Chapter 15 – Aston #2
Not only will I be married to Skylar, but she’ll technically become Zoey’s stepmother.
When this thing ends, what will happen to that relationship?
Am I setting Zoey up for more heartache and pain in order to bring her happiness and stability now?
Plus, Skylar will have her own child. Her own family.
She’ll move on from us and leave Zoey behind.
Not because she’s cruel or uncaring, but because Zoey won’t be her priority.
Her new baby will be, which I get. I won’t even be able to fault her for that.
That’s how it should be for her.
I’d been worried about how I’d react to living with Skylar. How the marriage would impact me and my life. But what about Zoey?
I can’t lie to her. She’ll see the band on my finger. There will be times when I’ll have to call Skylar my wife, not just my special friend. And then there’s the baby. How will I explain to Zoey that the baby isn’t mine? It isn’t ours. What happens when Zoey falls in love with both of them?
There are too many variables with this. Too many uncertainties and things that could not just go wrong but blow up in our faces.
But how do I pull back?
I should, right?
I stare at Skylar’s door, closed and quiet, and heave out a breath. I’m so fucked. I asked her to marry me. What have I gotten myself involved in?
With determined strides, I head back into my room, shut my door, and climb into my bed, sitting up against the headboard with my legs under my covers.
My phone is resting on my nightstand, fully charged, and I unplug it and set it on my lap, looking at the picture of me and Zoey I have as my wallpaper.
It was supposed to be just us against the world, but the world doesn’t care about our best intentions. I need advice. I need to talk to someone.
Normally, I’d call Micha and talk this through. He has an uncanny ability to listen intently and advise brilliantly. Alden, not so much. But Alden is legit the only guy in my world who isn’t directly tied to Skylar. Which is why, at some time not even close to dawn, I call him.
“Hey,” he grumbles into the phone. “What’s wrong?”
“Can I trust you?”
“Huh? What the fuck time is it? Is Zoey okay?”
I smile a bit that he’s worried about his niece and press on. “She’s fine. She’s with Mom and Dad. I need to talk, and I need to be able to trust that your mouth will stay shut.”
Random, indistinct noises carry through the phone. “I’m awake. I’m sitting up. Fuck, dude, it’s not even five yet. What’s going on?”
“Promise me.”
“I promise. You don’t ever have to question that. You’re my brother. My blood.”
He means it, and I love him, but I still wish this were Micha. “Skylar is pregnant from a guy who isn’t good, and Zoey has PTSD from losing her mother and her stepfucker and has a resulting attachment disorder, so I asked Skylar to marry me.”
The phone is silent for so long that I pull it away from my ear to make sure he’s still on the line and hasn’t fallen back to sleep.
Finally, I get, “Um. Back up. My brain isn’t processing correctly yet. Skylar is pregnant with her ex’s baby?”
“Yeah. You know him?”
“Of him. I think I might have met him once. I don’t remember. But I went to one of Roman’s matches, and he and I had drinks afterward, and he not so candidly told me that he was picturing her ex that night when he annihilated his opponent.”
I blow out a heavy breath because, fuck. Roman is an emotional guy, and I know he and Sky are insanely close. But that… Shit. Now any thoughts I was having about changing my mind are gone. I have to do this for her. Micha would never forgive me if I didn’t take care of Skylar.
Then again, she has a whole network of people, right? I mean, Roman alone is enough to scare anyone. I close my eyes.
“I work with him. He’s a third-year.”
“Then you can torture him.”
“I plan to. But…” I open my eyes and stare sightlessly at the wall.
“She’s pregnant with his kid. Okay. Repeat the part about why you’re marrying her? Because I’m lost.”
I shift and slide down into bed, pulling the blankets higher over me. “Zoey likes her. A lot. Skylar talks to her and does art stuff or whatever with her. I don’t even know what it is, but Zoey bonded with her instantly.”
“Because she’s Micha’s sister and is a young woman, which is something Zoey needs in her life after losing Astrid.”
“Yes. Because of that, they have a thing I don’t have with Zoey.”
“You’re going to marry Skylar so she stays and helps your kid, and in return you’re going to help her fend off her ex?”
“You nailed it.”
He whistles through his teeth. “Shit, man. That’s a big ask and impacts you way more than her. How long will you stay married?”
“Two years, I think.”
“Jesus, Aston. That’s not a small amount of time. How are you going to be married to Skylar for two years?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’ll be less.” My voice climbs because he stated my own panicked thoughts back to me. “We’ll be like we are now. Roommates who barely tolerate each other.”
He exhales heavily into the phone.
“What would you do?” I throw at him. “Honestly. I need help because I offered her this after a few drinks, but it felt so smart and right at the time. I want Zoey to have security and a normal-feeling home life. Not one where she’s getting bounced around between me and her grandparents.
I’m trying, but I’m also man enough to admit that I might not be enough.
Bennett said tonight that the best thing I can do as a parent is to swallow my pride and admit I need help.
That’s what I’m doing. Short of quitting my job, which I’ve honestly considered tonight, I’m not sure what else to do.
Zoey needs more than I can give her right now, and Skylar is here, and she also happens to need a lot of help too.
Micha is my best friend. Another brother to me.
So again, if you were me, what would you do? ”
“I…” He trails off. “I guess I’d marry her.
I don’t know. I’m not sure something like that would have ever occurred to me, but I’m not you.
You’re always the hero. The good guy. It’s who you are, so I get it.
But what happens if the marriage falls apart before the two years, or if you meet someone and fall in love, or worse yet, you fall in love with Skylar and she’s not there with you or the reverse of that happens? ”
“Then…” Now it’s my turn to trail off as I rub a hand over my bleary eyes. “Then I don’t know. I’m fucked. We’re fucked. I worry about all of that.”
“But I guess that’s anything, right?”
“How do you mean?”
“You had a one-night stand with a woman, and she got pregnant. You did the honorable thing by dating her and marrying her, and you even fell in love with her. It was as it should be until it wasn’t.
That’s kind of life, though. Unpredictable.
So you’ll marry Skylar for the right reasons and hope it works out despite all the potential complications. ”
I stare at my closed door. “Skylar is about ten feet down the hall from me. I could go in there now, wake her ass up, and tell her to forget it. I feel like that’s what I should do.”
“You don’t, and you won’t. Not if she’ll help Zoey and you’ll help her with her ex and her baby.”
“But what am I risking by helping her?”
“Hopefully nothing, but potentially everything. That’s the gamble. But if you don’t do this and Skylar moves out and Zoey struggles with that and Skylar has problems with her ex and the baby, will you ever be able to forgive yourself?”
My eyes close as a heaviness sinks in my chest. “No. I won’t. So, I guess I’m getting married.”