“There should be another more reasonable solution other than marriage. We can work out a visitation schedule,” she tried one last chance to fix the situation that was quickly spiraling out of control.
“There’s no other solution, I told you I want to be with my son every single day. I don’t want to just visit him every other weekend and on alternative holidays. I’ve already lost half of his childhood, I won’t lose anymore,” he said.
“Can we at least take a few days to think about things and talk some more, this is all so new and we are both emotional?” she asked him.
“Jasmine it’s either this or else,” he said, leaving the veiled threat unsaid.
“I guess it makes sense,” she conceded.
“Good, I’m glad you feel that way but don’t think that there won’t be an iron clad prenuptial agreement. When our son turns eighteen and goes off to college, our sham of a marriage will end and then we can be free of each other. Don’t worry though, I’ll leave you with something and just think, while we’re married you get to live in the way you’re so accustomed to. I may not have been good enough for you ten years ago but I’m worth far more than your father ever was now,” he snarled.
“I don’t care about your money or what you can give me; I’m not the one wanting to get married. I think we could find another solution,” she snapped and let out a sigh of frustration. She was getting far angrier the more he lashed out at her.
“I’m tired, where’s the guest room?” he asked, as he rubbed his hand through his hair for the hundredth time. She showed him the room and then dragged herself off to her own, feeling defeated and more drained than she ever had in her life.
Jasmine figured she’d climb into bed and lay there awake all night. She was grateful when her heavy eyes closed and she felt oblivion overtaking her.
“Dad,” Jacob yelled, as he came skidding into her room at the crack of dawn. Her first thought was, why did she keep getting woken so horribly early and then panic started to overcome her at the look of complete devastation on her child’s face.
“I knew he wouldn’t be here,” Jacob said as tears started streaming down his face and he crawled in the bed next to her to sob on her shoulder.
“It’s okay baby, he’s here, he’s just in the other room, he hasn’t left,” she said, as one of her own tears escaped. She hated to see her son in pain for any reason but the unbearable heartbreak of him thinking his father was gone was the most horrible thing she’d ever experienced.
“Hey bud, are you okay?” Derek said, as he stepped into the room and saw Jacob sobbing in her arms. He looked up and the tears stopped instantly, as a huge grin overtook his face.
“You didn’t leave,” Jacob exclaimed, as he jumped from the bed and threw his arms around his father. Derek picked him up and sat down on her bed. She scrambled up into a sitting position and pulled her legs up to her chest, hugging them tightly. Derek looked over at her with an expression that seemed to say, I told you there was no other answer. She knew he was right.
“Where were you then?” Jacob asked, as he looked from his father to his mother.
“I was sleeping in the other room, bud,” Derek said as if that would satisfy him.
“But mom and dad’s sleep together. Maryanne says when her mom and dad stopped sleeping in the same bed they stopped being married and then her dad found a new person that Maryanne has to call mom even though she doesn’t like her. She says she has to have two houses and doesn’t get to be with her mom and dad together anymore,” he said in the longest speech she’d ever heard him give. Then his tears started to fall again as he thought about it.
“Your mom and I aren’t going to live in separate houses Jacob. We figured things out last night and decided neither of us could stand to be away from you. We will stay together and be a real family,” Derek said and tried to get his son to stop crying.
“Do you promise?” Jacob asked with a hiccup.
“I promise you that. As a matter of fact you can be my best man when we get married,” Derek added.
“Really? Do I get to wear a tux…tux…Oh I can’t remember what they’re called,” Jacob said and blew his breath out with frustration.
“It’s called a tuxedo and if that’s what you want to wear then that’s what we will wear. We will have matching tuxes,” Derek promised.
“And will mom get to wear her princess dress?” he asked.
“If she wants,” Derek replied.
“Honey, I don’t need to wear a princess dress. We’re just having a small wedding and I would look silly wearing a big poufy dress,” she said. She was actually really disappointed to settle for a justice of the peace wedding. She’d always dreamed of her wedding day looking like a fairy tale. She’d learned the hard way long ago, fairy tales didn’t always come true, though.
“But, Mom…hold on,” he interrupted himself, then jumped from the bed and ran out of the room. Jasmine looked at Derek and shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t know what he was up too.
Jacob came running back into the room and she saw the familiar book about two seconds too late. She made a grab for it but Jacob had already crawled back onto Derek’s lap and opened the cover. Jasmine could feel her face flushing as Derek looked at a book that basically told him her dreams.
“Jacob, your dad doesn’t want to look at that,” she said as she tried to grab the book again.
“You do, don’t you?” Jacob said as he looked up at Derek.
“Of course I do,” he said. He’d agree with anything Jacob asked. The kid could probably get a brand new motorcycle from him if he just asked. She’d have to talk about that with him. Instead of arguing, she sat back and glared at Derek as he gave her a look with his brows raised.
“See, Dad, this is the dress mom wants to wear. She said when she got married it would be like a fairy tale book and she’d be the princess marrying her prince and I got to be the young prince. She said she was going to one day find a frog and give him a kiss and then he’d become her prince and rescue her from the castle. I guess that means you’re the frog,” Jacob said and then broke out in giggles.
Derek looked through the pages of the book and felt like he was somehow intruding into her thoughts. She had pictures and notes of everything she wanted for her dream wedding. He got to the back of the book and raised his brows at her one more time, as there were pictures of what she wanted to wear on the honeymoon. She had excellent taste and his mouth watered as he pictured her in a few of the outfits.