“And Tania, do you take Proctor to be your husband, to have and to hold through sickness and in-.”
“I do,” I replied before he even finished.
The judge went on with the rest of his speech, probably knowing damn well this was a sham, but not caring enough to stop it.
We chose to get married at the courthouse, with no drawn-out ceremony or waiting period, because everything here is fast, official, and legal.
When we left the courthouse, Proctor and I got into the same car to sell it. Ari, Cyn, and Hawk got into theirs and followed behind us.
“So, husband,” I said casually, “where are we spending our honeymoon?”
He looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“I’m joking, Mr. Ari,” I laughed at his face.
“I bet you wish there was a honeymoon, don’t you?” he replied flatly, and I laughed it off.
“I mean, you could’ve done better on the ring, but I guess all that money you're about to need for lawyers couldn’t go toward diamonds for your fake wife, huh.”
“Exactly.” He replied.
“So how far along are you, Tania?” I looked at him like he was crazy. I hadn’t told him that I was pregnant or anyone else.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Tania, when I met you, you were flat in the front; now you're poking out. Either your ass is drinking beer, or you're eating Twinkies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” He laughed to himself, never taking his hand off the steering wheel.
“For your information, yes, I’m pregnant, but that means I’ll have to tell the world it’s your baby.”
“Not really,” he said quickly.
“It’s none of the world’s business what we have going on. They can assume whatever they want.”
I shrugged my shoulders because he was right.
“But what about the real father? You tell him you’re pregnant with his baby?”
“Yep, he already knows. I told him I didn’t want to be with him, and that I was marrying someone else and would see him in child support court if I ever needed help.”
“And what did he say?”
“He didn’t care much; he was honestly glad I wasn’t asking him for child support right then. You know how you men are. You love to run from your responsibilities.”
“Not anymore, not me at least.” Proctor shrugged his shoulders.
“That’s good, and if you are serious, you and your son are one of a kind, Mr. Proctor.”
“And I take pride in being that way.” He glanced to the passenger side then back to the roadway ahead.
We made our way back to Cyn and Hawk’s penthouse, where we all planned to congregate, and because he was still in his suit, and I in a white wedding dress, people congratulated us left and right, believing our union was real.
“Congratulations.”
“You make a beautiful bride.”
“Wishing you both the best.”
I smiled, nodded, said thank you, playing my part as I was paid to do.
