Fake Marriage Box Set

“Well, we just started, so I brought him over last weekend for a few days to get him used to the place, but we haven’t been to mediation yet to make a set schedule,” Luke said.

“And how did he do?”

“He did wonderfully,” I responded. “He acted like he’d lived here his whole life. He didn’t have any problem falling asleep, waking up, or making his way around the house. He actually seemed happier than I had seen him in a long time; it was really nice.”

“That’s right,” she said, skimming her notes. “You used to be the boy’s sitter.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, with blushed cheeks.

When she was done asking questions, the official requested a tour of the house. We quickly obliged, and I let Luke lead her through the different areas of the house, explaining whatever she had questions on. Since Jake wasn’t that young, she didn’t require child safety devices on anything and seemed very impressed by the house. I knew everything was going perfectly. Luke was an adoring fiancé and father, and I was a doting homemaker, cooking in the kitchen when she arrived. I couldn’t have planned it any better myself; we looked relaxed, natural, in love, and completely in tune with Jake and his needs. I was really proud of what we had accomplished, and though I didn’t know whether it was all an act on Luke’s part or not, I knew that I felt right at home playing the wife and stay-at-home mom. When the tour was over, we walked back to the kitchen and stood, waiting for her comments.

“Well,” she said, taking in a deep breath. “I am very impressed by the two of you and your home. You seem to be a really loving couple that has provided Jake with everything here that he needs to be successful. It is actually a breath of fresh air, knowing that there are people out there really doing what is needed to give their children, or future step-children, all the tools they need to grow and be healthy, happy adults.”

“Thank you,” Luke said. “Jake is our life, and we are waiting patiently for him to start coming more often so we can really provide him with the things we see he is lacking.”

“Good,” she said. “That is what makes a successful co-parent, which is what is important for Jake right now. As far as the custody agreement, we’ll have one more surprise visit, but I think that if it goes as well as this one, I won’t need to continue. I will have no problem going to the judge and requesting that they go ahead and make the shared custody permanent.”

“Oh, thank you, Ms. Brown,” I said, stepping forward and shaking her hand. “That really is amazing news. Jake will be so excited when everything is over, and we can get Jake on a regular schedule so can finally know that no one will keep him from spending time with his dad.”

“And you,” Ms. Brown replied. “From what I’m seeing, that little boy is very important to you.”

“And he loves her very much,” Luke said, with a smile.

“I love to hear that,” she said, writing something on her clipboard. “Okay, well we are all done here for the day, and I will be back, probably sometime later this week so that I can speak to Jake and see him interacting with the two of you.”

“We can’t wait,” I said, walking with Ms. Brown toward the door. “Drive safely.”

“I will,” she said. “It was lovely meeting you.”

“You too,” I replied, watching her walk down the steps and out to her car.

I closed the front door and took in a deep breath of air, leaning back against the door. I smiled big, feeling absolutely elated on the inside. Everything had gone even better than I expected, and it looked like Luke was going to get his wish to have his son by his side. I walked into the kitchen and over to the counter, leaning back and smiling big.

“Could you have imagined that going any better? I mean, she was so impressed with us, the house, and how we are together,” I said, smiling. “I am so excited that things turned out like that.”

“Yeah,” Luke said, taking a deep breath. “It went great.”

“It went better than great,” I laughed, walking forward to give him a hug.

Before I could get there though, he scrambled slightly, stepping away from the breakfast bar and to the side. I stopped in my tracks and looked at him with confusion, not sure if he did that on purpose, or just didn’t realize what I was doing. I took another step forward and stopped again, watching as he turned and moved away. Obviously, he was purposely avoiding any contact with me, which was a stark contrast to the last twelve hours.

“I, uh, I have to get in the shower and get to work,” he mumbled, walking quickly toward the bedroom.

At first, I wanted to chase after him and call him out for whatever it was that he was pulling. He was obviously avoiding me, and I didn’t understand why. Everything was perfect the night before and had continued into that morning. I had made him breakfast, he had kissed me deeply, and we had knocked the socks off the court official. What had I done that had made him so jumpy that he was literally running away from me? I replayed every moment from the time we fell asleep the night before to this moment, and couldn’t figure out what had happened. I stood there in front of the coffee maker, staring down at the tile, completely confused. I could hear him in the bathroom getting ready, so I poured the remainder of the coffee into his mug and closed the lid.

When he came out of the bathroom, I put on a happy face, not wanting him to notice that his odd behavior had affected me at all. I thought maybe he was just processing what had happened and needed a few minutes alone to do so. However, as he rounded the corner, he didn’t even look up at me. He grabbed his bag, threw it over his shoulder, and walked straight to the door, pausing for just a moment as his hand turned the doorknob. I stood there shocked, holding his to-go mug in my hand and shuddering at the sound of the slamming door behind him. Immediately a trickle of fear ran through my stomach, and I pulled out the chair and sat down. He hadn’t even stopped to get his coffee or say goodbye.

I sat there in the chair for several minutes, trying to get a hold of the fear and anxiety that was steadily growing inside of me. The rest of the day I spent cleaning up, preparing for Jake’s arrival in a couple of days, and trying to keep my mind off of what happened. I still had hope that when he came home, he would be in a better mood, and maybe enlighten me on what I had done to make him treat me that way.

However, that night, he was borderline cold to me, not speaking at dinner, and retiring to the den without a word. I was beyond myself and didn’t know what to do. With this news of the impending approval of his child custody case, I was now more than fearful of what was yet to come.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Luke

I groaned as the alarm clock blared on the side table next to the pull-out. I slammed my hand down on the snooze button and laid there, not wanting to move. Two nights sleeping in the den had gotten me more than a little grumpy, and I hurt in places that I didn’t even realize could hurt. I pulled myself to a sitting position and ran my hands over my face, trying to straighten my back and shoulders without too much terrible pain. I was exhausted, stressed out, and not feeling like getting out of bed that morning. It was a Thursday, which meant I could pick up Jake at the end of the day, something that should have brightened my spirits.

Every single night it went the same way: I would go to the den, lie there until finally, I fell asleep, trying not to roll onto one of the hard springs almost protruding from the mattress, and then after about two hours, I would wake up. That same routine happened over and over throughout the night until it was finally time to pull myself out of bed. However, I realized that every time I fell asleep, I would have dreams about my soft mattress and that beautiful woman—Quinn of course—sleeping cozily beside me. Then, like clockwork, I would reach out for her and find nothing but a worn-down pull-out and a few ruffled blankets.