Page 53 of Operation Annulment
“Yeah, had me thrown out for no reason! That’s the man you married!” She places her hands on her hips defiantly.
Why would he do that to her?
Why doesn’t life come with a reset button?
I would reset back to when my life made actual sense.
“I didn’t know about any of that. I’m sorry.”
Zane and Nate enter the kitchen, probably drawn by Dakota’s yelling.
“You okay, babe?” Zane goes over to her immediately.
She shakes her head and begins brushing tears away. “I don’t want him in my house, Big Guy. Not after what he did to me.”
Nate looks at her and then over at me. “What the fuck is going on?”
Zane holds out a hand to silence him and pulls Dakota in closer. “Babe, I talked to Nate about that, and I’m not sure you told me the whole story. Does Dr. Quinn, Woman of Medicine, ring any bells?”
She shakes her head. “You believe him over me? I seriously was just trying to find my doctor’s office, and he had me thrown out for no apparent reason. Sometimes, you must pose as a doctor to get correct information.”
Nate’s face turns red with anger. “That’s?—”
“Enough. That’s enough out of both of you. Cap, we said we would have a nice dinner as a family. Let’s table this discussion for now and enjoy our company.” He leans down and presses a kiss to her cheek.
Dakota moves around him and leaves the room. The three of us stare uncertainly at each other while Little Ricky sets the table behind us—oblivious to anything happening.
Maybe I need to get high.
I’d like to be clueless right now.
Zane makes a noise in the back of his throat, and I look at him. “So, the pregnancy hormones aren’t exactly helping things right now. Um, we had everyone over to announce that we’re getting married.”
I’m on the verge of tears, and Nate looks ready to rip someone’s head off, so neither of us is quick to offer our congratulations.
Zane continues, “New Year’s Eve—that’s when it is. I, uh, just thought everyone might want to know that. Not like either one of you gives a fuck at the moment, but it’s important to us that you’re both there.”
Nate snaps out of it and shakes his hand. “Congrats, man. She’s… well, she’s something.” His sarcasm is hard to miss.
Little Ricky pipes up. “Hey, Hail Mary. There’s something you need to know?—”
“Why do you keep calling her that?” Nate doesn’t appear to be amused by the nickname.
“Oh, well, her name’s Mary Katherine—I dunno, man, look at her! Makes you feel like you need penance to atone for your sins and shit. Say tenHail Mary’s,and all will be forgiven.”
We all stare blankly at him. This is more confusing than I previously thought. How could being around me make one feel that they needed atonement?
He continues, “She’s a therapist, yeah? People confess everything to her on a daily basis. Fuck, it made a lot more sense in my head.Pendejos.”
He storms out, and the three of us resume our staring contest.
“This is going about as well as I expected,” Nate offers, and I pinch the bridge of my nose. Yep, this migraine is going to appear at any moment now.
The old-fashioned doorbell chimes, and Zane leaves us to answer it. Nate comes over to me and cups my chin in his hand. “Do you wanna get out of here? We could hit up McDonald’s, and then maybe if we’re feeling crazy, we could get you a tattoo.”
The smile on my face fades the minute I see the newest arrival to what I’m now lovingly going to refer to as‘TheParty from Hell.’
Jeremy.
