Fake Marriage Box Set

I looked at the time, almost 5:30. Maddie would be arriving within the next half hour, and I realized that I was still in my pajama pants with a naked torso. I stood to get changed just as the doorbell rang, followed by Maddie inviting herself inside and calling my name from the living room.

“I’ll be right there!” I yelled as I hurried to my room. Maddie was standing at the top of the stairs, her eyes locked on my chest. A blush crept up her neck and over her cheeks, but she didn’t tear her eyes away. “I’m running a little late.”

“I can see that,” she said with a smile and followed me to my room.

“That wasn’t an invitation,” I said. “We have to get to my mother’s house for dinner.”

I walked into my closet and began putting on a suit. She waited just outside the door, her voice floating through the wall as she teased me.

“I don’t know what’s on your mind,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure you were ready.”

“And are you?” I asked. “Are you wearing the ring?”

She hesitated a moment before answering.

“I’m wearing it.”

“Good,” I said and wrapped Mom’s favorite gray tie around my neck. Maddie met me outside the closet in a white dress covered with flowers.

“You look good,” I said. She did a small twirl that revealed her defined legs and tanned upper thighs, and I focused my attention elsewhere. We had to get through this dinner, I reminded myself. I had to have a dinner celebrating my engagement with this woman. The woman who had used my mom’s diagnosis for her own payday. I kept reminding myself of it, but I wasn’t sure why.

“Let’s keep this dinner only about the upcoming wedding, okay?” I said as she followed me down the stairs. “Nothing about the future.”

“Well, what about the three kids we’re going to have?” she asked innocently. I groaned. “And their names? Little Tiffany, Sweet Sierra, and,” she pressed the tip of her finger to her chin and tilted her head. “Spoiled Catelyn.”

“Three girls?” I asked and turned toward her. “Wait, it doesn’t matter. Don’t you dare bring anything up about children.”

“And if she asks?” She poured herself a half serving of wine. It seemed even Maddie was nervous about the dinner. “Shouldn’t we be on the same page about these things?”

“Fine,” I took a seat beside her and poured myself a shot of whiskey. I was going to need it. “One kid. We want a boy, and we want to name him Ralph.”

“Ralph?” She sipped on her wine. “Why Ralph? That’s an awful name.”

“He was my uncle,” I said. “I was close to him.”

“I would have suggested Charlie,” she said in a soft tone. I glanced at her. She had known my father, and we both knew that the name was for him.

“Maybe two boys then,” I said.

“Two boys,” she agreed as we both finished our drinks. “I think we’re ready for this dinner.”

I pushed myself off the chair and left my house, with Maddie’s clammy hand held in mine as we met my mother for our celebratory dinner.

As expected, the moment we arrived at Mom’s and she saw the giant, diamond ring on Maddie’s finger, it was nonstop wedding talk. Mom pressed a kiss on both of Maddie’s cheeks before even acknowledging me, and grabbed her hand and ushered her to take a seat at the dining table.

The food set on the table was a feast for an entire family, plus more, with two plates of grilled salmon on top of roasted vegetables, a bowl full of baked potatoes, and a long loaf of bread that had been pulled out of the oven as we sat. It was flaky and crispy outside and moist inside, and I dipped a piece into a small dish of balsamic vinegar and oil. I hadn’t touched the glass of whiskey set beside my plate until Mom turned toward me and asked about the wedding.

“Have you thought about your cake?” she asked. I took a sip.

“Isn’t that usually for the bride to decide?” I asked. Mom smiled and raised an eyebrow toward Maddie. Every other word out of Maddie’s mouth brought an even wider smile to my mom’s, and I tried remembering the last time I’d seen her smile as much. It had been a while, I realized.

“I’m partial to anything peanut butter,” Maddie said. “Nancie didn’t allow it at the apartment, too high in calories, but I could eat only peanut butter for the rest of my life and be in bliss.”

“Gav

in gave me a peanut butter protein powder once,” Mom said. “I didn’t like it.”

“I’m sure a peanut butter cake would taste much better than a powder,” I said and turned to Maddie. “But really? A peanut butter wedding cake?”