The Marriage Contract by Natasha Black (best novels for teenagers TXT) 📕

the emotional moment broken for a breath. I was so happy, but I needed time to wrap my head around it all.

We lingered over breakfast, then said goodbye to my parents before heading home. I was feeling tired after all the excitement and lay down for a short nap. When I woke up, Matt had made my tea and had my medication waiting beside it. I checked the time and realized we needed to get ready for work. Matt and I were both doing the afternoon shift that would get us home at a decent time that night.

Those had come to be my favorite shifts. It was nice to be able to spend time at the bar and do the work I really had learned to enjoy, but still know I was going to get to go home and be in bed when it was still solidly nighttime rather than early morning.

Hannah noticed us come through the door holding hands and smiling and gave us a questioning look.

“You two look even happier than usual. What’s going on?” she asked.

I glanced over at Matt, then back at my cousin. “We had breakfast with my parents this morning.”

I could have told her the entire story including finding out they were in town when they showed up, but the shocked look on her face was worth the blunt announcement and having to go back and recap the entire story.

“You what?” Hannah asked. “Like over a video call? No, that doesn’t sound like your parents.”

We both shook our heads, trying to imagine what it would be like for my parents to just casually pick up doing video chats with people. It was a funny image to say the least.

“That was Matt’s big mystery,” I said.

Hannah looked confused, and Jordan came out of the kitchen. He looked a little taken aback, but also happy, when he saw us there together.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“They are revealing the big mystery,” Hannah said.

The way she said it made me grin. There was absolute seriousness in her voice as she leaned on her elbows on the bar and propped her chin in her hand to look at me through widened eyes.

“I went to Los Angeles,” Matt said. “When I left the bar, I went back home to talk to Chloe. I wanted to try to figure everything out. And when she wasn’t there, I got worried. That’s why I called you, Jordan. But you said she was here, and I knew that meant she was safe. You guys would watch out for her. There was something I knew I needed to do. I should have done it a long time ago. Before we got married.”

He looked over at me and smiled.

“He went to California to find my parents,” I said.

“You did?” Hannah asked, sounding as surprised as I would have expected from her.

“I did,” he said. “I told them about the baby and that they needed to come here and figure everything out with Chloe because the way they had all been treating each other was ridiculous. I might have used some other words.”

I laughed. “Well, whatever he said, it worked. They showed up, and they told me they realized now I’m an adult and they have to treat me like one.”

“Really?” Hannah asked.

I nodded. “I know, it’s stunning. But then this morning before they left to go home, they told me they’re proud of me and want me to go back to school and get my journalism degree. They’re even going to pay for it. Then they told me they’re reinstating my trust fund to make sure the baby has everything.”

“That’s amazing,” Hannah said. “I can’t believe they’re being like that.”

“I can’t either. And it’s all because of Matt,” I said.

“That was incredible of you,” Hannah said to him.

“Good job, brother,” Jordan said. “Way to take care of your wife.”

We looked at each other again, and in that moment, I really understood the silent communication between my parents. Matt and I didn’t need to say anything to each other. We were both at the same understanding.

We weren’t going to tell them. We weren’t going to tell anybody. The reality that our marriage was fake in the beginning was something we would keep to ourselves now and always. There was no need for anyone to know, because it was far from fake now. I loved him so much, and I couldn’t imagine even a day of our lives apart. If I had even the slightest bit of hesitation or questioning before, him taking it upon himself to go all the way to California to find my family and urge us to reconcile took that away.

“So,” Hannah said, straightening up from where she had been leaning and suddenly looking very excited. “Does this mean we get to start planning your reception now?”

We all laughed, and I nodded. “Absolutely.”

“I think we should do it in about a month,” Hannah said. “Your morning sickness should calm down a lot by then. You’ll want to feel better for your celebration.”

We talked about the reception every chance we got throughout the rest of the night. By the time Matt and I were finished with our shift, most of the main elements of the party had been put into place. I was excited about the celebration and really looked forward to spending time in the original bar where it all began.

We were getting ready to leave when Jordan called out to me to come back up to the bar to talk to him.

“I just wanted to let you know I’ve put up the job listing for the cocktail waitress position again. I want to find a replacement for you so you can focus on going to school and being pregnant,” he said.

I grinned so I wouldn’t cry. “Thank you.”

He smiled back at me. “Anything for family.”

Matt took my hand, and we left. It was still early, but we took a long, hot shower, then climbed into bed. We lay there together for the next