The Accidental Marriage: Chapter 37

I nudge my wife, who’s resting on her side, then nuzzle her neck. She raises her shoulder, then pulls the sheet all the way to the base of her skull.

“Come on, babe.”

“Don’t you come on, babe me,” she says, her words sluggish with sleep. “I’m tired.”

“We gotta celebrate your victory.”

“Which we did last night. Twice. And again just an hour ago.”

“Well, yeah. But I think it deserves at least one more encore.”

“No.” She buries her face in the pillow. “Besides, I want to do something other than just thrash around in bed all day, as fun as that sounds.”

“Like what?”

“I want to go to an amusement park.”

“You… What?”

“An amusement park. You know, a place with a haunted house and roller coasters and stuff.”

“I know what it is. Why?” Amusement parks are my idea of a nightmare. Strapped to a machine that doesn’t give a shit about gravity that you can’t control and hope for the best. No thanks. My aversion grew stronger after the firm took on a massive liability suit against one because five people died from willful negligence.

“Because I’ve always wanted to go and ride a roller coaster when I was finally completely free from Doris. Please?”

When she flutters her eyes like that, I can’t say no. “Okay.”

“Awesome. You’re the best.” All of a sudden full of energy, she throws the sheets back and hops out of bed. Perhaps she feels like a brand-new person after her shitty aunt and her family went to jail. Along with that fraudster Parker Jacoby. I make a mental note to see if I can acquire The Girl on the Beach somehow. Which then leads me to remember…

“Hold on a sec. Aren’t we forgetting something?”

She stops at the door to the bathroom. “What?”

“You have to rub me like a genie to get your wish.”

She laughs. “Afterward! I promise!”

The infectious sound makes me laugh too. We get ready, and I drive us to Magic Mountain, since she specifically mentioned roller coasters.

The noise, crowd and the long wait times make me realize why in the movies rich guys rent out the park for the whole day. I’m already not a fan, and having so many people around with the cacophony everywhere gives me a headache. The only reason I don’t turn around and leave is the joy on my wife’s face.

She stares up at the crazy roller coasters and tugs at my sleeve. “Come on! Let’s ride that one!”

“Um.” I press my lips as shrieks pierce the air with the massive dip of the machine. “You sure?”

“Of course! We didn’t come here just to watch. Let’s go!”

I look at the machine dubiously. Intellectually I understand it’s probably safe enough. The liability case was an exception, not the norm. But I hate the lack of control. The inability to jump and save myself and my wife if something goes wrong because we’re so high in the air.

Come on. You can do this for her.

The safety mechanism pins us to our seats. I hold Lareina’s hand. It’s surprisingly dry and warm, while mine is embarrassingly clammy. She smiles at me. “You can squeeze your eyes shut and scream. I won’t tell anybody,” she whispers.

“No. I’d never,” I scoff.

She just nods with a big grin.

The roller coaster begins to move. Slowly at first, to lure the passengers into complacency. Then with more speed, along with maddening twists and turns that make me think my brain’s about to fly from my skull. I hate the way it climbs high, then drops like the track just ended—even though in my head, I know it didn’t. My heart pumps like I’ve run three marathons.

I peek at Lareina. She has her eyes squeezed shut, but she’s grinning. Then, during the final dip, she covers her face. I pull her close. She must be scared. Even though my stomach is dropping just like the ride, I try to lend her my strength.

Something damp soaks my shirt. I pull away and see tears streaking her face. I hold her tight, feeling like a failed husband for exposing her to something scary like this. Even though she said she wanted to do it, I should’ve said no for her sake.

When the ride stops, I manage to climb out fast despite the shakiness of my limbs, then help Lareina out. She collapses into my arms, then buries her face in my chest.

“Hey, it’s fine,” I murmur, stroking her hair soothingly. “I got you.”

I don’t know how long we stand there. But from the way her shoulders shake, she’s obviously overcome with strong emotion, although she isn’t shedding any more tears.

Wordlessly I pick her up and carry her away from the ride. She loops her arms around my neck, then lets out a sigh. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For coming here with me. The last time I went to an amusement park was when I was little, with my parents. I remember being upset because I missed out on so many rides—I was either too young or too small. I think I spent most of my time pouting.”

I picture her as a little kid with her mouth pursed and sticking out. “You must’ve been adorable.”

She laughs. “I doubt my parents thought that. But I promised myself that we’d have another family outing at an amusement park when I was big enough to ride everything. It’s just that I didn’t get to until now.” She smiles at me, her eyes glowing softly. “I wasn’t free of Doris, but more importantly, I was alone, without a family of my own.”

Her softly spoken confession clenches my heart. Family. The word sounds unbearably sweet. I look at the woman who’s survived so much. “I’ll always be your family. Always,” I vow.

The smile she gives me is brilliant, but tinged with sadness. Perhaps she’s thinking about her parents. It breaks my heart that she didn’t grow up with their love.

I give a determined stare at one of the bigger and crazier roller coasters, then squeeze my wife. “The day’s still young. We’ll ride every damn coaster in the park.”