on the road and not on Ella. She’s sitting beside me, looking out of the window. Sometimes she hums along to a tune playing on the radio. Now that we’re outside the city limits, she’s rolled her window down and her curls blow in the breeze lightly. She’s too darn beautiful.
I feel like we’re headed towards something that is going to flip my whole life over. I still can’t get over how unreal this whole thing feels. I’m going to meet someone who is actually related to me. People I share my genes with. I’m going to visit the town my dad grew up in. Matthew’s claim that my mom might still be alive sounds bizarre. But not impossible.
I was never given any information about my family by the social services or my foster parents. Eventually, I stopped asking. Maybe if I pushed harder back then, maybe if I didn’t take no for an answer, I could have done this sooner.
I hear Ella humming again, and her presence brings me back to Earth. Grounds me. Why did I convince her to pretend to be my wife?
The same reason why I got Tom to arrange this car for me. I want my family to see me as normal. I don’t know who they are, what they want. Besides, I want to keep her close to me. I want her to be there with me when I meet the family, and I want them to feel comfortable around her.
I don’t know what I’m going to say to them eventually, but right now, this works. I got her to come along with me, and that’s all that matters.
“Check the glove box,” I say when I remember.
She glances at me and then looks in there. There’s a blue velvet bag, which she pulls out.
“Wedding rings. I got Tom to arrange them last night. Try it out. I hope it fits,” I say. I’m not looking at her, but I can sense some apprehension. Eventually, she slips the ring on, and I take the one meant for me. It’s a simple gold band.
“It fits fine,” she says, and I look at her hand. The ring suits her. It looks like she’s always been wearing it.
“Reed, I really hope you find what you’re looking for this weekend,” she says abruptly. I nearly swerve on our path when I hear those words. She’s taken me by surprise after all this time of silence.
“Yeah, I hope so too. If I can figure out what exactly I want,” I reply.
She smiles lightly at me, and I look back at the road.
There is one thing I know I definitely want, which I don’t know if I can have: this sexy, perfect girl sitting beside me, pretending to be my wife for the weekend just because I said so.
Ella helps me with directions through the small town of Bridgeville until we finally arrive at the driveway of a two-storied house. I park on the other side of the road and we both just stare at the house in silence.
It looks normal. So normal. Yard out in the front, a children’s swing hanging between two trees. A freshly painted red door and a silent porch. I realize I’m still gripping the steering wheel quite hard. Ella says nothing. She’s giving me time. She doesn’t want to push me, but I know I need to do this. Just suck it up.
There’s a chance nobody is home, but I can see two cars in the driveway.
Ella and I get out of the car and cross the road. Up the driveway we go, looking around us suspiciously. From the expression on her face, I can tell she’s nervous. I don’t know what I’m feeling exactly.
I knock on the door hard before I can change my mind. Feet shuffle inside and then the door is pulled open. I still have my sunglasses on, so I know the man can’t really see my face. I have never seen him before, and yet I feel that he’s familiar to me in some way.
He looks confused and about to say something until he sees Ella beside me.
“Oh. Ella!” he exclaims.
“Hi, Mr. Silvers,” she says, and there’s almost a note of apology in her voice.
He looks at me again; this time, his eyes are open wide. I gently move my sunglasses up my forehead so he can see my eyes. We have the same ones. They’re the same color of blue.