After dinner, both Maya and Cole tried to convince her that it was time to go home, with Maya offering her a final bribe of teaching her how to make chapatti dough the next time she came back.
“Hey,” Cole said, grasping Maya’s hand as his daughter gathered her things and put on her shoes by the front door. “I really, really appreciate all the time you spent with her today. You don’t know how happy I am right now.”
“I always wanted three kids, remember?” Maya reminded him, drawing close and burrowing her nose against his trimmed beard. “I need to thank you for giving me that.” Cole slowly kissed her, torn that he couldn’t stay the night. But he only wanted Izzy to stay with them when her room was set up and they had properly moved in.
“I’m going to give my building my final month’s notice right away,” he stated. “We’ll have everything moved in here by August if that’s alright.” Maya nodded eagerly.
The following week, Maya texted him at school that she was at City Hall and the earliest appointment for a civil wedding was the first week of August.
Take it, Cole urged. If they have any cancellations earlier than that, take those.
“Mr. G, you said you weren’t ever going to look at your phone in class again,” Caroline spoke up, pausing her work on her art assignment.
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Cole replied, glancing at the clock and unable to resist the temptation to be impulsive. “But I just learned my fiancée found a date for us to get married. It’s August 7th at City Hall, and you’re all welcome to come with your grown-ups. Be there at 9:45 a.m.”
The class erupted just as the final bell rang, half the kids gathering their things and the other half crowding around Cole with a million questions. When the portable finally emptied out 20 minutes later, Cole texted Maya again. Hey, is there a limit of how many people we can invite?
***********
With summer vacation starting in July, Maya’s sons moved back in immediately after their exam break concluded. During Isabel’s weeks with Cole, the five of them shifted his apartment into Maya’s house bit by bit.
The biggest task by far was decorating Isabel’s room, which was going to feature a unicorn mural that Manav diligently worked on for hours at a time. A thought occurred to Maya as they were painting the rest of the room tangerine orange one afternoon.
“Hey, did you ever talk to Janice and Jack about any of this?” she asked Cole.
“Uh, briefly,” Cole responded. “I texted her that I was getting married and that my address would change in August. Also not to worry because it was close to the school and Izzy would still have her own room. She didn’t reply.” He paused. “Shoot, I actually don’t know if the text went through. She usually replies.” He put down his paint roller and went to wash his hands.
“It’s only Mommy now,” Isabel said absentmindedly as she worked on the same corner she’d been working on for 15 minutes. “Jack doesn’t live with us anymore.”
“What?” Maya spun around.
“WHAT?” Cole rushed back into the room, his hands still spotted orange.
“For how long, sweetie?” Maya asked, her full attention on the child.
“Uhhh… a long time?” Isabel offered. She decided she was bored at that point and asked if she could go downstairs and watch TV. Her dad readily agreed, leaving the room with her to wash up and fix her a snack.
“You think she’s serious?” Maya asked Cole when he returned. “What if Jack’s away on business or something? And just what does Izzy count as ‘a long time’?”
“He worked in a warehouse for years, as far as I know,” Cole replied. “There’s no travel involved. Son of a bitch, there’s no way. There’s no way she cheated on me with him for five years and now their marriage lasted what, eight months?”
“Maybe he’s only into leasing and not rent-to-own,” Tejas piped up, which made Cole laugh in spite of himself.
“Dude, call your ex,” Manav prompted him. “You don’t want her to make a big thing in court about you moving on, telling the judge you never told her you were getting remarried. Based on how you talk about her, she seems like she might be spiteful if her marriage just broke down.” Cole looked thoughtful when Isabel came back in to get her tablet.
“Pumpkin,” Cole said, “what else can you tell me about Mommy and Jack?”
“They were fighting sometimes,” the little girl said, picking up her device. “Mommy said you never fought with her and maybe she would ask you to come live with us again.” Maya dropped her paintbrush, while Tejas bit his lip and unsuccessfully tried not to laugh.
“Damn, man,” he said,” playfully punching Cole after Isabel left the room again, “it’s raining women, huh?”
“Don’t be an ass,” Manav admonished his brother, while Cole looked at his phone.
“Are you saying you don’t find this situation even a little bit funny?” Tejas cocked his head to the side before noticing the bothered expression on his mother’s face. “Oh, mom, relax,” he said, hugging her. “The reason it’s funny is because Cole would never ever go back to her but she still thinks it’s an option after what she did. Like, she has to be a grade-A Karen if she’s that entitled.”
“That’s a spot-on description of her, actually,” Cole murmured. “I just asked if she got my last text and she said she did. Here’s what we’ll do. Maya, will you come with me to drop Izzy off tomorrow? I want Janice to see I’m not kidding.” Maya looked uncomfortable but nodded.
She found herself behind the wheel of her sedan the next afternoon, wishing the drive would last an hour instead of just 10 minutes. Cole noticed her discomfort but first turned on the radio and opened a window so his daughter in the back seat wouldn’t hear them that well.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know you never wanted to meet her.”
“I didn’t mind until yesterday,” Maya replied. “This is a little too Jerry Springer for me.”
“Well, I fully accept I’m Izzy’s father, no paternity test needed,” Cole joked, finally eliciting a laugh from his fiancée. As they pulled into the driveway of his old house, Maya took a deep breath and reached for Cole’s hand as soon as they both exited the car. Isabel bounded forward with her duffel bag and skipped toward the front door.
Before she could ring the bell, the door opened. Maya noted that Janice was quite pretty. She looked to be in her late 30s with straight blonde hair and light green eyes. She’s tall, Maya thought. Maybe she’s 5’9″? Ohhh, and her hips are so slim. Maya suddenly felt self-conscious and resisted the urge to run back toward the car.
“Cole,” Janice beamed, as Isabel greeted her with a hug. “Hi hon, run in and put your stuff away,” she told her daughter as an afterthought, lightly patting her on the shoulder. Her eyes never left her ex-husband’s face until she noticed Maya hiding slightly behind him. “Oh, hello,” Janice said. “Can I help you with something?”
“Janice, this is Maya, my fiancée,” Cole introduced her. “We’re doing a simple wedding in August and it’ll be during one of the weeks Izzy is with me.” Janice gave her a lopsided smile.
“Seriously, Cole?” she asked. “I never knew you had an exotic streak to you.”