Jane
“Marry me.”
“No,” I said, without giving it a second thought.
I freed my hands from his grasp, turning my face away from him. I don’t even want to look at his face after hearing his words.
“Jane, listen to me first,” he said, calling my name as he grabbed my shoulder, turning my body towards him, face to face.
Brandon stared into my eyes. But my mind was so outraged by his words that I shoved his hands away from my shoulder.
“Brandon, how could you say something like that? You’re my best friend, but you…” I said, with my voice broken and outraged but quiet. I don’t want the kids sleeping in the other room to wake up and see us like that.
“Jane, please just let me explain first,” he said, cutting me between words.
“Do you think that your explanation will change everything?” I asked, “You know, that I will never in life dream of marrying someone else,” I paused, “You know, but even after knowing everything, you asked about something like that to me.”
All this time, I was talking. Brandon stared at my face silently, not saying a single word.
I dropped my body on the couch with my mind fully exhausted by this utterly foolish conversation, leaning my head on the couch headrest for some comfort, and closing my eyes; I practiced some deep breathing to calm my senses as Brandon stayed silent.
A few moments passed like this, Brandon being silent. I opened my eyes to find Brandon standing in front of me, with his eyes staring at me. “Jane,” he called, breaking the silence between us as he came to sit beside me on the couch.
“Please listen to me, just this once,” he hesitated and then sighed, “If then, your answer remains the same, I will leave and never speak about this subject ever again, but please just hear me once.”
I sighed loudly, nodding my head. Guess it’s fair I got to listen to what Brandon has in his mind. I know that there must be an important reason why Brandon’s discussing marriage with me.
Brandon knows that I have never seen him as anything more than a friend in my life, and how sensitive the subject ‘of marriage’ is in my life. If even after knowing everything, he wants this conversation, then there must be something serious about it.
“I want you to marry me so I can keep Marlene with me.”
I looked at him with uncertainty filled in my eyes. “How will the marriage between us, help you keep Marlene with you?” I asked, forming my thoughts into words.
“Well.., as per Marian’s appeal, she states I can’t be a good father because I’m a single dad and doctor, who spends most of his time at the hospital with patients, rather than his daughter,” he said with his face frowning as he spoke without even a pause.
I don’t know what to say about this point; even though I have never met Marian, her claims are not wrong. Well, it’s true that Brandon spends most of his time at the hospital while Marlene stays most of the time with Liam and me. But I know without a doubt that Brandon is a wonderful dad, and even with him being so busy and tired, he always stays cheerful and happy around Marlene and spends all of his time with her whenever he can.
“I know what you were thinking, that all of Marian’s claims are not wrong,” he said, looking at me. “But Jane, my patients are as much more important to me as Marlene is, and I can’t choose between them.”
“How does getting married help you out of this situation?” I asked, changing the subject, and getting to the point.
“Honestly, it’s not only about the court case, but I also want to marry you for two reasons,” he mumbled, looking into my eyes.
“One, so I can get her custody, and second, I want you to have primary parental rights to Marlene after me,” he stated.
“What?” I questioned, mostly yelling after hearing his words.
“Jane, listen, I know Marian, and I know what she wants, and it’s just one of her ways of forcing me to do as she pleases. That’s why I hope Marian’s parental rights are taken away from her and given away to you. So the chapter can be closed forever and she can never blackmail me, with Marlene’s name,” He said as he placed his hands on my shoulders, keeping me in place as he stared deep into my eyes.
“But, Brandon,”
“Please Jane, you are the only one that I trust, and I know you love Marlene like your own, and you’ll always take care of her,” he said.
“Brandon, I don’t know…,” I uttered, but Brandon stopped me from speaking.
“Jane, you know how hard it can be to raise a child alone, all by myself,” he said, “Jane, you and I both have no one in the world that we can call family. I’m scared that someday something happens to me, then who will take care of my daughter? She will be all alone living her life as an orphan with no one by her side supporting her.”
I listen to all his insecurities quietly, and all his insecurities are the same as mine. Like him, I’m worried about Liam too. But can marriage be the answer to all our questions, or is it going to make things worse? And as Brandon trusts me, can I trust Brandon with Liam? Can he love Liam and care for him as he does for Marlene?
There are too many questions on my mind, with all of them unanswered. I don’t know what the future holds or what will happen afterward, but if any of those things can do any good in Liam’s life, then I’m okay to try it. But only in a few conditions.
“Okay,” I said, as I put all the pros and cons of the situation we are in, right at the moment.