Aunt carol and the cliff of wolves

"I...need a moment." She said softly and left the table while Leslie and Tara busied themselves planning her wedding. Something she was excited about as they were to be sure, but she just felt off and needed some air. She stepped out onto the back porch into the cool night air and sat on the wicker couch.

After a few minutes the glass door slid open and martin stepped out. "Can we talk?"

"Sure."

Martin groaned as he sat down, complaining about being old. "What's wrong?"

"I just...I know I should be happy and so many people have worse coming out stories, but at the same time I can't help wondering...was there something about me. Or worse did Tara tell you?"

"No, Tara never told us sweetie." He pulled his daughter close to him. "And for the record, this is the first I even considered you might like girls." A moment of silence passed between them before Martin spoke again. "How much do you know about your aunt carol?"

"Not a lot." Sarah felt bad, really, but aunt carol was kind of boring. She only ever talked about her job or sports. Things that just did not interest her.

"Well..." he leaned forward ringing his hands in nervous habit. "Your aunt, my sister...was born, my brother max."

"What?!"

Martin nodded wordlessly. "She was really happy when she was a little kid, but then as she got older she was just so sad and some days she would be so happy it lit up the whole house. Your grandpa didn't believe in mental health so he sent us both to church, guess he wanted to make sure I wasn't secretly sad or something. Obviously I fell in love with the word of God, but it only seemed to make her more confused and sad. Until warm, Saturday in June we were fishing at the lake, not really catching anything just enjoying the day. This was one of her better days and like you she just blurted it out. She figured out what made her so sad. Her soul was in the wrong body."

"Whoa."

"The preacher, our preacher was an old testament fire and brimstone kind and he only made it worse. So going to him made her doubt God."

"And you just accepted her?"

Martin looked away in shame. "No. I,uh, I told her she was a sinner and she was going to burn in hell." Sarah was shocked and confused, her father had never talked in such a way, not even in church. "I didn't see her again for five years." he wiped a tear away from his eye. "Your grandpa was dying and wanted to see ...all of us one last time. So, I hired a private detective and found out she had moved to New Orleans. I went to the apartment the detective gave me and the most beautiful, happy, girl I had ever seen answered the door. I foolishly believed he had repented or got over it and found himself a woman, but I found out the beautiful and happy girl was carol."

"What did you do?"

He smiled down at his beautiful daughter, "I suspect the same you did. I turned to God. I left the apartment and walked into the nearest church I could find. Which, being in New Orleans was very easy." He laughed. "I lucked up and met a nice preacher who listened to my story. He was different from every preacher, I had met up until that point. He told me about how God makes no mistakes, which I already knew, but he explained that means that her soul was a woman's soul and her body was nothing more than a book jacket. 'Tear it away and find the deeper truth of the person inside.'"

Sarah had heard her father say it before many times when he spoke about not being judgmental, but she assumed it was about if someone had tattoos. "What did you do then? Did you go back to her?"

"I didn't have too. My sister showed up. Apparently I had walked into her church." he laughed again softly and shook his head. "God, lead me to her church. We ended up talking for hours, talking for real for once. And I promised, in front of my sister and Reverend Cole and God that I would do better, that I wouldn't be like those preachers who hurt my sister. Because my God is a God of love and acceptance. So no, I didn't know, but if you love Jill the way I love your mother, I am more than happy for you. That's all God wants for us sweetie, to find love and be happy." Sarah threw her arms around her father making no attempt to hide her happy tears. "God loves you sweetheart, and more importantly, your family does too, and we always will."

"I love you too daddy." They held onto each other in a way they never had before, their souls had been laid bare in a way it never had before. After several minutes they let go of one another, not before he kissed her forehead of course. Sarah stood up, straightening her clothes and hair and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Okay, I'm ready to go plan my wedding now." she giggled.

"Can you send Jill out here for me?"

"Sure." Sarah practically skipped the short distance inside to the table. From outside martin could see the table and see her face change when she realized he wanted to speak to her.

Jill nervously stepped outside, "Shut the door, please." She did. "Sit." he ordered patting the wicker couch. "Now," he stood, reaching into the busted light fixture where he hid his cigars and pulled out two. "My daughter met you this year, I figure you've been dating a little less than nine months correct?" he offered her a cigar in the same way a man facing a firing squad is offered a cigarette.

"Yes, sir." She took the cigar.

"Problem is, she was afraid so I didn't get to know you in the way a father should get to know the person his daughter loves. And you didn't get to know me in the way you should."

"Right, well she-"

"I grew up in Arkansas," he cut her off, as little as she knew about martin she knew he was polite. Jill realized this was not the part of the conversation where she talked. "my father was a pig farmer. A bad pig farmer at that." He cut the end off the cigar before lighting his own. "His father had over twenty acres, but my father was **** to sell it piece by piece." He took the cigar from Jill cutting the end off of her's before giving it back to her. "By the time he passed there was only one acre left, call me sentimental or foolish, but I could never bring myself to sell it. No one really wants to buy it either, it consists of a really steep hill, well cliff really and at the bottom of that cliff are these very hard rocks and a few caves that seem to be overrun by wolves. So I have no use for it." He struck the match and held the match to Jill's cigar. His voice suddenly became cold and hard. "But, I believe if someone were to break my daughter's heart, I might find use for it. Understand?"

Jill nodded nervously. "Yes, sir."

Martin shook the match. "Good. Now tell me about yourself." He smiled as he breathed deep the fire of his cigar.