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“Speaking of fiancées, I have one.”
The entire group was so silent that it was almost eerie.
“I’m sorry, what?” Gran asked.
Gabe groaned.
“Dude,” Maddox said, “you didn’t.”
Of course he’d already figured out what happened.
“We were joking, Nick,” Gabe went on.
“Yeah, dude. Come on! You aren’t serious?” Maddox blinked.
“What’s going on?” Granddad asked. “Not that we’re not happy, Nick.”
“Of course,” Gran said, “but this is a bit unusual. Who is the young lady? We’ve never even met her, have we? Except Maddox and Gabe, apparently.”
I shook my head. “It’s not what you think. I’m just trying to help out Allison.”
Everyone started talking at the same time. It was impossible to hear anyone specifically.
“I can’t answer all your questions at once,” I said, fighting laughter.
“You find this amusing?” Maddox asked.
“Yes, actually. If you calm down, I’ll explain.”
The chatter instantly stopped.
“So, all of you know I lost my best friend, Jim, months ago. He and his wife, Nora, passed away in a car accident. Their twins were not in the car with them. Nora’s sister, Allison, has them now.”
“We know that,” Gran said impatiently. “Skip to the part where youwantto marry her.”
Hmmm. The way she accentuatedwanttroubled me. Hopefully she’d understand.
“I have a very good reason, Gran. Jim’s parents have threatened to sue for custody. I spoke with Hugo. As you know, he’s the best in the field. He said they could win with her being a single mom and all. But it would help her case immensely if she were married.”
“Good to know society is still misogynistic,” Leo exclaimed. “And why did these two know about this and I didn’t?”
“We actually didn’t know about it,” Gabe said. “We just... It doesn’t matter.”
My brother sounded completely stunned. I’d only been able to stun Gabe on three occasions in my life, this being the third. It was quite an accomplishment.
“Nick mentioned that Hugo told Allison that the judge would look favorably on a two-person household,” Gabe continued.
“And wejokingly,” Maddox emphasized, glaring at me, “said that he could be the one to marry her.”
“Dude, what the hell?” Gabe asked.
I shrugged. “It makes sense. She can’t marry some random person she met two days ago. At least she’s known me for a while.”
“Honey,” Gran said in a very careful tone. She was sitting farthest from me on the wooden bench. “Do you think it’s prudent? Marrying someone is more than just signing a piece of paper.”
“That’s actually exactly what it’s going to be. We’ll go to city hall, sign the papers, and that’s it. It’s all for the sake of custody.”
“You’re simplifying this too much.” That came from Colton. “Have you gone over this with Hugo? Are there ways in which it can backfire? What if Jim’s parents find out this isn’t real?”