Page 20 of Fourth Wall

12

Christian

I cannot fucking believe I agreed to it. I mean, I could, but also suddenly, I was about to become a family man responsible for caring for two young girls and their mother in a matter of twenty-four hours. If you had told me ten years ago that this was where my life would be today, I would have laughed at you. Iwould have told you that I was always going to be a drunk sitting at a bar fucking women for the release. I never expected that this would happen so soon. I was playing house with a woman who I somehow couldn’t stand yet wanted to be around more than anyone.

But here I was, pulling up to her house and getting ready to go house shopping. Little did she know, I had been building a house for a while, but I would leave that surprise for the end. I wanted her to feel like she had made the decision of where to live. Ultimately, there were more of them than there were of me, and I didn’t want her to feel pressured to pick the house I was building for myself.

I pulled up around noon at her guesthouse, and when I opened the door, I realized that I heard a commotion coming from the main house. There were two suitcases out front, but I ran up to make sure everything was okay.

“I am so happy,” Maeve’s mom kept repeating as her father paced around the kitchen.

“You are datinghim? How did we not know about this? We saw him here just the other day. Why did you not tell us?” Her mom picked up a mug on the table and brought it to her lips as Maeve matched her father’s pacing.

“I’m notactuallydating him, Dad. I’m just doing it to keep the girls with me. I need to show that I have some stability in my life, and I don’t know why I figured it was the easiest way.” She stopped, and I stayed in the doorframe, silently watching to see where this would lead.

“He’s nice. He’s kind to the girls. They already know him so we can skip the awkward introduction stage. I trust him.” Both her parents nodded in agreement. Shit, they loved me, and I gave a silent chuckle.

“I have to move in with him, but just for a little while.” Her dad’s eyes narrowed at her mom’s, who only shrugged again at this admission.

“I promise I’ll take good care of her. Take good care of all of them,” I added. “We are going to look at places today,” I chimed in from where I stood at the door. I walked over to where they sat at the back of the house in the kitchen.

“You have our babies in your hands now, Christian.” Sarah turned to face me, but was still as nonchalant as possible while drinking from her mug. On the other hand, Pat had stopped pacing and stared me down. He took a few steps toward where I stood before looking back at his wife and daughter.

“Maeve, go get ready to leave. We’ll meet you on the front porch.” I nodded, understanding that he wanted to talk to me alone, and headed out to the front porch area. It felt very much like a Southern-style home with a huge wraparound white wooden porch. There were a few tables and rocking chairs out there. I took a seat at one of them while I waited for Pat to meet me.

When he finally came out, he handed me a glass of lemonade and sat next to me.

“Listen, Christian. We have only known you from the times you have stopped by. We appreciate you and your group of friends, but this isn’t an easy feat.” Pat leaned back in his chair. “What Maeve is asking you to do is essentially take on some sort of a parenting role, no matter how temporary it is. You’re a single dude. Are you sure you’re ready for this?” I took a slow sip of my drink before answering. I had always been known to speak the truth. It was something they encouraged in AA. Speaking the truth was always easier in the end than getting convoluted in a lie.

“No. If I’m being honest, sir, I don’t think I am fully ready.” His eyebrows rose in question at me. “I also know I care a lotabout Maeve and the girls. I cared enough about her that I didn’t want some stranger comin’ in and messing around with the girls. I did this for them, and it'll take some lifestyle adjusting, but I don’t think Maeve deserves what her ex is putting her through. She has always been a good mom and always puts Kinsley and Kelsie first.”

He nodded in agreement.

“There is one more thing,” he began. “We know how much she makes and how much she can afford. She cannot afford much, but I don’t want her in a place that isn’t safe. We can work together to provide some money for them to move out. I’m happy to move the money into your account so the courts don’t see us paying for it—”

“I have that taken care of, sir.” Respectfully, if I would play this role for Maeve, then I wanted to do it without a single shred of doubt. I also didn’t want to make Maeve feel like she wasn’t contributing, so I had a plan to tell the real estate agent not to lie to us, but just omit the truth about the cost of the places we were going to see. I tried to pick places that were modest but in safe neighborhoods.

At the end of our tour, I would show her the house I was building. Aside from some landscaping, it was pretty much finished and paid off completely. If she didn’t want to move in, I planned to use it as an investment property for the next six months.

“Thank you, Christian—for stepping up. It’s a lot to take on. We always knew you were a good man, but just know that you will always have a place in this family. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.” Pat looked out at the street as he talked to me, not making eye contact. I followed suit. Men sucked in general at sharing feelings, especially guys like Pat and myself.

Pat was former Navy before working for a company that supplied parts for naval ships. He worked long hours and provided for his family without even batting an eye. Unlike the drug-addicted father I didn’t grow up with, Pat was a good guy. If I had a family, I could see myself looking up to someone like him.

“Thank you, sir,” I responded right as Maeve pranced to where we sat. She wore a pair of white Keds, oversized flared jeans, a flannel, and a cropped tank underneath it. She looked up at me through her mascara-laced eyelashes, and I don’t think I had ever seen someone look as beautiful as she does right now. No frills—just pure beauty. The girls I usually took home were always high-maintenance frilly types, which was why I was so surprised at how attracted I was to Maeve. She came with so much baggage and was so unlike anyone I had ever met, yet filled with innocence and curiosity that made me so fucking attracted to her.

“Come on, slowpoke,” Maeve jested as she opened the car door as soon as I clicked the remote. Once we were inside, she looked over at me with a huge smile plastered on her face.

“I haven't lived in my own place since I was in college. Shit, probably before then because Tyler and I always lived together.” She patted her hands on her thighs in excitement. “This is going to be fun.” With that, any doubt I had about moving in immediately melted. Watching her so excited and giving her something she had never had before was worth any self-doubt about the baggage she was bringing along because, right now, nothing felt like baggage at all. It felt like bringing home a family I never got to have.

As we took off down the driveway and to the first apartment I had picked for us, which was a modest walk-up in the heart of the city, Maeve looked over at me. Even though I looked ahead as I drove, I could feel her eyes burning a hole in me.

“What did my dad want to talk about?” Still not looking at her, I kept my eyes focused on the road.

“Nothing important.”

“It looked pretty serious,” she added demurely.

“Nah. Just wanted to make sure I was cool with living with a slob. He mostly gave me tips on how to piss you off.” The corners of my lips turned up into a smile.

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