Page 25 of Worth the Vow

“I do too, Katharine. And I promise I’ll never keep them from you, no matter what.”

“Thank you,” she whispers, resting her head against my shoulder. I find myself grabbing her hand and intertwining our fingers. It feels weirdly right sitting here with her like this. And at that moment, the judge opens the chambers door and beckons us forward.

Ten minutes later, I walk out with my wife.

“What are we telling the kids?” Kate asks suddenly, on our way back to Eternity Springs. It’s a beautiful May day, with brilliant blue skies and only a few puffy clouds on the horizon. Green grass peeks through the dormant, matted mess from winter, and trees bud and bloom along the interstate as I zip along with traffic. Spring is my favorite season in Colorado. The new growth, with the promise of summer as flowers bloom everywhere, yet the mountain peaks are still covered in snow.

Our kiss in front of the judge was subdued, but still intoxicating. Like she zapped me with electricity when her lips touched mine. It makes me wonder if all kisses with Kate could be like this.

“I think we can just tell them we got married to get you insurance,” I answer.

“Will they understand that? Sienna, maybe. But I don’t think Carter or Aspen understand what insurance is, why I don’t have it, or why I’d have to marry you to get it. Furthermore, are we telling your family? Aspen won’t hold that shit in, Dominic. She’ll be telling everyone.”

Fucking hell.

That means Savannah will inevitably find out.

I have no idea what my ex-wife will do, but I can only assume it’ll be something dramatic. Savannah never had to deal with me dating before, much less getting married. Marrying a much younger woman is bound to cause friction. She doesn’t want to be a mom, or married to me, but she also doesn’t want anyone else to enjoy that position either. She barely even uses her allotted times with the kids, and they’re never kept overnight. In fact, the longest she’s ever had the kids was five hours. Because I don’t trust Savannah at all, I track Sienna’s location in her phone, and have GPS trackers attached to Carter and Aspen at all times. Usually, I won’t even let Sienna take her phone, because I believe her mother will do something duplicitous with it. My anxiety cannot handle all the what-if’s that surround my ex-wife.

“Let’s hold off on telling anyone until I can speak to my parents. I want to get their opinion on how to tell everyone else.” I’m not looking forward to telling my parents. But waiting a day or two will give me time to come up with a valid explanation that doesn’t make me sound like I’m having a mid-life crisis.

Maybe I am having one.

As I pull into my driveway, I’m surprised to find my parents waiting for us.

“Is everything okay?” I ask as I exit the car. Casting a quick look at Kate, I find her pale as she wrings her hands together.

“Dominic Andrea Santo,” my father booms, and I know. I know immediately that they know.

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. Walking around the car, I open Kate’s door and extend a hand to her.

“What are you doing?” she hisses.

“What they expect,” I reply. “Just go with it, Katharine.”

She hesitantly places her hand in mine, and carefully steps out of the vehicle. Pulling her toward my parents, I move her hand to my far hand, then place my available hand on her lower back. The heat emanating from her body feels phenomenal on my skin.

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Santo,” Kate says quietly. My mom arches an eyebrow at both of us before responding.

“I’m fairly certain we’ve told you to call us Nick and Sofia, Kate. But I guess it’s now Mom and Dad?”

Kate gasps, throwing both hands up to cover her mouth. Her panicked eyes whip to mine. I subtly rub her back, hoping it gives her a moment of peace and assurance. Turning to my parents, I respond. “We intended to tell you first.”

“So, it’s true, then?” my father responds, crossing his arms as he purses his lips in obvious displeasure.

“Wait a minute. How did you find out already?” Kate inquires.

My mother opens her mouth to respond, but I hastily interject.

“It is true, but we have a valid explanation,” I start, but both Kate and my mom interrupt.

“Obviously, the only explanation is love,” my mom says as she quickly looks off at my father. Nick Santo has always been a hard nut to crack in terms of relationships and love. While he typically seems cynical and stoic, he’s actually a closet romantic. My marriage to Savannah failing seemed to hit him harder than I thought it would, especially considering he didn’t really care for Savannah very much. He accurately depicted her as a money-grubbing woman who only wanted to climb the social ladder. In some ways, I wish I’d listened to him when he first met her. But if I had, I might not have my children, and I’ll never regret their existence.

“Dominic is helping me, because I can’t afford to get health insurance, and the doctor I could see through Medicaid basically told me to suck it up, and none of my part-time jobs have cheap insurance, and I know you guys offered it to me when I was still at the hotel, but I didn’t take it then and I should have, and I need insurance so badly, and since I’m already living in his house, he said we could get married and then I’d have access to his insurance,” Kate rattles off. I see my mom bite her lip as she tries not to smile. Kate has been hanging out too much with Hannah, Luca’s girlfriend. Hannah monologues when she’s nervous, and it appears Kate does too.

“You married her to give her your health insurance?” Mom asks, and I nod.

“The state of Colorado allows for partners to use each other’s insurance when they’re in a common-law relationship.” The statement from my father is shrouded in disappointment.

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