When Taylor and I got back to Tulsa, we immediately went house hunting. I was still a little stressed over my parents’ reaction to the news. My dad hadn’t really said too much before we left for the airport, but I believed Taylor when he said it would be okay. I mean, when they found out I was pregnant, and when Taylor and I stayed together, they would have to get used to it. I knew my mom would just love the baby, but, honestly, I was nervous. I didn’t know if I would be good mother. However, I felt like I was doing the right thing by marrying Taylor. It was just for the financial support, and after we were divorced, he would still provide for our child, so that was a relief.
We found a really nice house. Actually, it was more of a mansion.
“Taylor, we don’t need this big of a house,” I told him as the real estate agent walked into another room.
“Oh, come on, you can never have too much space,” Taylor shrugged. “Besides, we’ll have some space from each other when we need it.”
“Are you sure you want this house?” I asked him.
“Well, do you like it?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s beautiful,” I replied as I looked at my surroundings.
“Well, that’s all that matters,” Taylor said. “I’ll let you have the house after the divorce.”
“You will?” I asked with surprise.
“Yeah,” Taylor said. “I want our child to have a nice place to grow up.”
I couldn’t believe how nice Taylor was actually being. It amazed me how he could be as sweet as can be one minute, but in reality he was really just a horny jerk. I hated it. It was like he had a split personality.
After everything was settled with the house, Taylor and I began to move our stuff in. The house had six bedrooms, three and a half baths, a swimming pool with a hot tub, and a guesthouse. It was truly amazing. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to live in it.
Taylor recruited Isaac and Zac to help with the moving. He and I decided after we had everything settled in the house, we would announce I was pregnant. I was nervous about that, but I figured the worst was over. We had already shocked them by getting married. We couldn’t do much worse.
While the guys were moving stuff, I decided to fix some lemonade for them. It was a rather hot day to be moving stuff, and Taylor had a lot of junk, and of course we bought new furniture and everything. Taylor had gone all out with the new house. Money was not an issue with him.
“Are you guys thirsty?” I asked as I brought a tray with glasses of lemonade into the living room.
“Yes,” Zac said with an exasperated sigh as he took a glass and gulped it down.
“Thanks,” Isaac smiled as he took a drink.
“Hey, Ike, I got another dresser out in the front yard. Wanna help me get it?” Taylor asked.
“I don’t wanna, but I will,” Isaac sighed as he followed Taylor towards the front door.
“So, what do you think of the place?” Zac asked me.
“I love it,” I replied. “It’s so big and spacey.”
“So, Taylor said you’re only 18,” Zac commented.
“Yep,” I nodded.
“I’ll be 18 in October,” he commented.
I nodded.
“But you already knew that?” he said.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “I used to sort of be a Hanson fan.”
“Oh, so, how in the world did a girl like you ever end up falling for my brother?” Zac asked.
“A girl like me?” I inquired.
“You’re nice and sweet,” Zac said. “You’re way different from all of the other girls Taylor dated, so how’d you end up with him?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I just fell in love with him the moment I met him,” I lied.
“Love is strange,” Zac said.
“You’re telling me?” I smiled. “I still can’t believe this is happening. I’m actually married, and I’m going to live in this huge house. It’s so crazy. I never imagined this. I just moved to Tulsa with the intentions of starting college, and now I’m married.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re happy,” Zac said. “I just can’t see what you see in Taylor, though.”
“I don’t know what it is, Zac, but I love him,” I said with a fake smile. “I can’t explain it, but he’s my soul mate.”
What a crock. I couldn’t believe what a liar I was becoming. Before I met Taylor, I hardly ever lied. Now it felt like every word that came out of my mouth was a lie. This was my new life - my new life of lies…
About a week after Taylor and I were settled into our new house, I got a call from my mom.
“Hello, sweetie, how are you doing?” she asked.
“Pretty good,” I said. “You have to come visit some time to see our house. It’s amazing, and we’ve got plenty of space.”
“Well, actually, that’s why I’m calling,” my mom said.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Well, I talked to Diana Hanson the other day,” she began.
“You talked to Diana?” I interrupted.
“Yes, she called me, and she had a wonderful idea,” my mom said.
“Oh, really? What is it?” I asked uncertainly.
“Well, Diana and I got to talking, and we thought it would be nice if we all got together and you and Taylor had a real wedding,” my mom explained.
“What?” I coughed.
“We want to have a real wedding for the two of you,” she repeated.
“Why?” I asked.
“Eden, you are my little girl, and I’ve always dreamed of the day when I would watch you walk down the aisle,” my mom said. “Well, you’ve already gotten married, and I didn’t get to see it. Diana and I would both like to have a real wedding for you.”
“Mom, you don’t have to do that,” I replied.
“I know I don’t have to, but I really want to,” my mom said.
I knew there was no way out of this. When my mom had her mind set to do something, she did it. Truthfully, a real wedding didn’t sound too bad. When our baby asked about it, at least we would have pictures and stuff.
“Okay, fine, mom,” I sighed.
“Well, I’ll be flying out to Tulsa in a couple of days,” my mom said.
“So, what does dad think of all of this?” I asked curiously.
“Well, he’s coming around,” my mom replied.
“Oh,” I said. “Well, I guess I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay, bye, sweetie,” my mom said. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, mom,” I replied before I hung up the phone.
After Taylor returned home from the studio, I filled him in on the plans.
“I should have known my mom would want to do something like this,” he commented.
“Well, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” I said.
“Oh, it’s not?” he smirked.
“No, it means they’re accepting our marriage,” I replied. “Plus, this could really turn out to be a good thing.”
“How’s that?”
“Because after we have the big wedding, we can announce I’m pregnant,” I explained.
“Good idea,” Taylor smiled. “I knew I liked you for something.”
“You like me?” I said sarcastically. “Hmm… I could have sworn I was a just a one night stand you accidentally got pregnant.”
“Well, I liked you when I asked you out on a date,” Taylor shrugged.
“Whatever,” I sighed rolling my eyes. “You just wanted someone to fuck.”
“Are we really back to this conversation again?” Taylor groaned.
“Yep,” I nodded. “Anyway, my mom’s coming to stay with us in a couple of days, so we’ll have to keep up the act around here.”
“Okay,” Taylor nodded. “Is it just your mom that’s coming?”
“I think Heaven and Angelina are coming, too,” I shrugged. “But I’m not sure. Why?”
“Just curious,” Taylor grinned.
“You better just stay the hell away from my sisters,” I warned. “I don’t want you corrupting them, too.”
“Oh, so now I corrupted you?” Taylor laughed.