Page 62 of How To Fake A Fiancé

“That’s John?”

She nods. “Believe me, I was just as skeptical. But I’ve seen for myself how he dotes on her. He’s basically here every day after work. All but lives here.”

As great as it is to see my mother smile, I have so many questions. What is it about him that has seemingly changed her so much? What makes him so special compared to the others in the past?

“Hi, y’all. I’m John, your mom’s boy toy,” he teases.

Mom playfully hits him on the shoulder, and everyone but me laughs. I’m too distracted watching my mom wrap herself in this man’s arms. She looks up at him like he’s her entire world. The way she used to look at my dad.

I’m baffled by her blatant disregard for the conversation we had after she broke up with her last boyfriend. She promised me she’d focus more on herself than immediately jumping into another relationship. And what does she do? She does the very thing I told her not to do.

“Are you guys hungry? I made some appetizers before dinner.” Mom ushers all of us into the kitchen.

When I walk into the farmhouse-styled kitchen, I’m greeted by another guy with black, wavy hair and blue eyes. Looking closer to my age, maybe a bit younger, he wears a black Green Day T-shirt that hugs his chest and broad shoulders with dark jeans. He sends me a friendly smile as my sister walks over to him, holding his left hand—which shows a gold wedding band on his ring finger.

“Sis, this is Aaron, my…husband,” she says then squeals. “Oh, my gosh, it still feels so weird to be saying that, but I love it.”

“And I love you as my wife.” He looks at her with a warm smile and gives a peck of his lips to her temple. He then takes his focus back to me. “Hi, Kami. It’s nice to meet you.” He extends a hand to me.

“Nice to meet you, too.” He doesn’t exactly give off the douche vibes I expected. While he has a confident air about him, he doesn’t come off as arrogant.

“Soph has been telling me a lot about you.”

“All good things, I hope.” I keep the conversation casual, hiding my skepticism well.

For the next few hours, we all update each other on our lives. Mom and Sofia ask Ian and me questions I expected, which we manage well.

We later enjoy a large pepperoni pizza for dinner before everyone but Mom and me settles on the couch, watching the latest football game.

I just about finish pouring white wine into two stem glasses when Mom picks up one of them as though she were wanting to make a toast.

“Here’s to family being together again.”

“To…new changes.” Because I’ve seen nothing but that since I got here.

“Your Ian is so sweet,” she gushes after taking a sip of her drink. “I really think you hit the jackpot with this one,mija.”

I play along. “You think so?”

“I have a good feeling about this one, honey. Keep him around, and he just might surprise you.”

“Well, speaking of surprises.” I indicate with a nod to the back of John’s head. “What’s up with…that?”

She sighs. “I know telling you over the phone probably wasn’t the best idea, but I wanted to make sure it was serious before I said anything. You know how it is since you did the same thing with Ian. I told you about John when I did because I didn’t want you to feel ambushed.”

I see where she’s coming from, but how she broke the news isn’t the issue for me. “I get that, but don’t you think it’s a little too soon after your last relationship?”

“What do you mean?”

“Mom, remember how we talked about you not dating for a while?”

“I remember. And I was really focusing on myself, I promise. Meeting John just...happened. And with him, I can’t exactly explain it, but it feels right. He’s so good to me, treats me right, and he makes me feel like I can do anything. I think he could be the one.”

“I’m just worried about you. You’ve said that about the other relationships.”

“If you could see what I see, you’d understand.”

I want to tell her all the ways her deluded belief has fucked up this family. That because of her incapability to emotionally mature and establish some sort of independence for herself, my little sister and I were forced to grow up without a stable male figure. But Mom is going to do what she wants.

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