Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Dex
A buela and Nonna have gone all out, cooking a veritable feast for our wedding day.
While I’m pretty sure they know it’s not a love match union, the two of them are from a generation where a lot of marriages are arranged.
Since both of them were madly in love with my grandfathers, I suspect they’re crossing their fingers that the same thing will happen between me and Jolie.
“Dex, you have to cut the cake with Jolie,” Anniston instructs, bringing me out of my reverie. She grabs my hand and tugs me over to the table that has a three-tiered cake set on top of it like a centerpiece, complete with a topper showing a man and a woman hugging in their wedding finery.
“Okay, okay, peanut,” I tease as she practically drags me to where my now wife is standing, a shy smile gracing her face.
It’s not a look I really recognize seeing on her before since she’s very independent, which I’m sure has been born out of survival necessity.
Still, as my family, Brock, and Mindy look on, with my best friend taking a plethora of pictures, we cut the cake, do the traditional feeding of one another, then Abuela shoves us out of the way so she and Nonna can cut the rest of the cake into individual slices and hand it out.
When her fingers touch my lips with a piece of cake, I feel a zap of something that I refuse to examine right now. But when I reciprocate and have the same reaction, I decide to tuck it away to try and figure out exactly what’s happening.
This is a business arrangement, nothing more and nothing less. I’m too old for her for starters, and if I develop feelings for her, it might make her resent me because I told her this was just so that the kids didn’t go into the system.
“Mangia, mangia,” Nonna cries, dramatically waving her hands. “There’s plenty of food, don’t be shy.”
Jolie giggles as she takes in the massive spread that’s on the huge dining room table.
The competing smells between Abuela’s Mexican dishes and Nonna’s Italian delicacies has the house smelling wonderful.
That’s one of the things I miss the most when I’m in the field working, their home cooked deliciousness.
Takeout and restaurants lose their luster after the first assignment, but the cooks on the rigs, while good, are still focused on filling, cheap meals.
Since one of my grandmothers believes garlic should be liberally used, and the other one swears by jalapenos, I’m used to a burst of flavor in my food.
“It all looks so good, I don’t know where to start,” Jolie murmurs, taking a plate from the stack as she gazes over the many dishes that are steaming.
“Take a little bit of each one,” I encourage. “Trust me, you can’t go wrong with any of the dishes laid out before you based on personal experience.”
She looks up at me and tenderly smiles, sending a shaft of longing to my heart.
No, Dex, this is a marriage of convenience , I remind myself. You’re too old for her.
“Try this one,” Arya suggests, pointing at the tray of lasagna. “I helped Nonna make it.”
“Well then, I need to see if you’re a good helper or not,” Jolie teases, taking the spatula in her hand and dishing up a pre-cut square serving.
“I helped Abuela with the tamales,” Thad adds. “Do you want to try one, Jolie?”
“Yes, please,” she replies, holding out her plate for him to add one to her growing pile of food. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Thad says.
Soon, with burgeoning plates, we all find a place to sit in the dining room which is normally only used during the holiday seasons since there’s a lot of us in attendance and begin eating.
Her little moans of delight as she bites into the lasagna have my cock twitching beneath the zipper of my slacks, making me grateful that my lower half is tucked underneath the table.
It wouldn’t do for anyone to see how her sounds are affecting me, that’s for damn sure.
“How long before you have to go back to the rig?” Jolie asks me after wiping her mouth with a napkin.
“Two weeks,” I reply. “I’ll be here when Ms. Davis comes and inspects the house, and we should have at least the paper copy of our marriage certificate by then so she can get the guardianship paperwork completed.”
“Good. Um, I know I haven’t had a full tour of the house, but can we do that later? I see a few things I’d like to fix if it’s alright with you.”
Since I know the house is a hot mess, I merely nod. “I’ll show you around. Not gonna lie, the contractor my father used screwed him over and there are a lot of things that need to be repaired. I’ll make sure to transfer money to you for supplies and stuff.”
“Alright. Thanks, Dex,” she says, grinning up at me.
“Can I help?” Thad asks.
“I’ll teach you everything I know,” Jolie promises. “And you two as well,” she states, looking at Arya and Anni. “Whatever I don’t know, we’ll research and figure out, okay?”
“Sweet!” Thad exclaims, throwing his arm in the air, feeling victorious.
While I love my siblings, there’s a bit of a disconnect because of our age gap.
I’ve been out of the house and living on my own longer than any of them have been alive.
Still, I love them and am glad that the woman I chose to help me keep them together and under the same roof is willing to involve them in the fixing up of our home.
I just hope it’s not too much for one person to handle and she doesn’t run screaming because even to my untrained eye, I realize that each of the suites my grandmothers have aren’t leveled as there are gaps and the doors don’t hang properly.
“Abuela, the tamales are wonderful,” Jolie praises. I look over to see my grandmother beaming with pride as she nods. “And Nonna, while I’m a so-so cook, I hope both of you will help further my culinary skills because I don’t think I’ve ever eaten this well.”
I know her grandmother was a wonderful cook; she used to win blue ribbons at the county fair for various dishes, as well as the things she canned, so for her to say that means a lot, because Nonna is nodding her head in agreement.
Still, those two powerhouses together means that I can’t fully trust the two of them not to get into mischief when I return to work.
“I feel like I’m invading your sanctuary,” she murmurs as I close my bedroom door behind us.
It’s late now, and after we helped get everything cleaned up and our friends left, I took her on a tour of the house itself.
It’s a sprawling Victorian, with a shit ton of nooks and crannies, including a hidden staircase in the kitchen that leads to the upper floors, as well as a root cellar that stores the things my grandmothers can, and a screened in back porch.
“You’re not,” I reply, unbuttoning my shirt. “I know you were okay with taking one of the spare rooms, but we have to make this believable to Ms. Davis. Her seeing your stuff intermingled with mine will help further sell our marriage, don’t you think?”
She had argued with me, albeit briefly, when I told her she would be sleeping in my room.
I’m not particularly worried since I have a California king sized bed and there’s more than enough room for the two of us to sprawl out and sleep without crowding one another.
In another lifetime, or a different set of circumstances, things would be much different for both of us, but ‘a marriage in name only’ means just that, so no sex or intimacy of any kind.
I just wish I could tell my cock that fact and make him understand the predicament we’re in, because he’s got a mind all of his own where Jolie is concerned.
I grab a pair of lounge pants and a T-shirt to sleep in and head to the ensuite as she unpacks her small bag and gathers her own nightclothes.
“Be out in a few minutes,” I tell her, closing the door behind me. I don’t take long since all I need to do is brush my teeth, and I’m back in the bedroom in just a few minutes. “Take your time,” I encourage.
“Okay.” Her voice is soft, almost timid as she scurries into the bathroom and closes the door.
I check my phone, scrolling through social media to see that Mindy has already posted the wedding pictures that Brock took.
He’s got a good eye, because quite a few of them are really good.
I pick one of Jolie and update her contact information, then go ahead and do the same with both of my grandmothers and the three kids.
They have phones as well because of the various activities they’re involved in, but theirs are literally only able to be used to make calls and send texts.
While they do have tablets, mostly for school, my parents didn’t grow up with electronics, so they were tolerated as a necessary evil, but the kids were encouraged to get involved in sports and shit.
Arya and Anniston are in dance classes, and both play softball, while Thad enjoys baseball.
All three also like to read, so they go to the library each week and check out enough books until their next visit.
They also enjoy playing board games and putting puzzles together, so I make a mental note to add some of them to the game closet.
By the time Jolie comes out, I have a cart full of things picked out and hit the purchase button as she slips beneath the covers. I smirk because there’s enough room for three or four other people between us, then turn to my side and ask, “You good with all of this?”
She chuckles and replies, “Kind of late to ask that now, don’t you think? The deed is done, Dex. I promise I’ll take care of the kids as if they were my own.”
“I appreciate it, Jolie.”