Wedding Surprise

"What the hell are you doing here?" Clara asked the man who was standing in front of her. There was a quiver in her voice that betrayed the calm facade that she was trying to maintain. He took a step towards her, she moved away from him. Her heel got caught on the gravel; she swung her arms around to keep from falling over. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves, "You're supposed to be dead. Why aren't you dead?"

"I can explain everything. Let's go sit on the porch and have a chat. Everything can be explained," The man went to guide her away from the gathering crowd, but Clara glared at him, almost daring him to touch her. He took a step back and sighed, "Come on Clare Bear, this will be easier if we talk in private. I'm sure you want answers and then you'll have to explain to your fiancwhy your husband is alive."

"Oh my God!" Clara gasped, her hands clutched her pearls. She realized it was an old fashioned thing to do but in the moment it was all she could think to do. Her whole body began to shake uncontrollably as she fought against the burgeoning tears. "I feel like I'm in a soap opera, except I know that I'm not. If I were, I would have better hair."
Clara's fiancMatt came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. He surveyed the other man, finally asking "Who the hell is this? What has he done to upset you so much?"

"I'm the reason that you aren't going to be married today or anytime in the future," The man said dramatically. Matt raised his eyebrow at the one interrupting his wedding, his grip on Clara's shoulders tightened. "Maybe we should take this conversation over to the porch, away from the crowd. I can explain everything once Clara comes to her senses and quits talking nonsense."

The trio moved away from the crowd, and made their way to a secluded section of the house. Many of the wedding guests tried to move in closer but were shooed away by Matt. Once they were certain they could speak freely, Matt demanded "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on here? I think I have the right to know."

"This is Brian, my husband." Clara's voice was full of sorrow and anger. Her eyes darted between the men; once again she tried to steady her breathing. The entire situation seemed so surreal to her. "He went missing 18 years ago, investigators declared him dead when his body was found in a mass grave."

"Clearly he isn't dead, or a zombie is interrupting my wedding. Of course this would be one helluva smart zombie, who can inexplicably talk and restrain himself from eating our brains." Matt turned away from the married couple. "How the hell are you alive? And what do you want from me and Clara?"

"I don't want anything from you guys, other than a chance to see my kids. I'll give her the divorce that she wants, I have no intention of making either of your lives miserable or complicated."

"Really? You don't plan on making our lives complicated?" Clara asked, incredulously. She made her way over to Matt and placed her hands on his shoulders, her eyes cut over to Brian. "If you didn't want to complicate things, then why in the world didn't you just stay dead?"

"I was never dead. I simply could not go on being married to you, it was much too difficult," Brian cringed as he heard the words hit the air. He put his face into his hands and tried to find a way to explain himself better. "I loved you and the kids, but there was a part of me that you never knew about. I was, I am gay. Because of our position within the community, being the first family of the town, I tried to stuff it down. I was ashamed of who I was but I couldn't change it. Then when I went to that conference in Arizona and found out I was in the middle of all of the drug wars, I figured I could get myself shot. Slowly it dawned on me that I could just run away and never look back. The decision was made and I began to put everything in place, but I felt guilty. I couldn't fight the urge to be with men anymore, and I knew that there was no way that you would swing. Thanks to the internet I was able to keep up with the search for me, and then one day I was surprised to learn that I was dead."

"If you're gay why did you marry Clara?"

"Because that was what was expected of me. Society tells us to get married to someone of the opposite sex, have babies, and live happily ever after. I had it all down pat until the happily ever after part. Clara was the perfect wife but she wasn't what I wanted."

"So you wanted to sleep with your friends, the ones that you called buds, but not me? Is that what you're saying? Fine, we could have gotten a divorce! Why make me mourn you for 18 years and then show up at my wedding?"

"How were you not found all of these years?"

"Clara, I never wanted to hurt you. That's why I figured that running away was the best option. You never had to know the truth that is until I read that you were getting married. I didn't want you to be a bigamist," Brian took a deep breath and then finished answering the questions. "I took on another identity altogether. Fake IDs, new social security number, all of that. Maybe I should have stayed gone but I couldn't."

"All of this so you could give me the wedding surprise I didn't want."