Treading (Jordan Knight/NKOTB Fanfic)

Thirty-Two

-JORDAN-

From the first day that I'd arrived in Laketown, the church that stood in the center of the main street had served as a beacon for the community. Even amongst the rubbish and destruction that had resulted from the fire, it'd stood tall and white as a reminder of hope and peace and a tomorrow that was better than yesterday. It'd been the place where I'd first locked eyes with Sera and where I'd spent weeks working and slowly falling in love with her from afar.

It was a special place with a symbolic sentiment that tugged at the hearts of everyone who'd ever set eyes on its steeple. Thus, the news of a meeting to discuss its governance had traveled wide and drawn an audience from all over the region.

The parking lot overflowed with cars and the sanctuary was stuffed despite the fact I was sure that a sizable portion of the crowd had never even set foot in the church. They were just there to be "in the know" and yet the longer I witnessed the meeting going on, the more confused that I felt.

For the past three hours, questions had darted back and forth around the stuffy room while Sera's parents, Ethan and Colleen Jones, tried their best to keep order and answer them all, but no one seemed truly interested in anything they had to say. People either wanted to compliment their leadership and thank them for their kindness and compassion over the years and beg them stay or they wanted to paint them out to be villains and "sinners" on the verge of being struck by lightning who needed to be kicked out of the church immediately.

There was no in-between.

The only clear thing was the divide of supporters on the left of the church and opposers on the right as the tension built with every second and I was exhausted from just watching.

"Okay, okay, order!" One of the elders, who I vaguely remembered being introduced to as Richard during my time making repairs, stood in the middle of the aisle as two women began shouting back and forth at each other. "I think we've all made our points very clear. Some of us feel that the pastor and his wife should stay and some of us feel that it's time for new leadership. Since it seems we can't reach a consensus, we'll take a vote. Each of you will write 'stay' or 'go' on a slip of paper and put it in the basket that'll be passed around and we'll count them—"

"How are we going to vote when we haven't gotten our biggest question answered?" A man interrupted and I turned to my right to see a middle aged man standing up with a woman whom I assumed was his wife.

Richard sighed, "And what question is that, Todd?"

"Oh, don't play stupid," Todd scoffed. "We all know what question that is. That's whether Seraphina Jones cheated on my son and ran off pregnant! If a man can't control his own daughter and teach her the sanctity of marriage then he has no business running this church!"

My eyes widened as I looked at the man a little closer and realized he was Travis's father. An uneasy feeling knotted in my stomach and I glanced warily at Jonathan.

Richard sighed, "Pastor, would you like to respond?"

Ethan's jaw set, but he kept his composure as he nodded and lifted his microphone to his mouth, "I'll just say, Todd, I always considered you to be a friend and this is a discussion that I've wanted to have in private with you on many occasions, but none of my phone calls have ever been returned. So I guess you decided you wanted to talk in public and that's fine, that's your prerogative," he pressed his lips together and Todd stood firmly.

Ethan glanced at his wife and then back out to the congregation, "Well, to answer your question, yes, Sera was engaged to your son when she met someone else, but they weren't married so she was still free to decide what she wanted for herself. I'd like to think your son was also contemplating what he wanted because marriage isn't something to enter into lightly, so no I don't find anything wrong with that. In addition, following their break up, I became aware that there was a lot of manipulation going on behind the scenes of their relationship. If I'd know that was going on, I never would've blessed the marriage in the first place. As you mentioned, marriage is sanctified. It's bigger than just the two people, it's a spiritual joining of two souls. The Bible tells us wives should honor and support their husbands, but it goes even further and tells us that husbands are supposed to love their wives with the same kind of unconditional love that God has for all of us. Travis didn't show my daughter that kind of love. He was disrespectful and dismissive and she didn't realize it until she met another man who respected and valued her. I'm not going to shame her for discovering that she was making a mistake and then seeking out the kind of love that she deserves. It's not my goal to control my daughter, I'm here to guide her to make good choices and I think she made the right decision here. I stand by her and I'm happy that she and Jordan will be welcoming our second grandchild this Christmas."