Chapter 21

Marlize stood outside waiting the next day, black shades over her eyes, and she had on a white sundress with black flats and a black sash around the waist. It was short-sleeved, had lace on the hem and was as close to a 'wedding' dress as she owned. She had no idea this wasn't going to be her wedding, even though they were going to the courthouse. The twins were staying behind with none other than Steve Austin, one of Mark's closest friends and his wife, Kristen.

They lived in Dallas as well and had properties all throughout Texas, including San Antonio and Victoria. Dallas was where they currently resided, so Mark had phoned up Steve to ask him to watch the kiddos, after telling him he was a father. That had shocked the hell out of Steve, but he agreed and promised to take good care of the twins, congratulating Mark in the process. When Mark informed her what was going on, Marlize just bit her tongue and let him do what he wanted, not feeling comfortable at all with her children staying with complete strangers. Even though they knew Mark, they didn't know HER and she didn't know them either.

I just wanna get this over with. Christ, what is taking so long?

She had woken up to an empty bed and saw Mark had never come back in the bedroom, instead realizing he had slept in his office. That was fine by her, she didn't care if he shared the bed with her or not at this point. Finally, the twins walked out with their father locking the house up and Marlize had to learn how to breathe at the sight of him in a white buttoned up dress shirt and khakis, a tan bandana around his head with his hair braided back tightly.

Christ…he looks good when he dresses up. Stop it, Marlize! "Ready to go, everyone?" Didn't they have a schedule to keep with whatever Mark had planned?

They'd do the paperwork today because there was a mandatory waiting period anyway, and Linda had already arranged a venue, the flowers, everything needed for the actual wedding ceremony. Marlize was getting her marriage license today, along with her wedding dress, that was something Mark wasn't letting Linda do, even he knew a wedding dress was something the bride needed to be invested in. Given that Marlize didn't want this wedding, much less to be breathing the same air as him, maybe he should have just ordered her something off of Wish. The drive to Steve's was mostly silent minus the twins chattering and they lingered long enough for Marlize to at least get to know the Austin's on a superficial basis before heading off again. Mark had to go get fitted for his monkey suit, he inwardly groaned, reaching out to turn on the radio.

He couldn't deal with the silence anymore.

The Austin's seemed very kind, though Marlize kept her guard up with everyone she met. Kristen was a sweetheart, who had a southern accent and the kids instantly gravitated to her. She had snacks for them, along with games, and other things for them to do, assuring Mark and Marlize to take their time. Unfortunately, Stephanie couldn't make it for the wedding dress shopping and that was another reason why Marlize wasn't in the best mood. Linda had called her that morning informing her that she needed to find a wedding dress and there was a shop she had found online, pointing her niece in the right direction. It was just down the walkway from the tuxedo shop that Mark would be going to for his fitting.

An actual wedding.

They were going to make her walk the aisle in a beautiful venue that Linda had chosen, with Mark's blessing, and marry this man in front of her family and his. The more public they made this, the better it would be and would hopefully keep Bradley away. What she also didn't know was they were also going cake testing today as well, so they had a full day ahead of them together, without the twins, and Marlize would have to keep a smile plastered on her face the entire time. The tension was making her nauseous and she wanted to say something to him, but all Marlize wound up doing was staying silent, seeing the courthouse just up a few blocks.

Once Mark had parked, they both slipped out of the truck and Marlize smoothed her dress out before taking Mark's extended hand, knowing they had to at least pretend they were in love in front of the Justice of the Peace. The look on her face when she realized they weren't actually getting married was almost priceless; it could have been priceless if he snapped a picture of it, but he didn't. That'd just be rude and he was all smiles as they filled out the paperwork, answered all the questions, and then he paid the fees and all that jazz.

"Mandatory three day waiting period." Mark informed her, once they were walking out, spotting the white SUV with tinted windows waiting at the curb. "And you have a date today." Since Stephanie couldn't make it, he was stuck doing it and as long as they could be civil, they may even have a good time. Stopping at the bottom of the courthouse steps, Mark looked down at her and reached out to finger a stray curl, studying her intently. "You look beautiful today, Marlize." And she did, confused and beautiful. He walked the rest of the way to the waiting vehicle since he wasn't driving to all these places because he had no idea where to go. "Come on, darlin'."

I can give him a compliment, it won't kill me. "You don't look so bad yourself, big man." Handsome, gorgeous, delicious…STOP IT MARLIZE!

Boarding the waiting car, Mark slipped in after her and they were off for a day full of wedding planning fun. Linda had hired a wedding planner, Christopher, who was the best in his profession and knew exactly what he was doing. He was also being paid a lot of money to make sure this wedding went off without a hitch.

"Will you please tell me what's going on and where we're going?"

Mark smirked, taking her hand to kiss the back of it with gleaming emeralds. "Tuxedo fitting for me and wedding dress shopping for you, to start off with."

"Linda did say something to me about that this morning when we spoke. She said she has about ten different dresses picked out for me already at the shop." Marlize wasn't sure how to feel about that, not pulling away from him. "I just really didn't think you wanted an actual ceremony." Did he truly want to marry her that badly? This would be romantic if she knew Mark loved her and this wasn't all out of convenience. "I guess if we're doing this though, we should do it right." For their children, especially.

"She had to put the dresses back. I told her it was up to you, not her." Linda better obey too.

Mark knew it was probably bad enough Marlize didn't have a say in her own wedding planning, not really, not beyond the cake tasting and the dress. Hell, she hadn't even had a say in getting married. He had said she had a choice, but the reality was, she didn't. Losing the twins and going to prison wasn't really a choice, was it?

Mark looked out the window, drumming his fingers on his kneecap absentmindedly. "Doing this publicly adds another layer of protection for you," That was the truth and he kept his gaze firmly on the other traffic. "And just because it's for convenience doesn't mean you don't deserve a real wedding."

"You do realize I've been married before, right?"

"So have I."

"This will be my second marriage."

"My third."

THIRD? Marlize blinked, not expecting to hear that, but she shouldn't have been surprised either.

What were those women thinking letting someone like him go? Why did her heart melt a little more at his words, the armor around it cracking? Was this really just for her protection and convenience or was there something more?

No! Don't get sucked into those words or those eyes! Remember what happened last time! You told him you loved him and he promised to come back for you, but he never said the words back. He broke his promise, he didn't come back for you and you can't…you can't forgive that. You can't trust him with your heart again. "Thank you for…uprooting your life for the twins and me. I'm sorry about what I said last night too. I'll try to not lash out at you anymore."

"I will not be holding you to that." Mark snorted yet there was amusement in his tone as he studied her.

She had promised that before and broke it fairly quickly. At the time, Mark had been getting used to that habit, her lashing out verbally because she had done it a lot. It was somewhat good that Marlize hadn't changed so much over the years. Also tiring, he wasn't an angry man who found that amusing and loved to return it anymore. Well, not all the time anyway.

"I would've uprooted it a long time ago if I would have known about them, Marlize, you have to believe that, darlin'. No matter what you think of me, if I would've known…" He was hoping Vince was at the wedding, so they could use him as a pinata. Maybe Glenn too.

Sometimes, old grudges flared up, especially when a reminder of what their 'loving' interference had cost him and she was sitting there, hating him.

"I know, I know." Marlize believed that much from him, clasping her hands in her lap and rubbed the back of her neck somewhat awkwardly. She had to look away from him, wiping a stray tear away. "Linda and Vince didn't know about the twins. I didn't tell anyone about my pregnancy because of my fear of Bradley finding out. Of him finding me. That's why I waited so long to leave the island and I finally had no choice once my first trimester was over." Four months…she had waited for four months for him to come back for her and he never did. "I should've called them earlier, but…I was scared and didn't want to drag them into my problems." That ended up happening anyway because Bradley had found her. "It's nobody's fault except mine that you didn't find out about them until now. I could've reached out to Vince to get your contact information and I didn't. But I hope you believe me when I say I did wait for you, as long as I could, and if you would've come back to the island, I would've told you immediately about the pregnancy." He would've seen how much bigger she was too, at the time.

Did he tell her? Mark had tried that first night and she had shut him down. He had already told the twins the edited version and also had to explain what sedation was, then remind Aven he couldn't 'sedate' his sister a few times afterwards. Maybe his son was a little TOO much like him.

"I was coming back, but I had…I tore this," Mark traced a finger along his pectoral. "Clean off the bone and Vince scheduled me for surgery. When I tried leaving anyway, to come back for you, and he realized I wasn't planning on making that appointment, he got my friend to come…convince me." He smirked a little wickedly. Torn pec and all, that big bastard STILL had to chokehold him in place long enough for the nurses to sedate him. "Afterward, I begged Vince to let you know or give me your number…He kept pushing it off and off, giving me bullshit and by the time I got well enough to come, you were gone."

"What?" Mark had gone back to the island for her? Did she just hear him right? Christ, there went her heartrate skyrocketing all over again and that familiar warmth flooded through her, right down to her damn toes. "Vince knew about us?" Marlize frowned when Mark nodded and her eyes lowered, aware she had a secret that she wasn't sure if she should tell him or not.

Mark never would've had to leave the island if it wasn't for her calling Vince and convincing the old man for him to leave. That was probably why Vince had also been wary to let her know about his injury or to give her his number. Marlize had told him all about what happened with the ferry boat, which was why Vince had replaced Dirk's boat in the first place, but in exchange, Mark had to leave the island immediately. His safety was in jeopardy back then and Marlize was starting to realize the domino effect she had caused, covering her mouth with her hand.

Fuck, if I wouldn't have called Vince and told him, convinced him, to get Mark off the island…none of this would've happened. We could've left the island together when we found out I was pregnant and I would've probably followed him to Dallas instead of living in Hawaii, going through the pregnancy by myself. Did I really do all of this? Did I cause all of this to happen?

"Mr. Calaway, we've arrived."

Marlize had to get out of the car before Mark noticed she was on the verge of having a panic attack, immediately slipping out to head to the wedding dress shop and let the tears flow down her cheeks. "No…no please…" She had asked for all of this to happen by making that one phone call to Uncle Vince. "Damn it…" DAMN IT! She had to pull herself together, to stay strong, and had no idea how she was going to tell Mark what REALLY happened back then.

"Ma'am, can I help you?" An assistant was immediately there to greet her.

They had been alerted by Mrs. McMahon of her niece's arrival and to assist her in any way required, on top of the wedding planner being here already. He was currently sorting through various dresses, things that would match the colors and the hastily thrown together 'theme' he had been paid handsomely to cobble together. He had done a very nice job so far if he did say so himself, grinning from ear to ear.

Mark was following a bit more slowly, letting the driver know they'd probably be a while, the monkey suit shop was right beside the bridal store. When he seen people swooping in on his soon-to-be wife, he figured she was in good hands and headed for his own fitting with a sigh. What she had asked about Vince knowing about them…that hurt and he didn't know why, like…was her uncle not supposed to? Maybe Marlize hadn't wanted him to come back, even though she had claimed to love him.

Too late now, man, you're in it all the way because of those kids. Or at least, that's what Mark told himself.

I have to focus on this. I'll tell him later. Or maybe never – never sounded a lot better, actually.

Marlize explained what type of dress she was looking for. Vintage, white or ivory, nothing over the top. She sat there with a glass of champagne, waiting for the sets of dresses to be brought out for her to look at. There were ten of them, all vintage and the style she was looking for. It was time to try them on one at a time, or until she found 'the one', not sure if it would be in this shop. Would she fall in love with any of them or would they all be duds?

I have to choose one, I don't want to let Aunt Linda or Mark down or make it more difficult for them.