from Danny, and their marital vows, and their children, and this very Pastor who married them, and maybe even Christ Himself.
At the end of the sermon, Perrie's face feels flushed and her armpits are wet with sweat. She hopes the generous amount of foundation on her face will cover up her blush, as she stands and gets in line to shake the Pastor's hand. Danny is talking to his mother in hushed tones, a hand reassuringly on her shoulder.
