Cookies 'n' Cream 6, FOTD: Sacraments
Title: Sacraments
Main Story: In The Heart
Flavors, Toppings and Extras: FOTD (hallow: to make holy; sanctify; consecrate), cookies 'n' cream 6 (hide), whipped cream (Gina is an infant, thirteen, fifteen and sixteen in the first four), malt (1306's trick or treat: This is how it works, you peer inside yourself//You take the things you love, and try to love them even more -Regina Spektor//On the Radio), pocky chain.
Word Count: 700
Rating: PG.
Summary: Gina, being gay, and the church, in the person of Father Arnott.
Notes: I'm a little nervous about this one, so if you find fail, please be gentle.
1. baptism
Father Arnott cups the baby's fuzzy head in blessing, then fills his hands with water and pours it over her head. Suprisingly, after the first shocked scream, the baby doesn't cry, only stares at him with huge blue eyes.
"Regina Caravecchio," he intones. "I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Her godmother bounces her gently, and she burbles, happy baby talk. Father Arnott can't help but smile, and adds an extra, private blessing of his own.
Lord, ease her way through life. Let her walk in sunlight always.
2. confirmation
Gina is so nervous the day of her confirmation that she shakes all the way to the church. Her white dress is spotless, because she hasn't been able to eat for fear she'll spill. She's chosen Maria for her saint's name, after St. Maria Goretti, patron of girls and youth. It's all ready. She's ready for this new responsibility, but it's terrifying all the same.
The bishop looks bored as he presses chrism to her forehead and recites the prayers. Father Arnott, standing behind him, gives her a smile that doesn't help.
Gina steps back, and feels no different.
3. holy orders
"Father Arnott? Can I talk to you?"
He looks up, sees Gina Caravecchio hovering in the doorway of his office. "Gina! Of course, my dear, come in. What about?"
She twists her hands. "I want to become a nun."
He blinks, surprised, sits back. "Oh? Why?"
Gina looks away. "No reason," she says, then amends, "I want to devote my life to God."
No, she doesn't. He leans forward. "Gina, is something wrong?"
She looks at him with haunted eyes, then shakes her head. "No. No, nothing's wrong. I'm sorry. I have to go."
She leaves him worried.
4. anointing of the sick
She got very sick, the summer before junior year. A burst appendix flared into peritonitis and left her whimpering in a hospital bed, with a fever so high she hallucinated.
Her mother panicked, because that's what Susanna Caravecchio does best in an emergency, and called Father Arnott. He didn't give her last rites, he tells her later--she wasn't that sick-- but he did anoint her. She remembers the smeary feeling, the scent of olives.
He tells her that, because of this anointing, her sins have been forgiven.
He doesn't know the half of her sins.
5. penance
"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned." Gina speeds through the words, something she does when she's nervous. Father Arnott frowns, recites his half of the ritual, and waits.
She is silent for a long moment, then blurts, "I'm gay."
Father Arnott lets a breath escape. Worse than he thought. Poor Gina.
"Father?" she asks, voice high. "Is it a sin?"
Yes.
He can't say that to her. He doesn't know what to say. "Only God can judge," he says, at last.
There is only silence from the confessional's other side, and he knows she doesn't believe that.
6. eucharist
She can't let go.
Maybe she should. Maybe she's better off leaving from the church altogether. She only attends Mass on Christmas and Easter now, and she only recieves communion on Easter, because she hates confession, hates the priests telling her that what she has with Ivy is a sin. She's better off not going.
But every time she resolves to stop attending, she thinks of Father Arnott. Every time she takes communion she remembers catechism class and laughs a little ("we do not chew the body of Christ!").
She owes it to him, she thinks, and keeps going.
7. matrimony
"Father Arnott?"
He jumps, because he hasn't seen Gina in over a decade. "Gina! Come in! How are you?"
She stays on the doorstep. "Father, I'm getting married in a few weeks. I'd like you to come."
He opens his mouth; she rushes on. "I know you think it's a sin, but I love Ivy so much. You taught me that love is never a sin. You said it's the greatest virtue. I know you can't approve, but maybe you could pretend? For a while?"
"Oh, Gina." He smiles; he knows what to say now. "I would be honored."
Main Story: In The Heart
Flavors, Toppings and Extras: FOTD (hallow: to make holy; sanctify; consecrate), cookies 'n' cream 6 (hide), whipped cream (Gina is an infant, thirteen, fifteen and sixteen in the first four), malt (1306's trick or treat: This is how it works, you peer inside yourself//You take the things you love, and try to love them even more -Regina Spektor//On the Radio), pocky chain.
Word Count: 700
Rating: PG.
Summary: Gina, being gay, and the church, in the person of Father Arnott.
Notes: I'm a little nervous about this one, so if you find fail, please be gentle.
1. baptism
Father Arnott cups the baby's fuzzy head in blessing, then fills his hands with water and pours it over her head. Suprisingly, after the first shocked scream, the baby doesn't cry, only stares at him with huge blue eyes.
"Regina Caravecchio," he intones. "I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Her godmother bounces her gently, and she burbles, happy baby talk. Father Arnott can't help but smile, and adds an extra, private blessing of his own.
Lord, ease her way through life. Let her walk in sunlight always.
2. confirmation
Gina is so nervous the day of her confirmation that she shakes all the way to the church. Her white dress is spotless, because she hasn't been able to eat for fear she'll spill. She's chosen Maria for her saint's name, after St. Maria Goretti, patron of girls and youth. It's all ready. She's ready for this new responsibility, but it's terrifying all the same.
The bishop looks bored as he presses chrism to her forehead and recites the prayers. Father Arnott, standing behind him, gives her a smile that doesn't help.
Gina steps back, and feels no different.
3. holy orders
"Father Arnott? Can I talk to you?"
He looks up, sees Gina Caravecchio hovering in the doorway of his office. "Gina! Of course, my dear, come in. What about?"
She twists her hands. "I want to become a nun."
He blinks, surprised, sits back. "Oh? Why?"
Gina looks away. "No reason," she says, then amends, "I want to devote my life to God."
No, she doesn't. He leans forward. "Gina, is something wrong?"
She looks at him with haunted eyes, then shakes her head. "No. No, nothing's wrong. I'm sorry. I have to go."
She leaves him worried.
4. anointing of the sick
She got very sick, the summer before junior year. A burst appendix flared into peritonitis and left her whimpering in a hospital bed, with a fever so high she hallucinated.
Her mother panicked, because that's what Susanna Caravecchio does best in an emergency, and called Father Arnott. He didn't give her last rites, he tells her later--she wasn't that sick-- but he did anoint her. She remembers the smeary feeling, the scent of olives.
He tells her that, because of this anointing, her sins have been forgiven.
He doesn't know the half of her sins.
5. penance
"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned." Gina speeds through the words, something she does when she's nervous. Father Arnott frowns, recites his half of the ritual, and waits.
She is silent for a long moment, then blurts, "I'm gay."
Father Arnott lets a breath escape. Worse than he thought. Poor Gina.
"Father?" she asks, voice high. "Is it a sin?"
Yes.
He can't say that to her. He doesn't know what to say. "Only God can judge," he says, at last.
There is only silence from the confessional's other side, and he knows she doesn't believe that.
6. eucharist
She can't let go.
Maybe she should. Maybe she's better off leaving from the church altogether. She only attends Mass on Christmas and Easter now, and she only recieves communion on Easter, because she hates confession, hates the priests telling her that what she has with Ivy is a sin. She's better off not going.
But every time she resolves to stop attending, she thinks of Father Arnott. Every time she takes communion she remembers catechism class and laughs a little ("we do not chew the body of Christ!").
She owes it to him, she thinks, and keeps going.
7. matrimony
"Father Arnott?"
He jumps, because he hasn't seen Gina in over a decade. "Gina! Come in! How are you?"
She stays on the doorstep. "Father, I'm getting married in a few weeks. I'd like you to come."
He opens his mouth; she rushes on. "I know you think it's a sin, but I love Ivy so much. You taught me that love is never a sin. You said it's the greatest virtue. I know you can't approve, but maybe you could pretend? For a while?"
"Oh, Gina." He smiles; he knows what to say now. "I would be honored."