Fake Marriage Box Set

“You want me to do what?”

“Look, Luke,” she said, sitting on the edge of her desk and taking off her glasses. “I looked over everything from the original trial. Your best chance of getting joint custody of your son is to get into a stable relationship with a reliable and comforting woman who you think would be best for your son.”

I took in a deep breath and looked out her office window at the rain. I couldn’t even begin to understand why that would be my best option. Sarah wasn’t in a relationship with anyone, so why did it make me a less reliable parent if I was single as well? Why was my ex getting all the props while she just sat around spending my money and tossing our son to the side? I could already tell you right then and there that my mind was not going to let this happen. My brain was not even ready to comprehend the notion of getting into a relationship just to look better in court; it was unfair and absurd. I was a more than capable father with the ability to raise my son just as well as Sarah was, and likely better, and I was having to fold to social norms just to get a judge to take me seriously.

I knew that the allegations she had made against me in court were serious, but they were unfounded and never proven. There were plenty of reasons why the courts should take a second look at this whole situation, one of them being the fact that my ex-wife wasn’t actually raising our son. I was paying her to live a life of freedom, all while my child spent his days at school, and a good share of the rest of the time with a nanny.

“I think we really have a case here,” I said, scooting forward in my chair. “My ex-wife doesn’t care about having Jake around or not; she just wants the money. That is strongly proven by the fact that she spends her days and nights shopping and going about her life while leaving our son to be raised and watched by a caregiver. I mean, the woman is barely parenting Jake, much less teaching and nurturing him the way she should be, especially for someone who I’m paying enough so she can stay home with him and not have to work. I’m paying more to have her live her life than before the divorce, but at least then I could see my son and be around him.”

“You need to remember something,” she said. “It may not seem fair, but judges almost always side with the mother. They have to have a really compelling reason to go against what the mother says is happening. Because you didn’t contest the charges and allegations made against you during the divorce, her using a babysitter and shopping are not going to be a strong enough argument to sway the mind of the judge.”

“That’s insane,” I said, with irritation. “No offense, but how does the fact that my ex-wife has a vagina make her automatically more suited to raising our son? That is complete bullshit.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you, Luke,” Amanda replied patiently. “But we can debate the legality of bias in the United States Court System all we want, but at the end of the day, you still have to convince this judge. I am telling you, the tactic I’ve described is your best shot at winning this judge over. We’re in Kansas, not California, and the old ways are still very much a stigma in this court system. They still look at the mother as the raiser of children, and the father as the breadwinner, even when you’re no longer married.”

“You know, I’ve finally been able to have my life back,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m finally free to do and see whoever I like whenever I want to. I have the ability to make the choices I want for my life, just like Sarah has been doing since long before we were divorced. I am enjoying my time as a free agent, able to peruse the dating scene and not get too heavily involved with any woman. Forcing me into it is just going to create a negative situation for the both of us. The last thing I want right now is to saddle myself with a wife again. I went down that road, and it brought me nothing but heartache and grief, not to mention robbed me of my child and empty my bank account. I would be insane to think another serious relationship would be a good idea.”

“It’s not forced, Luke. You do have the choice here,” she said.

“Yeah, but if I don’t go along with it, I may be sacrificing the ability to have my son with me,” I scoffed. “Why isn’t she forced into a two-parent system? Not that I would want to saddle any man with that mess.”

“I appreciate your feelings on this; I really do,” Amanda said. “I wouldn’t want to be forced into a relationship any more than you do, but if you want your son back, that is the single best chance you have. Try to think about it in a positive way: a strong and caring woman in Jake’s life will help him get past whatever narcissism issues your ex-wife has developed. He’d be able to see a real woman, and experience the love he should be getting from his mother.”

“I have a hard enough time picking out a necktie before a game,” I said, rubbing my face. “How am I supposed to pick out a woman to mother my child and make me look good in court?”

“It’s simple,” she said. “Find a woman who is good with children, I mean really good with them, not just when it suits them. She should be sweet and kind, and able to make a very good impression on the courts. You know the kind of woman I’m talking about: the kind who shines with happiness when she walks into a room.”

“Those kinds of women are either insane, already married, or extremely hard to find, especially in a town made up mostly of college students,” I said. “That kind of woman could take me a lifetime to find. Hell, if it was easy I would have found one before ever marrying Sarah. Then I wouldn’t be sitting here in your office trying to get my son back. This is insane,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t believe I’m in this situation.”

“Well, however you need to do it, you need to do it fast,” she said, looking over at me.

“All right,” I said, with a sigh. “When should we meet again?”

“When you have procured yourself a woman,” she said, with a slight smirk. “And Luke, listen. I don’t believe you’re a bad guy, and I’m not just saying that because you’re paying me. I’m sorry the system works the way it does. I know it isn’t fair.”

“Thank you,” I grumbled. “I wish you could make the judge see it that way; it would save me a whole lot of drama.”

I picked up my coat and walked out of the office and toward the front doors, shaking my head. I walked to my truck and climbed in, starting it up and heading toward the campus. My first marriage was a disaster from the beginning. We were young and thought marriage was what we were supposed to do. So, despite the fact that my brain was screaming at me not to, I asked Sarah to marry me. During the beginning of our marriage things were loving and simple but when the honeymoon period ended, the bickering started, getting worse through the years. We stayed together for so long because she liked the notoriety of being the coach’s wife, and I thought it was the best thing for Jake. In the end, she’d become a crazy bitch who only wanted money, and I was the poor sap who got it good in court. Now, my lawyer wanted me to walk straight back in and put the noose around my neck; it was insane.

How in the world was I going to convince a woman to get into a serious relationship with me in this short amount of time? I couldn’t take forever romancing someone, because the longer I waited, the more time passed without Jake. Everyone already thought I was a player, though, which for all intents and purposes, I was. Hell, even on my date with the cheerleader last night, she’d made a comment about how I had a serious reputation around town. I couldn’t even start to deny it; it would have been a useless waste of breath.

As I drove, the face of my brown-haired, green-eyed little boy flashed through my mind. I loved that kid more than anything in the world. He was smart, handsome, brave, and he loved me as much as I loved him. He needed me in his life, not some random guy trying to play at being daddy whenever Sarah decided she wanted to try to catch another poor schmuck in her grasp. I would do anything for Jake, anything, especially if it meant that I could spend tim

e with him, hug him, and be the father to him that I should be. It was evident in his eyes and his voice when I’d seen him the day before—Jake was yearning to have me in his life, and I wasn’t doing everything I could to make it happen. I’d already known it was the right thing to do, which was why I’d hired a new attorney, but seeing him sharpened my resolve. I had to do my best for him; I had to make sure I was focused on my son and not my personal life, even though it seemed the two would have to intertwine.

Then there was the million-dollar question. If I was going to go through with this and find a woman to help raise Jake, I would need to start immediately. But where would I even start looking for a replacement wife?

Chapter Six

Quinn

It was finally beautiful outside after raining all day Friday. In order to get my mind off things, I went outside, donned my gardening gloves, and started to pull weeds. As I sat there, my mind somewhere other than the vegetation, I heard a familiar deep voice behind me. I sat up and dusted my hands off before turning around and smiling at my neighbor, Steve, who was heading toward me across the lawn.

“Hi, Quinn,” he said, waving as he tiptoed across the still wet grass with a cheesy smile on his face, and his hands in his pockets.

I took in a deep breath and stood up, brushing the dirt off my knees. I turned toward him and smiled, taking off my glove and shaking his outstretched hand. I put my hand on my forehead to stomp out the glaring sun overhead and cleared my throat, still slightly dizzy from the daydream he had pulled me out of.

“Hey, Steve, how was your day?”