Page 12 of Mine To Honor (Southern Wedding)

“Like I was telling Eva,” she starts, “Cici is in the system, and even though she will gain custody of her, the State will still have visits. Eva will still have to go through all the steps in order to make it official to be her primary caretaker. Now keep in mind, there are many single parents out there, but it just looks better on paper when it’s a couple and not a single lady, who just bought a house. Her business is taking off, but still, it’s paid off.”

“Okay, so say we do this,” Levi says. “What does it entail?”

“Well, usually, after a year, things die down. So worst case, you stay married for a year,” Alice explains. “If things move faster, then you get divorced faster.”

“Does he need to move in with me?” I ask Alice.

“Obviously, the two of you have to move in with each other. So it shows you are married. It’s what married people do.”

“I have to move in with her?” Levi now asks, confused. “What about my place?”

“You can still keep your place,” Alice replies, “there isn’t any law against that.”

I don’t even hear what else Alice says, I’m more focused on Levi and wondering how he is feeling. “If you have any questions,” Alice offers and I look over to see her standing up and Levi following her.

I get up and walk out, thanking her again. “I’ll call and let you know what we decide,” I tell her as I follow Levi out.

We walk to the car and I look over at him. “You can say no,” I tell him, “I can always just get her when I’m single.”

He turns and looks at me. “You know what pisses me off the most?” He puts his hands on his hips. “If the roles were reversed and you came to me, and I asked you to marry me for whatever reason…” He looks up at the sky. “You would do it without thinking twice.”

“Well, yeah. Obviously. You need my help, I’m there.”

I wait, holding my breath as he paces back and forth in front of me, no doubt having a whole conversation in his head about this. “Fine,” he huffs. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Chapter Six

Levi

I look over my shoulder at the door we just walked out of, my head trying to process all the information Alice just gave me. I then look back at Eva as she stands there, her face pale, her eyes a bit puffy from probably crying all night long. I look up to the sky right before I start pacing back and forth.You can’t do this,one part of my head says, while the other part of my brain tells me,you have no choice but to do this. This is insane and totally crazy. This is never going to work.You can do this,the other part of my brain says.You have to do it.She would do it for you.I stop and look over at Eva, knowing hands down if the roles were reversed, she would have already been married to me. It would have been instant, and it would have been without a second thought. I would not have to talk her into it. I would not have to have her jump through hoops. I would not have to do any of that because that’s the friend she is. “Fine,” I huff, my heart hammering in my chest so much it’s about to explode. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Well.” She folds her arms over her chest. “Worst thing that can happen is I’m the best wife in the world. And I have to force you to divorce me.” She winks at me, the smile on her face is so big. “Then it gets awkward and I have to tell the judge that you just don’t do it for me. And you came up short in the bedroom.”

“There is nothing short in my bedroom.” I semi-glare at her and she just shrugs her shoulders.

“So you say,” she mumbles to herself.

I chuckle at her. “We should do this before I change my mind.” I walk over to the car, opening my door and stop to look over the hood at her. “We really are doing this?”

“Yes.” She nods before taking a deep breath in, but I don’t see her exhale as she holds it in. The wind picks up and her ponytail flies to the side.

“Should we go to Vegas?” I ask, looking at my watch and seeing it’s almost eleven. If we got on a flight in the next two hours, it would take six hours to get there, wasting a lot of time.

“Vegas might be good. I mean, that is where everyone else I know goes to elope.”

“Who is everyone you know?” I ask, pulling out my phone, looking down at it when she starts talking and I have to look up.

“Britney Spears.” She holds up one finger. “Kourtney Kardashian.” She holds up another finger. “Joe Jonas. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.”

“You don’t know those people, Eva,” I remind her, “those are celebrities.”

“You don’t know everything about me, Levi.” She glares at me. “I have other friends.”

“Shall we invite your friends to our wedding, then?” I ask, trying not to laugh.

“No, because they don’t know you,” she chuffs as she opens the car door and gets in, slamming it, and all I can do is laugh.

I open my own door and get in, starting the car and putting the phone on Bluetooth. As soon as it’s connected, I look for the contact and call the only person who, sadly, will know what to do in this situation. I mean, he might not know what to do exactly, but he’s with someone who would know. I click the phone button and Eva looks at the middle console; her eyes go big as she grabs on to my arm and squeezes when he picks up.

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