Becoming Mrs. Bryant

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐗

Aubrey

May 3, 2023

"I think someone's knocking on the front door" Nova said as she, May, and I had been sitting in the kitchen, listening to May rant about Lewis for like the 6th time this week. They were doing so good, now they're like, all pissy with one another 24/7.

"I'll get it" May suggested, and I waited for her to leave before turning to my wife.

"We need to get her a new man" I whispered to Nova, who seemed to disagree. "What?" Nova whispered back, "hell no Aubz! We did not go through all of that just to be at square one again."

Before I could say anything else, May came back into the kitchen with Hailey. "Surprise surprise!" Hailey beamed, hugging both Aubrey and I. "Did I miss much?" Everybody shook their head "no."

"Care to tell us why you basically fell off the face of the earth for like, two weeks?" Aubrey asked, "did you go through some spiritual awakening or something? Did some one die?"

"Almost," Hailey mumbled, but everybody caught it.

"Who?" Nova asked, "Zach?"

"Nah" Hailey replied, "his best friend."

"That kid you fucked?" Nova attempted to clarify.

Hailey nodded, "yeah, him."

"What happened?" May asked, "sickness?"

"I stabbed him" Hailey casually informed us, looking at everything but us.

"What?!" everybody except Hailey asked in unison. "What do you mean you stabbed him?" I questioned, "how are you like, not in jail? What even happened?"

"Well, that's why I was MIA" Hailey informed me. "I was in and out of interrogation rooms. Eventually, and rather quickly, it was decided that the stabbing had been an act of self defense."

"Oh," Nova voiced, "so he attacked you?"

"Kind of, shoved me, but yeah. The stake knife that I used to stab him with was Maddie's. I used to it flip over a dead bird not too long before I used it on Derek. I hope he doesn't have bird guts lodged inside him somewhere." I literally gagged.

"Please tell me you're not giving Maddie that knife back" May said, "she's been through enough trial and tribulations Hailey."

"I'm not," Hailey insisted, "it's in the police's possession now anyways."

"Hey guys" Nick greeted us as he, Jason, and Lewis entered the kitchen. I swear, I need to reconsider this whole "letting them have a spare key" idea.

"Hey y'all" I greeted, and Nova waved. May didn't do anything, which I suspect was due to her weird relationship with Lewis, and Hailey looked worried. "How much of that did you hear?" Hailey asked.

"Uh, I didn't hear anything" Nick replied, looking back at Jason and Lewis. "Did you?"

"Nah" Lewis said, and Jason shrugged. "I didn't care enough to listen Hailey" he said. "You're good."

"Anyways" Nick continued, "there's this dance-a-thon thing that coach Latrell is a part of. We'd like you guys to join." I nearly snorted.

"Me? Dance-a-thon? Yeah right."

"Oh come on Aubrey!" Nick groaned, "Jason, Lewis, and I have no choice. We figured it would be a little more fun with you guys there." I folded my arms, "why do you have no choice?" I asked.

"Well, I'm sure we do and coach is just desperate" Nick replied, "I don't know. All I know is that he gave us this long talk in his office today, claiming that he did us a huge solid by allowing us back on this team. Apparently, it's now our turn to return the favor or something."

"That's pretty fair," Nova said, and I unintentionally rolled my eyes. "That bald bastard is practically exploiting them" I replied to my wife, defending the boys. "He's lucky I don't feel like ruining his life today, I've still got that recording on standby. But to take the adult root of things, I think the guys should just boycott."

"See, I cannot take that risk" Jason confided, "regardless of what anybody else in this room does. Getting back on that team was a hassle, we narrowly made it. I'm sure that our plan with Aubrey pretending to be a solicitor freaked Latrell out a ton. With that being said, this is the least we could do." Lewis and Nick's facial expressions showed that they both agreed with Jason's stance.

"Alright" I gave in, "I guess I'm in."

"Great!" Nick beamed, "Nova? They do a couples column and I already entered you and Aubrey."

"What?!" Nova and I both exclaimed, standing up.

"Nick, you can't just do that!"

"Well, it seems like I can, because I did."

"What's the big deal?" Lewis asked, "you two are still married, right? Barely anybody even knows about you guys' problem. Just dance and make people that much prouder of you two." I smiled.

"Are you gonna dance with May?" Nova asked Lewis, and May groaned. "Nova!"

"If she doesn't find it too offensive," Lewis began, "I'd love to." May scowled, "offensive? Please. I've already seen the worst from you, I don't think anything else could 'offend' me at this point."

Just when I thought they were getting somewhere.

"This is what I mean when I say 'offensive.' You're so bothered at everything that comes from my mouth, that you don't even realize you're doing it" Lewis told his possibly (at this point, who the fuck knows?) girlfriend. "I don't wanna do this right now May, can we just be happy?"

"Sure." May said as she pushed hair behind her ear. A moment of silence passed as awkward looks bounced around the room.

"I stabbed somebody!" Hailey blurted, as if it were something that she was dying to get off her chest.

Nick made a little gasp noice, Jason squinted his eyes a little, and Lewis raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you didn't want us hearing?" Jason asked.

Hailey nodded.

"But it's okay!" She assured immediately after. "Because I narrowly avoided jail. I'm a free woman."

"Might wanna bubble wrap all your utensils Nova" Lewis joked, "we've got a hash slinging slasher on the loose." Everybody let out a laugh.