“Fuck!” Lanie exclaimed.
“Oh, no no no, honey. We don’t say that word,” Aman
da said.
“But Uncle Bwian said it.”
“And that’s why Uncle Brian’s about to go into timeout. Because that’s what happens when we say words like that.”
Amanda nodded her head toward the hallway, and I was in awe of her. Lanie’s eyes were welling with tears as she apologized, and in the same breath, Amanda had given me an out to take this phone call. She was easily slipping into this role, and I had to take a moment and remind myself that it wasn’t real.
“Please tell me you have good news,” I said.
“Yes and no. The first court date has been set for Tuesday,” my lawyer said.
“Shit.”
“Please tell me the two of you have tied the knot. I need that paperwork in the system by Monday at the very latest,” he said.
“We’ve got this. Don’t worry. It’ll be in the system by Monday, I promise,” I said.
“Good. I’ll need some fun pictures of it, too. Anything to make it look authentic. The less it looks like an arrangement just to sway the judge, the better. He needs to see a happy, loving home, not two strangers married for the sake of court.” .”
“Yes. You’ll have them,” I said.
“I’ll call you Monday just to remind you, but it’s Tuesday at ten in the morning.”
“I won’t forget. I promise,” I said.
“You better not. Have you heard from your P.I.?”
“Nope. Have you?”
“Not since we originally talked a couple days ago. If you hear from him, call me,” he said.
“Will do.”
I turned around and saw Amanda standing at the end of the hallway. Lanie was finishing up her breakfast and chugging her milk, making a massive mess for us to clean up. Amanda slowly walked toward me as I tossed my phone into my room, letting it tumble off of the bed and onto the floor.
“The court date’s Tuesday morning,” I said. “We have to do this before then.”
“We’ll get it done,” she said. “I promise.”
“The paperwork has to be in the system by Monday. Do you think we should tell Lanie what’s going on and take her with us?”
“We’ve got this. Don’t stress yourself out. Everything is going to be okay.”
Her hands were warm against my chest, and I could feel myself relaxing underneath her touch. Her lips brushed my skin, sending electricity surging through my chest. I kept my eyes on Lanie, making sure she wouldn’t turn around and catch us.
And when I knew Lanie was secured, I dipped down and caught Amanda’s lips within mine.
“Stay with us today?” I asked.
“Were you planning on kicking me out?” she asked, grinning.
“Nope.”
“Good. Because I wasn’t planning on leaving,” she said.