Chapter 23

"Why'd you sleep in the office?"

"And why did Mommy sleep on the couch?"

It was too early for this line of questioning, but…Mark supposed that served him right, sleeping in the office, on that couch that was not very comfortable for slumbering, given his size. "Because sometimes adult do that, sleep in different rooms."

"Is it because you snore?"

He was making them pancakes, bending down to brush his nose against Maren's. "I snore LOUDLY. It's terrible." That was probably the truth; he wouldn't know if he snored since he slept alone, usually. Until he had brought that walking trap back into his life. That's exactly what she was too. A beautiful trap that lured him in and then screwed up his life. "Sunnyside up or scrambled?"

"Dad, you got eggshell in it…" Aven was giggling, watching as his Dad began trying to get it out without burning his fingers. "Scrambled, they're scrambled!"

Marlize walked in at that moment, rubbing her tired eyes, though she was fresh out of shower and needed coffee. Java was calling her name along with copious amounts of creamer. "Good morning, my loves." Meaning the children, not the man currently cooking eggs and other breakfast food.

"Morning, Mommy!"

"Morning, Mom!"

"Are you and Dad fighting?" Aven asked bluntly, watching his mother slowly turn to look at him and he shrugged. "You two went from sleeping in the same room and now you're not."

This boy was too smart for his own good. It really was too damn early for this, but Marlize couldn't deny her son an answer and poured her coffee in the mug, shaking her head. "No, honey, we're perfectly fine."

"Then why did you sleep separated?"

"Aven, Mommy has a headache, so can we please shelve the questions for now? Please?" She needed aspirin and sat down at the table, not really hungry, but had to pull herself together, drinking her coffee.

"Mommy, your ring is messed up."

"Hmm?" Marlize looked down at her left hand and saw the diamond was still turned into her palm, fixing it for her daughter's sake. "There, all better!" She took another sip of her coffee and looked outside, seeing the rain had finally subsided after two straight days of it.

"Mommy smells weird…"

That would be the whiskey though he wasn't saying that out loud, just smiled sweetly at his fiancée. "Eggs, darlin'?"

"They were fighting."

"Yep."

"We were having a heated discussion." Mark corrected, which was mostly true. Heated and his had bandaged fingers, but that was his own fault for crushing a glass in his hand. "Adults do that sometimes, doesn't mean we don't still love each other."

"Uh huh…" Maren was eyeballing him and then Mom, sharing a look with Aven.

Why did he feel nervous? They looked almost devious and now, he blamed Marlize for that because SHE was devious.

"No, I don't want any eggs, thank you anyway."

Mark was just as devious as she was! If not more so! Look what he was doing to her, blackmailing her into marrying him and everything else! The twins took after him far more than her and she had noticed it the older they got.

"Nothing you guys need to worry about, okay? And you're smelling carpet cleaner, I was cleaning the carpet upstairs in our bedroom." After her shower was done, Marlize had noticed another spot she had missed. "Mommy accidentally spilled something." There was no way she would tell the twins that she had been cleaning up their father's blood, after he had shattered a glass in his bare hand.

"So, does that mean you guys will sleep in the same room tonight?"

If they didn't, the kids were going to start getting suspicious, so she sincerely hoped Mark got his anger out of his system last night. They would have to suck it up and share the bed tonight. "Yes, we're fine and it was just a discussion about the wedding, nothing major."

"Hmm, do you believe them?" Maren turned to her brother, raising a brow that looked almost identical when Mark did it.

"I don't know, guess we'll have to check on them later tonight." Aven had no shame saying that out loud, both of them sitting down at the table while their Dad started serving breakfast.

Marlize was not hungry, her stomach still in knots, but she grabbed some toast with jam, nibbling on it while drinking more of her coffee. Please kick in aspirin, please kick in. She watched the twins start eating and didn't meet Mark's eyes, already knowing all she would see was hatred and acid. Great, we have to share the bed tonight and I have no doubt these heathens will be checking to make sure we do.

Anything she would eventually throw his way no longer mattered. The fact that he was doing the same thing to her, well…that was just rewards since she had opened the door to all of this herself. The fact that she had made a decision for him, essentially forcing him to leave her and then that decision also stopped Mark from coming back…it was clear she had never loved him. Marlize had merely been blowing smoke up his backside, probably just to make sure he DID leave because he was Vince's commodity and she had been paid well to take care of him. Kind of like a whore, though he wouldn't use that word outside of his head.

"I own a paintball gun and I am not afraid to use it, son."

"Wait, you do? How many? Can you teach me? Do they hurt? Is there a lot of paint?"

Oh lord.

Marlize still blamed him for not coming back for her like he said it would. One week. She told him to come back for her in a week and it was MONTHS after the fact. That was on him, not her. It wasn't her fault he tore his pectoral off the bone. It wasn't her fault Mark needed surgery to repair it either. The ONLY thing that was her fault was the fact she made that call to Vince and told him what had happened to her friend's ferry boat. Sure, she had taken the money from Vince at the time because she didn't know Mark, not even when they sexed it up for those few weeks. That was all it took apparently to knock her up with twins, no less.

He could think she was a whore all he wanted; he could've done this an easier way and that was simply coparenting, living separately, and instead, he was blackmailing her into marrying him. As far as Marlize was concerned, he was no better than her. Marlize finished her toast and stood up from the table to rinse her dish off, along with pouring what was left of her coffee out.

What did she have to do today? Something with the wedding, surely, since it was only a few weeks away and everything was being rushed as far as fittings and whatnot. Christopher was taking care of the flowers and décor, assuring her it would be a spectacular wedding and one for the ages, not wanting her to stress about anything.

"I'm going for a walk. You guys need anything?" Marlize directed that at her children, turning away from the sink to put a few things away in the fridge.

She had really given him no choice on this current situation they were in because she was a flight risk. He absolutely did not trust her to not take their twins and run, disappear off the face of the earth AGAIN, if she felt like that ex-husband was hers was on her trail again. Mark would never hear from her, hear about his kids, anything, ever again because he knew very well Linda would conceal and protect her from everything that could trace the psycho to Marlize, including him. Either way, it didn't really matter anymore; he would always be the bad guy and he was fine with that, at least right now. Something in him had broken at her confession, hardened, and his mind had informed him he was an idiot for falling for her. For trusting her with his darkest secret back then, for even bothering to try to do this gently, with regard to what she wanted or felt, because none of it mattered to her in the end.

"You don't want to go fishing with us, Mom?" Maren asked, busy polishing off a short stack of pancakes, no syrup because she didn't like the sticky texture. "Dad got out a BUNCH of poles."

Her eyes instantly lit up at the thought of being able to fish again, having missed doing it on the island and in Hawaii. "Oh really now? There's a spot to fish here?"

"Yeah! Dad said it's a ways down on the property and we're gonna go down there and fish! Dad, did you know that Mom is a master fisherman? Or is it fisherwoman?" Maren beamed proudly at her mother while taking another mouthful of pancakes.

"Yeah, but I bet Dad is better than her." Aven smirked, seeing his mother's brow slowly raise at him and he chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "Prove me wrong."

"Oh don't worry, I will, my son." Marlize moved to ruffle his hair affectionately, something she always did with the kids whenever she was joking with them. "I'm in. Let me know when you guys leave and we'll catch some fish and I'll even make them for dinner tonight."

The twins both grinned at her since they missed their mother's cooking and fish was one of their favorites. She had started them off at a very young age with fish, as soon as it was safe enough for the twins to eat. Now Maren wasn't a fan of fish without a lot of breading, so she had made sure to incorporate that for her daughter. Marlize wondered why Mark would bring something like that up and immediately shoved it aside, knowing it was just a coincidence and nothing more.

"Whoa, Mom, is that four now?!"

Marlize smirked while sitting in the lawn chair, nodding her head while Mark had his own and the twins made sure they sat next to each other. Enough space so their poles didn't get tangled up, but they were still seated close enough. Maren was on his side and Aven on hers, the family having an impromptu fishing trip together. This was her life now. She had to get used to it because deep down inside, she was completely in love with Mark and had been all these years. He didn't love her though and she also accepted that for what it was. For the first time since coming to Dallas, Marlize felt completely relaxed and could fish all day and night long if allowed, and she probably would if it wasn't for being a mother.

"Sure is, sweetheart." Marlize unhooked the fish and put it in the bucket before getting her line ready for another one, looking to her right and saw Mark was watching her, their eyes locked.

Mark had already told the twins about how their mother had fished way better than him; they had actually discussed it in the car on the drive back to Texas. They had told him about how Marlize had caught that mini shark and managed to wrangle him back into the waters without damaging him, and he had told them about how his first night there, she had caught a basket of delicious fish. He was also pretty sure that conversation had ended with him spewing water out of his nose because of a comment about the differences between salt and fresh water fish.

"How many you got, darlin'? Enough to feed us all?"

Mark wasn't using a bucket, so he showed Maren how to use a stringer and explained why he preferred it, especially on a lake. Ocean was more difficult because one had to contend with sharks and other sea life coming to snatch the fish caught. On a freshwater lake, not so much, the worst was a turtle and they'd see those bastards coming.

"You just side it through the mouth," He was now showing her how to run the tiny metal bar through the gaping mouth of the bass Maren had pulled in. "And out the gill, just a straight slide through." The rope it was attached too, it was clipped there and it put the fish back into the water. The rope was secured to a stake in the ground, which allowed the fish to breathe and swim, so basically, they were keeping the meat fresh.

"Four so far, gonna get a few more and we should be good for supper tonight."

Marlize loved fishing and the water in general, something about it soothing her very soul. It was hotter than blazes out here, but she didn't care or mind it. The temperature honestly reminded her of the island and there were times she really wished didn't have to leave it. If it wasn't for the twins, she wouldn't have left. Mark would've come back eventually, but then again, maybe he wouldn't have.

She didn't want to think about that possibility and pushed it back in the far recesses of her mind. They were getting married, loveless and out of convenience, but still they were having a wedding and when she returned to the road to resume work, she would be Mrs. Mark Calaway, whether she liked it or not. So deep in thought she was, Marlize didn't see or feel her pole moving until her daughter jolted her out of her thoughts, immediately starting to reel the next fish in.

"Thanks, sweetheart, I got it."

"Mom, stop daydreaming and focus, you know fishing can be dangerous!" Maren scolded, pouting at her mother and helped her unhook the fish before taking it over to her father to put it on the line with the others. "That's five!"

"A few more and we'll be good, though I could do this all day."

"We don't wanna dry up the lake of fish though, Mom."

Marlize rolled her eyes.

"You're not going to, I have it restocked every few years if they're not breeding fast enough." Although, since he was generally the only one to fish it unless he had friends over, he hadn't had to do that in a few years. Mark bet the lake needed 'culled' as it were, to get the bigger fish out to make room for the babies who needed less predators, such as those big fish, in order to grow.

"Wait, you can restock fish?"

"Sure can!" Mark began laughing, knowing they had grown up surrounded by the ocean, which was a whole new ball game. "If your Mama wants to fish all day, let her, ain't going to harm anything." Besides maybe his ego since he had only caught one fish today and he had to throw it back. He had assuaged his ego by reminding himself that he had been helping Maren.

Marlize could already tell she would be out here a lot in the coming months, just to get away from the stifling tension between her and Mark. Maybe it would dwindle as the wedding drew closer, but she doubted it. He was livid with her and rightfully so, she had no excuse for what she did. It didn't matter if his safety was on the line or his life was in danger. None of that mattered to Mark, who thought he was bulletproof.

Such was not the case, but Marlize would let him still hold onto the fantasy that he was. After fishing was over with, the family rode back to the house and Marlize got busy prepping the fish while Mark got the grill cleaned and fired up. She had plenty of time to make sides, remembering how Mark hated collard greens and part of her was tempted to make them to spite him, but instead, she just stuck with good old asparagus.