Page 109 of Clinically Delicious
What are the options here?
Option one: Tell the truth. Admit we lied. Gabriel looks like a liar in court, possibly loses credibility in the custody battle, and Tonya gets exactly what she wants.
Option two: Fake it till we make it. Pretend we’re married without actually getting married. Except that requires a marriage certificate, which we don’t have, and lying to a lawyer is definitely illegal; plus, I do NOT look good in orange jumpsuits.
Option three: Actually get married. Legally. For real. To cover up the lie. Which is INSANE, but also... might actually work.
Oh my God, I’m actually considering this.
I’m actually sitting here, thinking about marrying my boss—who I’ve been sleeping with for a week—to help him win a custody battle against his ex-wife.
This is my life now.
This is what I’ve become.
“Cate.” Gabriel sat down beside me, close enough that I could feel the heat of him. “I know this is a lot. I know I’m asking something impossible. But I need you to understand. I can’t lose Megan. I can’t let Tonya take her. She abandoned her. She left without a word, and Megan cried herself to sleep for months. And now she just shows up, acting like she has a right to—”
His voice cracked.
Just slightly.
But enough.
I looked at him. Really looked at him and saw past the controlled exterior. Past the surgeon who always had a plan. Past the man who’d kissed me in the hallway and made me come apart on his kitchen counter.
I saw a father who was terrified of losing his daughter.
Damn it.
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
“If we did this,” I said slowly, carefully, “it would have to be... temporary. Right? Just until the custody thing is resolved.”
Something flickered in his eyes. “Right.”
“And we’d have to tell Megan something. We can’t just—we can’t lie to her.”
“We’d tell her the truth. An age-appropriate version of it.”
“And after?” I forced myself to ask. “After the custody battle is over, what happens to... us?”
The question hung in the air between us.
Gabriel’s hand found mine, his fingers threading through mine with a certainty that made my chest ache.
“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “But I know I don’t want to lose you either.”
Oh.
Oh no.
He did not just say that. He did not just make this even more complicated.
My heart was doing something weird. Something that felt suspiciously like hope mixed with terror mixed with the kind of reckless stupidity that makes people do things like marry their boss to help with a custody battle.
“This is insane,” I whispered.
“I know.”
