Forced Mate

Marriage Act (part 2)

Alex pacing in front of the couch. It's past ten in the night, and Ayu hasn't been home until now. When he landed from the plane two hours ago, he had contacted Ayu and the woman claimed to have left the mall from earlier. Though, he only after four days, Ayu should have been at home and welcomed him.

Not long after, Ayu's car was heard entering the courtyard of the house. Alex is out. He stood in front of the door while leaning against it. Ayu got out of the car with a paper bag and a handbag.

Ayu gave a smile to Alex and went straight in after the man shifted a little to make room. Alex tailed behind Ayu, he was already expecting a hug from his wife.

"I'm so tired," complained Ayu who had been throwing on the sofa, "he said he wanted a massage."

"Did my job grow into a masseuse?" alex asked, she tried to remember since marriage she was not only a driver, she was also a chef and Ayu's nanny. However, it's okay, she can do more for Ayu who is pregnant with her child. He only hoped that a father would gain recognition for his patience in dealing with a pregnant wife.

"You're a versatile husband" Ayu replied.

"Under alluring, versatile?

"So you don't want to?" ask Ayu in a threatening tone.

Alex smiled as he sat on the sofa. He placed both of Ayu's calves on his thighs. The woman was pregnant, after a long walk in the mall must have been very sore legs.

"You don't wear heels anymore, do you?"

Ayu shook her head, in her hand was a TV remote. She enjoys Alex's massage on both her calves as well as a music show on one of the music broadcasts. The show played a song of the '90s, one of Britney Spears' songs. Ayu likes the song so she hums along.

"Show me how you want it to be

Tell me baby because I need to know now, oh because." Ayu Iku sings, even to a high note. Alex just listened while massaging.

"My lonliness is killing me!" Ayu's voice hardened.

"And I." Alex sang as a backing vocalist.

Ayu chuckled softly and continued singing despite a few words left behind. "... I still believe."

"Still believe." Alex the backing vocal looks very much into the song.

"When Iam not with you I lose my mind. Give me a sign...." Ayu grew up on the song, "hit me, Baby, one more time!"

Alex chuckled, then squinted at Ayu. "The passion is very good, lest you are expressing your feelings to me yes, dear!"

Ayu who was still busy singing immediately pursed her lips, just one corner of her upper lip lifted. "Sweetype!"

"Not to be ashamed. Who knows for a few days you miss me so much" Alex said, "Because I honestly miss you so much" he said.

Ayu immediately smiled wryly, but soon she replaced that smile with a sneer, "just keep going!"

"I'm honest, honey! Don't wear the mounds," deny Alex whose hand Tidka song massages Ayu.

"Why stop!" ayu protest.

"Sorry," said Alex, who placed two hands on Ayu's left calf, "see, I even want to massage even though I'm still jetlag."

"Oh, you started the calculation?" todong Ayy.

Alex immediately shook his head. "D-no!"

"Good," Ayu praised, "you are indeed a standby husband."

There was a book on the table that caught Ayu's attention. The cover of the book contains a picture of a red checkered shirt.

"The Expectant Father," read Ayu, "this is your book?" He lifted the book.

"Yes," Alex replied with a small nod, "I've bought two books. I have a lot to learn to be a good father."

I opened a book that spoke English. The book contains many guidelines for prospective fathers, how to accompany a pregnant couple, from the beginning of knowing the pregnancy to the selection of a maternity place and the process, there is even a guide on unexpected costs. Very complete.

"Based on the book, I've mutuskan if later you give birth in a private maternity clinic," said Alex.

Ayu just shrugged, she had not thought that far at all. Sometimes, she just thought about how she could raise her child by herself.

"You want breastfeeding or sufor, honey?" ask Alex.

Ayu thought for a moment, thinking that she was going to breastfeed made her wonder about what it was like to breastfeed.

"Will breastfeeding hurt or just tingly?" ask Ayu who is beginning to be confused.

"I don't have any breastfeeding experience, honey," Alex says, "i don't intend to be experienced in breastfeeding either."

"I'm serious, Lex!" pekik Ayy.

"Enjoying? You're crazy, aren't you?"

"Joking, Babe!"

"Ih, not funny!"

"Well, do you want to practice now?" alex asked who immediately made Ayu snort annoyed, "I can help. Pretending to be a baby is okay, too."

Ayu pulled both of her legs from Alex's lap. He got up and walked into the room. He won't be lured by Alex's unqualified babble.

Alex leaned against the sofa as he stretched his back and arms. His hands ached after massaging Ayu for almost thirty minutes. If she asked Ayu to get a massage, she would definitely refuse for various reasons. Basic romantic, thankfully Alex dear.

A small paper bag containing Ayu's groceries disturbs Alex's mind. Based on the amount of groceries used by Ayu, the woman must not only buy one item. Notification that came in at HP Alex, Ayu shop at two different stores. As for food, Alex isn't too fussy.

Alex frowned when he saw that the paper bag only contained one flat shoes that cost very far from the amount used by Ayu. Is it possible that there are still items in the car that Ayu forgot about?

***

"What?" yell Alex, "you pay for Mami's groceries, while you're just shopping for those cheap shoes?"

"I don't buy anything anymore. It just so happens that Mommy likes the Sling bag and buys it for Reina." Ayu gave an excuse, "lagian stingy, same mom herself as well."

Alex scratched his nape which was not itchy at all. It's not a matter of money, but she just doesn't like it when Ayu pays for Mami's groceries while she herself only buys regular shoes. After all, that kind of money is nothing to Mami.

"The problem is that her husband's money is more than your husband's." Alex gave a reason.

"You want to be a bad boy. That kind of money you can spend in a day, rather than the price of your watch the money I made to pay for Mami and Reina's bag is nothing" Ayu said.

Alex looked at Ayu with a huff. "I want you to shop for yourself. Mommy has her own husband who can meet her needs."

Ayu suddenly lowered her head, she recalled her conversation with Marissa, the moment after the marriage contract, during the reception, also earlier at the Mall. Looking at Alex now, he could tell that the man was not only afraid of strawberries and water, he was also afraid of divorce.

"You brought Mami home too, right? You're pregnant, you're young, you can't drive too long. Mommy's got a driver" Alex scolds.

Compassion in Ayu's heart. Was Alex so sick when her parents divorced that after twenty years had passed she had not been able to forgive them? If Ayu is in his position, maybe he will be angry, but after what Ayu went through, he understands that things do not have to go as desired.

"Do you hate your Mami and your Daddy because they're divorced?" ask Ayu who immediately makes Alex astonished because it deviated too far from their discussion, "that's why you don't want a divorce, right?"

Alex fell silent. He turned his face away, unwilling to look at Ayu. If he recalled the flashbacks of his childhood, yes, he was still angry at his so selfish parents. However, he had already made peace with his past, even though there were many things he could not change.

"It's good not to be together, Lex. Why is it that they don't love each other and end up hurting each other?" ayu explained in the hope that Alex would understand, "they must have a reason. There wouldn't be happiness and warmth in a household without love, would there?"

Ayu explained at length. The woman wants Alex to reconcile with her past, accept reality and get back to her parents.

Alex smiled a little, not a sweet smile of course, more like a sneer. He didn't hate his parents, he loved them, only he didn't know how to express that feeling.

"Darling-," Alex grabs Ayu's one hand from the blanket, "love is just an ornament in a household, as long as the foundation is solid, it will remain firm, he said, no matter if there are ornaments or not. Right, I hate divorce because of them, but that doesn't mean I hate them. Hating someone's actions doesn't have to hate them."

Ayu looked down feeling guilty for her judgment. He doesn't understand Alex. He was just trying to deduce something from what he saw.

"Do you know why they're divorced?" alex asks the real Tidka for an answer from Ayu at all, "because they feel they are no match and feel too different. They are busy with their own world. Sometimes when they go home together, they don't say hello at all. Weird, right?"

Ayu turned to look at Alex who was looking down. In his room, he could not see Alex's tears, but he could hear the man's roar. The wound seemed to still be lodged in Alex's heart.

"Marriage does not work out of love, but commitment. What do you do when your hands bleed?"

"Eh?" Ayu was suddenly confused to hear Alex's question, but she tried to answer, "their bias is directly I suck."

Alex tekekeh, though his voice is still raucous. "That's gonna stop the bleeding, right?"

"I-iya, the patch of wound or bandaged plaster is severe," Ayu added.

"Wounded hands should be treated, not broken. Same with marriage, if the problem is solved the problem, not immediately give up and divorce." Alex analogizes, "the road is not always smooth, Yu, and sometimes that's where the couple's point is. Mutually depend and strengthen each other."

Alex knew that her parents were divorced for one big reason. However, divorce is a very selfish decision. They forget that there is Alex in their midst, that there is Alex who is injured because of their decision.

Ayu approached Alex and grabbed her arm. His head rests on Alex's shoulder. He couldn't imagine how Alex felt just yet, he was still a child and had to bear a very deep wound.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were so hurt because of their divorce" Ayu whispered.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry for making you come into my complicated life" Alex replies, "I hope you're willing to be stuck for a lifetime with me."

Ayu smiled and nodded slowly. This time she stuck her head on Alex's chest after the man pulled her in a hug. Alex likes the warmth and smell of Alex's body, the sweet treatment, the cooking, even his ignorant attitude. Being stuck for a lifetime with a guy like Alex is not a bad idea. Versatile men seem to be rare, that's why they should be well cultivated.

***