A Husband For Christmas

Chapter Three- Obstacles and Preparations

Standing in front of Xander’s door once more, I was now questioning my sanity as I held the ticket and laminated story of our faux courtship in my grasp. Had I really become so desperate to resort to enlisting on a porn star for help? Would it really be so bad to sit through a few days being reminded of why I was single? But then I thought of the disappointment this would bring my mother and for my reason alone as well as the relentless teasing from my siblings at the thought of having now made up this ruse out of desperation, and so, I would lift my hand to knock. When no answer came from this first patter, I would repeat the process twice before finally finding his voice to muffle in discussion towards me.

"Come on in!" He would nearly yell from what I would deduce to be the bathroom as our apartments were inverted from one another due to the building’s layout. I would make myself at home rather quickly by removing my own jacket as I could hear his voice echoing from the bathroom once more.

"I'll be out in a minute…" I agreed before finding my phone violent in vibration within the pocket of my jeans. Rather quickly, I would find my mom attempting a video call as this had been customary the closer it came to seeing her. It was clear the closing dates were making her restless as I would turn back towards the bathroom before sliding my finger across the screen. Adjusting my hair in the final moments before the service would connect us, I would find my mom's award winning smile staring back at me.

"I hope I'm not bothering you, sweetheart...I just wanted to see if your...guy was allergic to anything before I get the stuff for dinner…" I narrowed my eyes in thought for a moment before shaking my head as she would look at me as if I was now suddenly angelic to her.

"What?"

"I just can't wait to meet him...I don't blame you for being selective after Ron, but-" her eyes would suddenly freeze on the screen of the phone. With the rather unreliable internet service, it was common to lose one another at least a handful of times within the call, but with the flashing lights of the Christmas tree at her back, I was able to verify it was not the frame of the phone but my mother who stilled.

"What-" before I could fully question the origin for her gaze, I would become mortified to the sight at my back, shown in my screen mirrored back to me. There, walking behind me without a care of my presence or otherwise, stood a completely stark Xander. For a time, my eyes would come to assess the perfection of his sun-kissed muscles and how they would flex in effortless motions. I had only witnessed a physique such as his in conjurings of my deep fantasies as he was carved to perfection. But as soon as I had come to remember this was reality, with the witnessing of my mother, I would quickly blush and force my own gaze away.

"Are you...Are you living with him?!" The once sweet cadence of my mother would nearly bust the speaker of my phone as there had been only a handful of things she would consider rage inducing such as this; homicide, wearing white after labor day, and premarital s*x, which would be hard to convince her I was innocent from with a naked man in the background of my phone.

"Mom-"

"I sure hope you know what you're doing young lady! What if you get pregnant...would he even be a good father if he is so blinded with lust-" her rant continued from the getgo in immediate embarrassment as Xander would now return with a tee over his torso and a pair of sweats being pulled up to his hip, tied as he looked to me with genuine sympathy.

"Mom...it's…" I attempted to speak before looking at Xander and then back to my mother.

"We're married." The space drew completely silent at my back as both my mother and my supposed new groom looked at me in the same shock.

"I knew if I told you and dad, you wouldn't...you wouldn't understand…"

"Are you in danger right now? Blink twice if you're-" My mom would quickly look off camera to my father who had been in earshot of the entire event, leaving any sense of dominance I held in the conversation to now dry and whittle to ash.

"You tell me that I can trust you to be by yourself in the city and then you pull something like this?! Who even is this guy?! Just please tell me you didn't go to Vegas for some quick shindig...Is it at least legal?!"

"Yes…." I spoke in question as I watched Xander now look at me with an expression that read to me as "Oh really?". Realizing the ball of lies was becoming too grand to stop, I continued to add onto the details as my parentage's disapproval was too much to bear at once.

"I know it seems crazy, but I just knew from the moment she met him that he was...something…" his brows would raise in being surprised as I would cower to my mess of lies.

Although I was well aware it would have been much simpler to confess, as flustered as I was, I would manage to calm both my parents by explaining to them that it was a relationship that spanned a few years in secrecy and we began as friends before ultimately deciding to get married that last summer. Although there was a steady anger for them having been absent this decision, it would appear that they were more at peace with the idea of me being married than being alone, or worse-in loose morals, but it would leave me unsure of Xander's involvement at this sudden change of course. By the end of the call, I had managed to calm both of my parents with the cover of being worried of their reactions as I was accused of being naive and pregnant before the half hour interrogation would finally come to an end.

"Well…" Xander would comment before standing in a pensive silence before looking at me with a grin. "I must admit that usually women act a bit differently seeing me in a towel...And I've never gotten a marriage proposal before…"

"I'll just tell them that I lied...this has gone on longer than it should have-'' as I reached for my phone, he would suddenly snatch it from my grasp to keep me from calling them to confess.

"Look, I need this money...more than I'd like to admit...AND it gives me a bit of a chance to work on my acting...besides...I could use a vacation…" His reasons seemed admirable, but that devilish grin roused worry deep within me. It was the kind of look a young child has when having been caught with chocolate, and yet, a part of me wanted to let him have it.

"You're still willing to do this?"

"I suppose this DOES change a few things…"

"Like what?" Xander pulled his steps around the apartment, grabbing a few grapes from his freezer, before popping one in his mouth as he listed his reasons.

"Well if we are married, we need rings...probably a few pictures together...and now you might even have to let me kiss you-"

I froze as it had been quite a long time since I had been with anyone, with my last interaction scarring me enough to wish to put my career, health, and even my nightmares in place of a new relationship which was why these circumstances were ideal. There was no risk of being hurt as there was nothing genuine about this facade and nothing real about Xander; except the fact he was a real pain in the ass.

"Fine. But nothing…"

"What?" He would counter me, enjoying watching me unsteady with my gaze and twitching with my touch as I would pick at the tips of my fingernails in nervousness.

"They have to be nice kisses...not..well...porn kisses."

"Porn kisses?" He chuckled. "Maybe we should practice then?" He would move towards me swift enough to try and catch me by surprise but having to cover enough ground that would allow me to pull away at the final second before he would claim my lips.

"I think we can both suffer through a few kisses for appearances, there isn't a need to-"

"Have you ever kissed anybody before?" His question would surprise me as I knew my number subceded his own, but he left me silent from being caught off guard before I then became defensive as he looked at me with pity.

"Yes! I might not be as...willing as you, but I know what I'm doing…"

"I REALLY think we should make sure we're on the same page here…" for a moment, my eyes would fall to his full lips as I couldn't help but feel curious if they were as hypnotizing as they seemed in contrast to the girls that would fall victim to his kiss nearly each night. I would sense him closing in and yet I would not fight him until watching the corners of his mouth lift into a victorious smile.

"No. You should study this…" I explained by casting him the laminated syllabus of our relationship until it kept him forcefully at bay with a shove into his chest. "It's what I told my parents…"

"I think it would be a lot more fun to practice…" he attempted to capture my waist in his hands before I would spin away from him in the nick of time and make my way into the direction of the door. With him close at my back, I turned and watched him finger through the twelve pages of notes as if they were instructions on how to navigate a nuclear submarine. For the shortest of moments, I was allowed a second of humor in this befuddlement as it was nice to see his expression wear something other than s*x.

"I'll see you at the airport the day after tomorrow…" he would nod, seemingly distracted by the pages set before him, as I would turn to leave. The sudden force of his palm to the door would trap me temporarily as I would slowly face him.

"Where are we going? I need to know how much...or how little...to pack…" his eyes would drop to observe my reaction, one I would not allow, as I explained with indifference, while fighting to keep my pulse in check.

"My parents own a chateau in Washington state...It's incredibly modern but has heating...a sauna...so I guess bring whatever you would wear normally."

"If I did that, I think I would scare your mom to death since she didn't react well to it-"

"You walk around naked?!" I chuckled in disbelief as he slowly nodded, leaning closer to me.

"Stick around? I can show you again because it seems you didn't get enough the first time." My eyes would follow his fingers to the line of his sweats for just a moment out of pure curiosity, before my eyes would flash back up to him.

"This is going to be a lot of fun...Wife." the word seems to excite some deeply rooted emotion in my spirit that held the accompaniment of a blush as I would make my leave from the apartment, fighting my urge to turn back and face him, breaking weak at the last moment of hiding behind the door of my own apartment to watch him angled precisely in his frame to watch me; something I was minding less and less each time…