Page 24 of No Turning Back
“So…” Aiden says the second I close the door behind me.
I glance at him, the curtain still crooked behind him, and snort. “Why don’t you just talk to him?”
He scrunches his eyebrows. “Well, it’s… hoes over bros.”
I purse my lips. “You know you have this weird talent of annoying me while still being sweet.”
He smiles. “Sooo…”
I sigh. “He wants me to go to his parents’ 40th wedding celebration.”
“Ooh.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Like a date.”
“No. Like his family doesn’t find out I’m done with his bullshit.”
“Oh.” He leans back against the crooked curtain, studying me. “What are you gonna wear?”
I look at him like he’s lost it.
“My construction plans stalled. I’m bored,” he explains.
“Then why don’t you cook your hardworking wife her favourite dinner?”
His eyes go wide, then he shouts, “Boys!” and bolts upstairs, probably to rally the troops.
Chuckling, I drop onto the couch, after grabbing my laptop, and open the last tab, divorce lawyers. I want to believe Markus. I really do. But if history’s taught me anything…
Slamming the laptop shut, I pick up my buzzing phone.
Sam:Any chance you know which year the kid was born?
Me: No.
Sam found my grandmother pretty fast, but she hasn’t been home since my dad died, the day of, actually. No credit card activity. Nothing. Now he’s tracking down this mystery kid.
Last thing I need is some would-be half-brother showing up, especially since I haven’t even started looking for the half-sister.
Jesus. My life is a joke. I have a half-brother who isn’treallymy half-brother, but technically is. A potential half-sister who might not be mine at all. And my marriage… well, it’s circling the drain.
Anyone else in my position would be freaking out. I am too. Who can blame me?
I try to picture what this weekend will look like. As someone who couldn’t have more kids after Markus, you’d think his mom would understand my situation. Instead, every gathering, every celebration seems to circle back to me not giving her biological grandchildren.
I once considered it, buying donated eggs, but it just… didn’t sit right. I didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars on what felt like buying a child when I could adopt one who actually needed a home. Plus, I’m terrified of childbirth, so there’s that.
Back when Markus first brought me home, it was pretty clear that, at least in his mom’s mind, he was already taken.
Markus had befriended this girl in kindergarten, and somewhere along the way, Cheryl, my mother-in-law and the girl’s momformed a bond built almost entirely around their fantasy of their “babies” ending up together and having babies of their own.
So, when I showed up, Cheryl saw me as an enemy, a thorn in her friendship and basically scum at the bottom of her shoe.
The girl’s name is Gabrielle, though she prefers Gabi, whatever. Anyway, she completely bought into the fairy tale. She saved herself for Markus, while he, by his own admission, had a pretty wild youth. I felt bad for her, right up until the day she told me to my face that I wasn’t good enough for Markus and he would eventually choose her.
Instead of waiting for “eventually,” I asked Markus to choose right then.
Surprise! He chose me. He also chose not to be alone with the girl who had sent him countless care packages over the years.
I once asked him if he really hadn’t known she was in love with him. He said he knew, but assumed she’d grow out of it, until she didn’t. Once he realized that wasn’t going to happen, he set boundaries: refused to be alone with her, blocked her everywhere. He couldn’t stop his mom from inviting her, but he sure as hell didn’t have to entertain her. I’m sure she’ll be there this weekend.
