“Where were you then?” Jacob asked, as he looked from his father to his mother.
“I was sleeping in the other room, bud,” Derek said as if that would satisfy him.
“But mom and dad’s sleep together. Maryanne says when her mom and dad stopped sleeping in the same bed they stopped being married and then her dad found a new person that Maryanne has to call mom even though she doesn’t like her. She says she has to have two houses and doesn’t get to be with her mom and dad together anymore,” he said in the longest speech she’d ever heard him give. Then his tears started to fall again as he thought about it.
“Your mom and I aren’t going to live in separate houses Jacob. We figured things out last night and decided neither of us could stand to be away from you. We will stay together and be a real family,” Derek said and tried to get his son to stop crying.
“Do you promise?” Jacob asked with a hiccup.
“I promise you that. As a matter of fact you can be my best man when we get married,” Derek added.
“Really? Do I get to wear a tux…tux…Oh I can’t remember what they’re called,” Jacob said and blew his breath out with frustration.
“It’s called a tuxedo and if that’s what you want to wear then that’s what we will wear. We will have matching tuxes,” Derek promised.
“And will mom get to wear her princess dress?” he asked.
“If she wants,” Derek replied.
“Honey, I don’t need to wear a princess dress. We’re just having a small wedding and I would look silly wearing a big poufy dress,” she said. She was actually really disappointed to settle for a justice of the peace wedding. She’d always dreamed of her wedding day looking like a fairy tale. She’d learned the hard way long ago, fairy tales didn’t always come true, though.
“But, Mom…hold on,” he interrupted himself, then jumped from the bed and ran out of the room. Jasmine looked at Derek and shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t know what he was up too.
Jacob came running back into the room and she saw the familiar book about two seconds too late. She made a grab for it but Jacob had already crawled back onto Derek’s lap and opened the cover. Jasmine could feel her face flushing as Derek looked at a book that basically told him her dreams.
“Jacob, your dad doesn’t want to look at that,” she said as she tried to grab the book again.
“You do, don’t you?” Jacob said as he looked up at Derek.
“Of course I do,” he said. He’d agree with anything Jacob asked. The kid could probably get a brand new motorcycle from him if he just asked. She’d have to talk about that with him. Instead of arguing, she sat back and glared at Derek as he gave her a look with his brows raised.
“See, Dad, this is the dress mom wants to wear. She said when she got married it would be like a fairy tale book and she’d be the princess marrying her prince and I got to be the young prince. She said she was going to one day find a frog and give him a kiss and then he’d become her prince and rescue her from the castle. I guess that means you’re the frog,” Jacob said and then broke out in giggles.
Derek looked through the pages of the book and felt like he was somehow intruding into her thoughts. She had pictures and notes of everything she wanted for her dream wedding. He got to the back of the book and raised his brows at her one more time, as there were pictures of what she wanted to wear on the honeymoon. She had excellent taste and his mouth watered as he pictured her in a few of the outfits.
“See, she has to have a fairy tale princess wedding. She made me listen to a ton of those girlie princess books. She told me it was to teach me how to be the perfect prince for my own princess. I don’t like girls but mom says that will change. I really think she’s wrong cause girls have coodies. It’s okay if dads like girls though,” he said as if he was bestowing his greatest wisdom.
“We will give your mom the fairy tale wedding then. You can help me to make sure everything is right, can’t you?” he asked. Jacob’s eyes widened in awe as his father bestowed that honor on him.
“Of course,” Jacob said with his most serious expression.
“Good then, that’s all settled. Do you want some breakfast?” Derek asked, as he tucked the book under his arm.
“I can take that,” Jasmine said and held out her hand. Derek ignored her and walked out of the room with her book, leaving her alone, irritated and feeling a bit left out.
She was tempted to crawl back down under the covers and fall asleep again but she knew she was far too stressed to even close her eyes.