So when everything finally broke, when Sean brought another woman into the house and told me I had to leave, I had nowhere to go. See, I don’t have parents or relatives. I’m an orphan.
I refused to leave the kids, packed what I could, and we drove to Peter’s place.
I didn’t call my FIL.
But when we arrived, he opened the door, looked at the kids and me, and stepped aside.
No questions.
Sean brought another woman.
That night, after the kids were asleep, I sat at Peter’s kitchen table trying to think.
“I don’t have anything,” I said. “Your son made sure of that.”
Peter sat across from me.
“You have your kids,” he said.
“That’s what he’s trying to take.”
My FIL didn’t respond right away. Then he said something I didn’t expect.
“If you want to protect yourself… and the kids… You need to marry me.”
I stared at him. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
“I don’t have anything.”
“But that doesn’t even make sense.”
“Legally, it does. I can file to adopt them.”
I shook my head. “Peter, you’re 67.”
“And you’re their mother. That’s what matters.”
Sean and I’s divorce didn’t take long.
I didn’t have the money to fight him, and things already favored him. By the end of it, I was left with almost nothing after nine years of marriage.
Except for one thing.
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
The court allowed the kids to stay under Peter’s roof, since that’s where I was living. It wasn’t everything, but it was enough.
When we returned home that day, feeling like I had no choice, I accepted Peter’s marriage proposal. Because while the kids were safe for the time being, Sean still had joint custody, and I didn’t know what else he was capable of.
***
But when Sean found out about our engagement, he lost his mind!
He showed up at his father’s house, angry.
He lost his mind!
I was unfortunately the only one home when he came banging on the door.
“You think this is going to work?” he said when I opened it.
“I’m not doing this,” I said, trying to close the door, but he stuck his foot in and blocked it.
“You already did, you [expletive]! Marrying my father?!”
I didn’t respond.
Sean laughed under his breath. “This isn’t over!”
Then he walked away.
“I’m not doing this.”
Sean didn’t come to the wedding. I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was my kids.
The ceremony was small and quick.
I didn’t feel like a bride. I felt like someone signing something permanent without fully understanding it.
Jonathan held my hand through most of it. Lila kept asking when we were going home.
***
When we got back to the house, the kids ran ahead.
The door closed behind us, leaving just Peter and me alone for the first time as husband and wife.
He turned to me.
I didn’t feel like a bride.
“Now that there’s no going back, I can finally tell you why I married you.”
I exhaled slowly, anticipating the worst.
“You asked me for something years ago,” Peter said. “And I never forgot.”
I frowned. “What’re you talking about?”
“It was after Sean disappeared for a couple of days. The kids were still little.”
And just like that, I remembered.
***
Jonathan had been about three. Lila was still in a crib.
Sean had been gone for two days. No calls. Nothing.
“What’re you talking about?”
By the second night, I couldn’t pretend it was normal.
So I called Peter.
“I haven’t heard from him,” I said.
“I’ll come by.”
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