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cmk418Written for the Trope Thursday prompt "marriage of convenience" at LJ's 1_million_words community
“You did what?” Tim screeched.
“Got married.”
“And you didn’t bother to tell me.”
“You didn’t bother to tell me when you got married.”
“That was over twenty years ago. Are you still holding a grudge?”
“We didn’t think you’d be supportive,” Sean said.
“Why the hell not?”
“Well, you haven’t exactly been her biggest fan.”
Tim’s eyes narrowed. “Who did you marry?”
“Claire.”
“Claire who?”
“Come on, Tim.”
“Because if you say Howell, I’m going to lose it.”
“Howell.”
Tim was rendered speechless for a moment.
“Tim?”
Tim started to pace back and forth.
“Hey, I…”
“Were you dating her behind my back?”
“What? No.”
“Well, you weren’t dating her in front of my face.”
“No.”
“So you just had a conversation in the break room that went something like… ‘I’m going to Vegas this weekend. Do you want to get married?’ ‘Sure.’”
“It didn’t exactly go that way. And we didn’t go to Vegas. Mukada married us.”
“Ray knew? And he didn’t tell me?”
“Considering how level-headed you’re being about this…”
“You got impulse married. You don’t get to judge.”
“It wasn’t an impulse. It was something we’d been tossing around for a while.”
“Define. A while.”
“Remember two months ago when she brought Lily in to the office and we all took turns watching her.”
“Not all of us.”
“Well, that got me thinking of how much I really wanted to have kids and how much Ma would like to have a grandkid and Busmalis and his mess and I just didn’t want to get any older without experiencing it.”
“So you meet someone nice and nine months later…”
“I’m nearing fifty. That ain’t happening.”
“Never say never. There’s still time to get this annulled.”
“I really want to give this a shot.”
“You’re insane. What if you meet somebody?”
“If I meet somebody, I meet somebody. Same if she meets somebody. But it’s hard for her with Lily. Not a lot of guys want to get saddled down with a kid.”
“But you do.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” Tim sighed. “Such a shame. I was really looking forward to throwing you a bachelor party.”
“How ‘bout you help Claire move into my place this weekend and we’ll call it even.”
“I walked into that, didn’t I.”
“Yeah, you kind of did,” Sean said, laughing as he clapped Tim on the shoulder.
“You did what?” Tim screeched.
“Got married.”
“And you didn’t bother to tell me.”
“You didn’t bother to tell me when you got married.”
“That was over twenty years ago. Are you still holding a grudge?”
“We didn’t think you’d be supportive,” Sean said.
“Why the hell not?”
“Well, you haven’t exactly been her biggest fan.”
Tim’s eyes narrowed. “Who did you marry?”
“Claire.”
“Claire who?”
“Come on, Tim.”
“Because if you say Howell, I’m going to lose it.”
“Howell.”
Tim was rendered speechless for a moment.
“Tim?”
Tim started to pace back and forth.
“Hey, I…”
“Were you dating her behind my back?”
“What? No.”
“Well, you weren’t dating her in front of my face.”
“No.”
“So you just had a conversation in the break room that went something like… ‘I’m going to Vegas this weekend. Do you want to get married?’ ‘Sure.’”
“It didn’t exactly go that way. And we didn’t go to Vegas. Mukada married us.”
“Ray knew? And he didn’t tell me?”
“Considering how level-headed you’re being about this…”
“You got impulse married. You don’t get to judge.”
“It wasn’t an impulse. It was something we’d been tossing around for a while.”
“Define. A while.”
“Remember two months ago when she brought Lily in to the office and we all took turns watching her.”
“Not all of us.”
“Well, that got me thinking of how much I really wanted to have kids and how much Ma would like to have a grandkid and Busmalis and his mess and I just didn’t want to get any older without experiencing it.”
“So you meet someone nice and nine months later…”
“I’m nearing fifty. That ain’t happening.”
“Never say never. There’s still time to get this annulled.”
“I really want to give this a shot.”
“You’re insane. What if you meet somebody?”
“If I meet somebody, I meet somebody. Same if she meets somebody. But it’s hard for her with Lily. Not a lot of guys want to get saddled down with a kid.”
“But you do.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” Tim sighed. “Such a shame. I was really looking forward to throwing you a bachelor party.”
“How ‘bout you help Claire move into my place this weekend and we’ll call it even.”
“I walked into that, didn’t I.”
“Yeah, you kind of did,” Sean said, laughing as he clapped Tim on the shoulder.
