Chapter 23
*****
Later that night, she was browsing on her computer, when she heard a faint knock on her door. Surprised the kids were still up after what was a strenuous activity in the pool, she thought they would be knocked out.
Her eyes were downcast as she opened the door, expecting to see one of the twins outside but it was their uncle. He had a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt. His hair looked ruffled like he had left it to dry after showering.
“Do you have a few minutes?”
She nodded. “Sure.”
“Can we talk in the office?” he asked and she wasn’t sure what he wanted to talk about that late at night.
She nodded and followed him down the stairs. He held the door open to the office for her and stepped in after her. As soon as she went in, she noticed a large yellow envelope that she had not noticed earlier in the day when she left the room after work.
What was that?
“I needed to show you this.” He walked past her and held the large envelope.
She watched him open the envelope and pulled out what looked like a certificate. “This is what we needed to move forward with the adoption.”
She took the embossed document sheet and looked at it.
It was a marriage certificate.
Something hit her deep inside although she knew it was a generated document for the adoption process. A single man or woman would have no chance to adopt twins.
“How did you manage to get it?” She didn’t have to go to the registration office or the court for the certificate. All she had to tell him was that they should get married.
“I managed.” He shrugged.
She swept her eyes over the certificate and noticed his name. Ashoka Veera Devendraseema
She looked up at him. “I’m married to a stranger? I don’t know this guy. I thought I was marrying Ashok Dev on paper.”
He took the certificate from her and chuckled. “You’ve been conned into marrying a stranger.”
“Do I need to worry about alimony when I want to divorce you?” She was suddenly at ease with him. Maybe because she knew it was a matter of time she would be able to go back to San Francisco. But she needed to finish filing her father’s case and have it all set before she left.
He only shook his head with a small smile on his face.
“And no angry girlfriend that I need to explain about this arrangement?” She had been curious about the guy’s personal life. He was handsome, well to do and seemed to be well connected too.
“No time for a relationship and now it’s against my policy to have one since I technically have a wife.”
“Thank you,” she said and in response to his puzzled expression she added, “For having Nina and Varun work with me.”
“Consider it a thank you for this,” he held up the marriage certificate before slipping it back into the envelope. “Now I need to get my family to attend the birthday party.”
Oh yes! There was that!
What if his family doesn’t reconnect with him? Could he raise the kids on his own once the adoption goes through?
He seemed to be doing okay on his own. Definitely far better than her.