He had reconciled with his parents shortly after my last visit though he has yet to inform them of our relationship or our child saying that since they weren't ready to believe his story about Angie yet, he figured they weren't ready to hear about me and the baby either. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there. They finally met his wife and her son for the first-time last weekend at her birthday party. She is officially eighteen. Amy told me they finally believed the whole story once they met Levi and Amir. She said they apologized all over the place and offered to help in whatever way they could. Then she said that Darren told them about me and Amelia showing them the pictures he had on his phone and surprisingly enough they weren't angry about it. Oh, they were upset we weren't married, but were most willing to perform said union when the time came. Apparently, they had always believed he and I would end up together too. Kismet they called it.
I was lying down with Amelia, hoping to get a nap in before dinner when my phoned chirped, startling me. Darren. "Turn the TV on." Then Amy. "Girl, go turn on the TV. Any news station. They all have the story!" Then Mom. "Turn on channel 12, dear."
I clicked on the TV and found the channel. Governor Gershand's face was on center screen. He was walking towards the city building surrounded by reporters, all clamoring to get their questions answered.
There were so many voices speaking at once it was difficult to determine who was asking what. Some of the questions I could pick up were; "Governor Gershand, do you deny the allegation that you forced the marriage between a twenty-four-year-old man and your underaged daughter by threatening him with felony charges? Is it also true that her child is in fact the child of her longtime boyfriend, Amir Persaud?" "Can comment on the statement that you have threatened to revoke the visas and deport Amir's parents if they came forward with this information?" "Governor Gershand, there is an allegation that you called Mr. Persaud a camel jockey and a snake charmer. Is that true?" The governor simply repeated "No comment," while trying to put his hand over whatever camera lens was closing in on his face.
The camera then panned to his mother, Abigail Gershand. "Do you have any comment on your granddaughter's allegations of abuse she sustained from her father, your son?" "Did you have any prior knowledge to reasons behind the marriage she claims is a sham?" She shielded her face from view as best she could as she fought her way through the sea of reporters behind her son.
A young, male reporter came on screen. "What we have learned so far is that Governor Gershand's young daughter, Angelica Gershand, who is now eighteen has filed for divorce from her husband Darren Evans citing they were forced into it by her father. She went on to say that she has been in a relationship with Amir Persaud for the last four years and that her husband, Darren was her father's quote unquote 'white' choice."
The news anchor in studio questioned the reporter. "I'm sorry, did you just say "white" choice?"
"Yes, according to the statement Angelica released to the press. She stated that her father, was adamantly and aggressively against her relationship with Amir solely because of his race, calling him things like 'camel jockey' and 'snake charmer'. She has also filed for a protection order against her father stating that the lives of both her son and her unborn child are in danger of him as he had allegedly tried to get her to miscarry her first child by pushing her down the stairs of the mansion and she also alleges he alluded to 'accidents' that her babies could have. We will be following this story as it develops but for now, I understand the temporary protection order has been granted this morning and the divorce hearing is scheduled for two weeks from today pending results from the paternity tests."
"Alright, wow. Thanks Mitch. More on..." I clicked off the TV. I sat there numb from shock. She did it. She outed her dad. Good for her. Lord, I hope she wins. I texted a simple "Wow" to Mom and Amy. To Darren I sent "Congrats? What made her go public?"
"Her dad had Amir arrested for rape when he found out the baby she is carrying is his and not mine. And had child protective services come for Levi saying she was an unfit mother."
"Seriously??! That's beyond effed up."
"Yeah, his and my parents helped hire a lawyer for them. He filed an emergency injunction or something and she got Levi back within hours. Thank God. Her grandmother called in some favors including one of her reporter acquaintances in DC and gave an 'anonymous' tip. It's kind of snowballed from there."
"Wow. You guys okay?"
"We are under police guard for the moment."
"What? Why?"
"Precautionary, they say. Angie has a TV interview scheduled for tomorrow. That should shut everybody up for a while."
"Oh, poor Amir."
"Oh, he's fine. I don't think the charges will stick. Angie has been very vocal about their relationship being 100% consensual and ongoing."
"Well, I hope it all gets settled quickly."
"So, will you marry me, now?"
"You still have a wife."
"Only for two more weeks."
"Ask me in two weeks, then." 'Two weeks? Oh, happy sigh. It's almost good to be true. Silly me.
Those two weeks went fast. Their divorce was granted but it would take another week for the judge to actually sign the order. Amir and Angie, who had married as soon as the divorce was official, had filed a joint civil suit with her new husband against her dad for Amir's false arrest and her forced marriage to Darren bringing a slew of negative media attention to him. News had spread so fast of what he did to his daughter and that's why the voters filed a petition to have him recalled. The civil suit took over a month to settle and unfortunately, Darren had to be in court for it, just in case they called him to testify. Ultimately the suit was settled out of court after five weeks of testimonies. Her father gave into her demands of monetary compensation and a public apology to her, her husband and her husband's family.
Darren was unable to visit during the divorce and lawsuit proceedings at all, but he would text me a marriage proposal every day to which I would simply respond "Ask me in person." He would then send me a sad faced emoji, and I'd send a picture of Amelia to brighten his day. Call me petty, but I was enjoying teasing him. This was the routine for those weeks as he was stuck down there.
Today he sent his usual proposal and followed it up with a picture of the simple wedding band I had wanted, to which I added "Aww, beautiful" to my usual "Ask me in person" response. I was expecting the sad emoji and already had the picture I was going send picked out. Instead he responded with "Open the door and I will." I'm not ashamed to admit I ran to the door. I am however, a little embarrassed to confess that I tripped over my shoes and fell flat on my face on the way.
I know he heard the thud of my fall... and the "Shit!" that came out of my mouth. How do I know? Because the jerk was laughing at me when I opened that door! There he stood all decked out in a slightly too small TobyMac t-shirt, faded jeans and work boots. His hair was pulled back into a braid. In his left hand, a small black velvet box, his right covered his mouth as he giggled at my mishap. "Have a nice trip, Kid?" I was tempted to slap him and call a 'mean old man' but he straightened up, clearing his throat and opening the ring box for my view. "Erin Jones, will you marry me? Please?" I threw my arms around him and kissed him hard. He pulled back a bit and asked, "Can I take that as a 'yes'?"
"Oh yes, yes, yes." I panted between kisses. "A million times over. Forever and always, yes."