Get Married Again

CHAPTER ONE

Get Married Again

Alex stepped into his spacious living room, the floor-to-ceiling windows letting in the soft glow of the evening sky.

He had been away on business for several weeks and was looking forward to seeing his two daughters, Kira and Kyra. They were the only reason he came back to this empty house, to begin with. As he entered, his daughters rushed to him, jumping up and down in excitement, wrapping their tiny arms around him.

"Daddy, you're back!" they exclaimed in unison.

Alex smiled, feeling a sense of warmth fill his heart. "I missed you two so much," he said, ruffling their hair. "Now go and freshen up, dinner will be ready soon."

Kira and Kyra were the little gift Rose left for him, they had to stay with his parents while he was away to take care of his business.

As his daughters scampered off, Alex's parents entered the room, their faces lined with concern.

"Alex, we need to talk to you," his mother said, her voice low.

Alex frowned, sensing that this was going to be a serious conversation. "What is it?" he asked, bracing himself.

"We think it's time for you to get married again," his father said bluntly.

Alex's heart skipped a beat, his mind racing. "What are you talking about?" he said, struggling to keep his voice steady.

"You've been alone for too long, Alex," his mom stated, “You have to move on with your life.”

“I know that, but I'm not ready to move on," Alex insisted. "And even if I were, I wouldn't want to marry someone just because you said so."

"Alex, this is not up for discussion," his mother said sternly. "You need to think about your children's future."

"I am thinking about their future," Alex retorted. "But I don't want to marry someone just to fill a void. I won't do it."

"You have to accept this Alexander, you can't keep acting like this isn't important," his mom went on.

"Your mom is right Alex, we won't make a bad decision for you," his dad buttressed her point.

"And even if this is a bad decision, we will know as time goes on, just get married first, for the sake of your kids," his mom went on.

"Stop," Alex shouted and pulled his suit jacket off, "I don't want to do this, you can't force to get married and you know that," he added and threw the jacket on the sofa chair.

He headed for the kitchen and picked a bottle of water from the refrigerator, "Let's just stop this argument," Alex murmured before pouring down the water.

"You are the one making this an argument Alexander," his mom retorted and moved closer to him, "You have to get married again, I think we've all accepted to this. We all think this is the best for you and the kids," she went on.

"Mom, I can take care of my daughters, I have absolutely no problem with that,” Alex responded, "Kira and Kyra are all I have left since Rose died, the least I can do is take care of them," he muttered.

His wife, Rose died three years back and he had been taking care of the kids on his own since then.

Kira and Kyra were three years old when their mom died, and they had to keep it away from them because of the trauma. Alex would always come up with one excuse or the other whenever the girls ask about their mom.

It was hard to keep assuring them that their mom was going to be back to them while he knew deep down that she wouldn't, he has had to live most of his days in lies.

"There you go, trying to play the victim by bringing Rose's death up," his mom grunted, "You don't understand this but you can only be their dad, you can't be their mom at the same time. You need a wife who would take care of your kids," she tried to persuade him, but it seemed like Alex had already made up his mind.

Alex wasn't going to get married again, not with what happened to Rose. The only way he could feel okay with how Rose died was staying faithful to her forever. He felt like it was the only way she wouldn’t haunt him.

Whenever Alex thinks about it, what happened the night Rose died would always scare him, he felt like one day, just one day everyone would get to know what really happened that night and how Rose died.

In order to avoid that, he would have to stay single, and away from anyone who would try to dig out his past.

"I don't need a wife mom, I'm okay alone, I'm better this way, I can't get married to anyone else, I still love Rose."

"Rose is dead Alex, she is dead and gone," she shouted, "You need to accept that, you can't keep being in love with the dead," Alex’s mom yelled.

They stared at each other for minutes and she could tell that what she said hit him hard.

She moved closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Alex, my son, I know you more than anyone else," she said, in a calm voice this time, "I know what you're going through. It’s okay to still be in love with your late wife, but think about your kids, they need to get the love they deserve, mother's love, you can't give them that," she continued.

Alex didn't say a word, he kept his head down and all he did was sigh after each of his mom's sentence.

"Your dad and I have gotten the right person for this, the right partner for you," she went on, "She is ready to marry you and take care of your kids," she added.

Alex finally looked up at her, "You already found someone?" He asked with my eyes widely open, "How do I know what has happened in the past with this woman, how do I know if she has been involved in something or.."

"What are you saying?" His mom sounded confused and he was also confused.

He was only trying his best to stop them from getting him married to someone else, "I'm not going to get married again," Alex murmured, "What if this woman is after my property? what if she kills me and take away my..."

"Can you just listen to yourself Alex?" His mom cut him off, "Why will she kill you?"

"Haven't you seen cases of partners killing each other?" Alex shrugged.

"Did you kill Rose?," his mom asked and his whole body shook, that was the question He didn't want to be asked.

"What....what do you mean?," Alex stuttered, his body was becoming sweaty all of a sudden.

The secret behind Rose's death was what comes to his mind everytime someone says something about her death, the secret he had been trying to hide for three years, and that was one of the reasons he decided to remain single.

"Yes, did you kill Rose?," his mom asked again, and he soon began to panic, chewing on his lower lips.

Alex was a strong man; everyone would say that, but when it comes to Rose's death, he was the most fragile person.

Whenever He thinks of what could come of him if everyone gets to know what happened that night, He couldn't help but get scared, it must remain a secret for him to remain at peace.

"Come to think of it, you never told us what happened to her and what caused her death," Alex’s mom continued, “You must have do..."

"What...what are you saying mom?” He stepped away from her, "Why...why..why will you..you accuse me of that...do..do you have any evidence?, did..."

"Are you okay Alex?," his mom asked, "Why do you look all tensed?, is everything okay?," she seemed confused because Alex looked so scared.

"I am never getting married to anyone else mom," he stepped farther away from her.

"You will have to do that Alex, your kids needs it," she responded.

"No mom, I'm never going to..."

His dad banged his walking stick on the table, they both stopped our argument and turned to him.

"Alex," he began and moved closer to them, "I'm sorry to inform you but you have no other choice than to accept this," he went on, "The decision has already been made, and you will have to get married to the person we've chosen. The wedding will be in few days, you have no other choice," he added and turned back to the main room.

"But dad, I..."

"No but Alex," he turned back to him, “We didn't say a word to you about this since Rose died, we left you to do whatever you want. Your mom and I thought you were going to move on after some time, but you didn't, so we had to step in," he shook his head, "We've listened to you for the last three years, you will have to listen to us now," he smiled faintly.

"I'm old enough to make decisions for myself dad, I mean you can't..."

"Enough of your talks Alex, you either get married to her or I take back all you have. You know what I can do Alex," he clicked his tongue, "Have a nice time preparing for your wedding," he smiled and walked to the door, "You are getting married again, and that's final," he concluded and stepped out of the house.

Alex knew what his dad could do. He knew he would do anything to make him do what he wants even as a grown up, he could throw him and his kids to the street and leave his with nothing.

Alex would have stood on his stance, but what about his kids?

He was scared that his dad would really throw them out if he doesn’t listen to him.

"You can't avoid it Alex, we've done all the preparations," his mom cleared her throat, "It is for the kids, do it for them if you really love them. They need a mother," she patted him on the shoulder and also walked out of the house.

Alex staggered back as what they said began to ring in his head again, they've made all the preparations even before informing him, why would they even think of that?.

He was broken, and angry at the same time, He could feel his blood boiling, but there was nothing he could do. He wanted to shout out loud, but he couldn't.

Does he even have a choice? Can he go against his father? He would ruin him if I ever tries to do that.

He fell on the dining chair and buried his head in his palms. He was still in love with his late wife, He still couldn't get Rose off his mind. He loved her dearly and he would do anything to still keep her memories alive, but his parents were doing everything to make him forget her.

Aside from being in love with Rose, he wanted to protect himself, and the only way he could do that was not letting anyone know about what happened that night; the night Rose died, that was the only way he could save myself.

He wanted to remain single and alone with just his kids so no one would try to bring up his past, he didn't want anyone to dig up his past but his parents didn't want that.

He was their only child and they wanted to ruin him with the decision they made.

What could he do? I would have to accept it, he would have to get married again, but there was a way to walk out of the marriage without his parents holding him responsible for it.

He had a way out, a way that was quite easy

He sighed and walked to his room, He headed for the bathroom and leaned on the sink.

Hs washed his face, and looked into the mirror as he cleaned my face with a clean white towel, "I will do whatever it takes, I will do anything to keep Rose's place in this house, and in my heart, I'm never going to stay in that marriage," He said to himself and threw the towel on the hanger.