I don't know what I was expecting out of the rest of the night, but what I got was a pleasant family barbeque where everyone politely included me in everything and actively tried to make me feel welcome and included. It was almost enough to make me lose my resolve. Maybe it was enough to make me lose my resolve, at least for a minute. But when I woke up the next morning to the sounds of Christopher making breakfast in the kitchen, I was reminded what the deal was here: marriage.

A marriage I neither asked for nor wanted.

The clock's green numbers flashed and switched to 7:52 as my mind ran away without me, thinking of the dark corner of the internet where I'd found the sample contracts. Before I could figure out what I was doing, my fingers were on the mouse, clicking the bookmarked page on my browser.

You are really lucky he didn't look at the bookmarks. Oh no! What if he looked at the bookmarks?

Fortunately, I had named it only "contract terms," so I could probably spin it as an attempt to understand our situation rather than try to get out of it.

"Okay," I said to myself as the sounds of blending from the kitchen secured my solitude. "How do I get out of this?"

Except I can't just type that in or he might notice. So my only option is scrolling through topics like "Does anyone else have this gift clause?" or "Help! Decode my page 312!" until I found one titled: "Whose parents gave them the tasks?"

I was at least three hundred messages deep in the thread when I finally found something useful: the name of a lawyer. Halfway through writing the name on a sticky note, Christopher's head appeared in the doorway. "Hey! You working already? I thought we had a couple weeks off."

His face is so relaxed, body leaning against the door frame, hand gesturing as he speaks.

"No! I'm not working, just catching up on some stuff to do with the move and everything, you know?" Phew, quick lie, Aubrey. I quickly finished scribbling the name on the sticky note and shoved it into the pocket of my pyjamas.

"Okay, take your time. I just came to tell you breakfast was finished. I'll wait for you down there."

"No need, I'm done!" I quickly closed out of the browser and shot up out of the chair to follow him into the hallway and down the stairs.

The smell of pancakes and bacon fills the air before we even reach the dining room, where he has laid out a spread of all my favourite breakfast foods and a huge pot of coffee.

"Are you trying to impress me with breakfast?" I asked without thinking.

"Why? Is it working?"

If I'd stopped to look at him, or consider him at all, I would have surely noticed what I was about to step into when I said, "Maybe a little."

As it was, I only noticed after the words had come out of my mouth. Man, I really hope he does something truly horrible or I'm going to be the massive jerk who strung him along.

He pulled out the chair in front of one of the plates and made an exaggerated gesture with his arm to indicate that I should sit down, so I did, unable to contain the laughter that bubbled up after he pushed in my chair and offered me a napkin as though he were the queen's butler.

When we finally stopped giggling and were nearing the end of our meal, he put his fork down with a clatter. "Okay, so now that we've met my parents, what should we do today? Disarm some nuclear missiles?"

"We do seem well-equipped for such a sensitive mission," I laughed. "But I was thinking maybe I'd just unpack so I can find my things. Maybe you want to cook me dinner?"

"I will clean this mess and make you dinner," he said, picking up his plate and mine. "As long as you promise to put away all of your books so I can quit tripping over them every time I try to use our living room or the front door."

"That's fair. I do have a lot of books."

"That you do," he said, disappearing into the kitchen. Less than a minute later, some dance music is blasting through our speakers and the clanking of dishes indicates Christopher is holding up his end of the bargain.

Because of my unsanctioned activities finding a lawyer this morning, I had to take some time to shower and get ready for the day so by the time I was settled into a comfortable position in front of one of my boxes of books, Christopher was already sitting on the couch with a cup of tea and a small notebook.

Who on earth let me buy this many books? I surveyed the room full of boxes before me all, somehow, labeled with 'BOOKS.'

"You know," I said at the first break in songs, "I could just throw all of these in the ocean and then we wouldn't have to put them away."

"But then you wouldn't have books, and that would be very sad." He looked up from his notebook. "Do you want me to make pork or chicken?"

"Surprise me!" I was going to tell him I like both when my phone started ringing. From the call display I already know who it is, so I slide the phone onto the nearest box and accept the call on speaker. Christopher pauses the music without me having to ask.

"Hey, Mel. How was your honeymoon?" Before she could answer I add, "And before you say anything, you are on speakerphone."

I ripped the tape off the first box and started pulling books out into piles on the floor as Mel told me about the beach and the drinks and their hike down a path that should have been abandoned years ago. Thankfully, she left out the more personal details of what usually happens on a honeymoon. Do people who get married like I did usually go on honeymoons? Is Christopher expecting that? My own body tightens around my lungs like a vice and the room gets fuzzy around me, my skin hotter than the desert at noon.

"Aubrey, did you hear me?" Mel's voice cut through the feeling of cotton in my ears and I took the out she offered me.

"Uh, no. You must have cut out or something. What were you saying?"

Christopher shifts on the couch and I just hope he didn't notice my moment of panic.

"I asked if you wanted to come out with Paul and I tonight. Maybe for dinner?"

Without even thinking I replied, "I just have to ask Christopher. One second," and press the button to mute the call.

"Ooh," she sang through the phone, "you have to ask your husband." If it's possible, the word husband came out even more sing-songey than the rest.

"Christopher, have you started dinner yet?" When he didn't answer I turned to see he had left the couch in the brief moments I'd been talking to Melody.

"Christopher?" I called out, "Have you started dinner?" When I turned into the kitchen, the vegetables littering the cutting board were a clear indication that he had.

"What?" He asked, pulling his headphones down off his ears. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you.I was trying to give you some privacy for your phone call. I know you and Melody probably have a lot to talk about after all of this." He gestured widely to the whole room. I knew what he meant.

"I was just going to ask if you wanted to go out with Paul and Melody," I said, wanting to include him probably out of politeness. He did nothing to deserve any of this, from what I could tell. "But you've clearly started dinner so I'll just tell her we can do it some other time."

And then he hit me with a shocking idea. "Well, if you want, we could just invite them over here. I can easily make enough for two more."

It does seem like the easiest solution, and I do want to see Mel. "Okay, I'd like that," I finally replied, dancing out of the room to take Mel's call off mute.

"Mel, you there?"

"Yeah, so are you coming?"

"Well, Christopher has already started dinner so he wondered if you guys might want to come over here instead?"

Silence filled the line as I waited for her to answer. Finally, after several more attempts to get her attention, I picked up my phone to check it hadn't been disconnected. Right as I'm about to hang up and try again, Melody made a very high pitched squeal into the phone.

"I don't even care what Paul says," she claps and giggles. "I don't even care what Paul says I'm totally coming to your house!" I could hear her ask Paul if he wanted to come after I gave her my address.

"He says yes! We'll be there in thirty minutes!" I couldn't see her, but I could still tell she was bouncing up and down.

Seconds before the line went dead I heard Paul in the background. "There's no way we'll get there that fast!" But Melody just shushed him.

I was excited to see Mel again, but I wasn't sure how I was going to handle entertaining with my new husband without making it blatantly obvious that he was smitten with me and I significantly less so with him. Sorry books, but I think you'll have to wait again. A lot of things to prepare.

I shoved the boxes as far away from the door as I could and made my way back upstairs. If we're having company, I should do my makeup, at least.