#I was gonna write a bit more. with Angie coming home. but I'll save that for another ficlet~

[thelastspeecher]

Ford’s Marriage of Convenience

I was very surprised by how much traction my Marriage of Convenience AU is getting, so I sat down and wrote some more for it.  This particular ficlet, in which Ford explains his situation, takes place immediately following the first one I posted (which you can read here).

Shout-out to the folks on the Discord, who have been helping with the development of this AU, in particular, @nour386, who wrote a version of the second scene in this ficlet.  Y’all rock. 

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              The front door opened.  Stan looked up from Orion and Iris, who he was playing with on the floor.

              “Angie, I’ll make dinner,” Ford started as he walked inside.  “What do you…”  He trailed off at the sight of Stan.  “…Stanley?”

              “Hey, Ford.”  Stan ruffled Orion’s thick, brown curls.  Orion giggled.  “When were you gonna tell me I was an uncle?”

              “I…”  Ford seemed blindsided.  He set down his briefcase.  Stan silently noted that Ford’s sense of style hadn’t changed since the last time he saw his twin.  Ford still wore sweater vests and slacks.  “I wanted to contact you, but you ran away.  No one knew where you were or whether you were even alive!”  Ford shook his head.  “W-why are you here?  Where’s Angie?”

              “Angie’s your wife?”

              “Yes.”

              “I dunno where she is,” Stan said with a shrug. Panic flashed in Ford’s eyes.  “She saw me at the park, chewed me out for not being home, and sent me here.  Guess she thought I was you.”  Iris toddled over to Stan and sat in his lap.  “I figured out pretty quick why she was so pissed.”

              “She’s not here?  She’s supposed to-”  Ford facepalmed.  “Shoot. She had a meeting today, I’d completely forgotten.”

              “Got your schedules mixed up, huh?”  Stan played with Iris’s six-fingered hands.  “Good thing she found me, or your little gremlins woulda spent the day home alone.”

              “Yes, I suppose it’s for the best that you were here.”  Fury suddenly colored Ford’s voice.  “But Angie still sent a stranger to our home!”

              “I’m not a stranger.”

              “She doesn’t know you!”  Ford ran a hand through his hair.  “I’ll have to talk to her about that.”

              “Probably a good idea,” Stan agreed.  “So, are you gonna tell me how you wound up married with two kids?”

              “As long as you tell me what you’ve been up to.”

              “Deal.”

              “First, the children should go down for their nap.” Ford walked over to Orion and picked him up.

              “Dada!” Orion squealed happily.  Ford squeezed his son gently, a soft look on his face.

              “Hello, Orion,” he said tenderly.  He ran his fingers through Orion’s hair.  “Did you enjoy your day with Uncle Stan?”

              “Yeah, about that.”  Stan picked Iris up and stood.  “I told them I was their Uncy Stan, but they were convinced I was you.” As if to prove his point, Orion looked at Stan.

              “Dada!”

              “No,” Ford said gently.  “He’s your Uncle Stan.  I’m your father.”

              “Unc,” Iris chirped.

              “That’s right, Uncy Stan,” Stan said.  He kissed Iris’s cheek.  “Moses, she’s a smart one.”  Ford scowled. “What?”

              “Don’t teach them improper words.  I don’t want their vocabulary to suffer.”

              “How old are they?”

              “They turn two next month.”

              “Yeah, you don’t need to worry about their vocabulary.”

              “Hmph.  I disagree. They’re in their formative years.” Orion began to squirm in Ford’s arms. “We need to put them down for their naps before-”  Orion let out a wail.  Ford sighed. “Too late.”

-----

              After spending what felt like hours settling Orion and Iris for their naps, Stan and Ford walked out the back door.  The backyard was immaculate, with a swing bench on the porch and what would probably be a beautiful garden if it wasn’t February.  Ford immediately sat down on the bench.  Stan followed suit.

              “So…” Stan started.  Ford held up a finger.

              “Just a moment, Stanley.”  Ford reached into his pocket and, to Stan’s surprise, pulled out a cigarette and lighter.  Stan raised an eyebrow.

              “What happened to ‘Those things will kill you, Stanley’?”

              “What happened?” Ford repeated.  He laughed hollowly, lit his cigarette, and took a drag off it.  “I married a woman just to get my family off my back, trapping her in a marriage where I could never love her the way she deserved.”

              “I had a feeling that was what happened,” Stan said, lighting a cigarette of his own.  “But I wouldn’t mind some details.”

              “Very well.”  Ford sighed, a distant look in his eyes, the same dark brown as Iris’s. “Angie and I met each other at West Coast Tech.  We were both social outcasts amongst our much wealthier classmates.  As such, we befriended each other quickly.  Then…”  Ford took another drag off his cigarette.  “Then you ran away.  Shermie was deployed overseas.  And all the attention in our family fell upon me.  I couldn’t handle the pressure.  At every family gathering, I was asked when I would settle down with a nice girl.  It only got worse after Mom and Pops visited me at school and met Angie.  Mom demanded to know why I hadn’t gone steady with the first woman to ever enjoy spending time with me.”

              “She doesn’t know that you don’t like women, huh?”

              “Of course Mom doesn’t know!  I can’t trust her not to tell Pops.”  Ford put his head in his hands.  Light from the sun glinted off his golden wedding ring.  “Angie was facing some pressure of her own from her family.  They didn’t want her to be alone.  I suggested we marry, to get our families to back off.  And, well, she obviously agreed.”

              “That’s a helluva romantic proposal,” Stan said dryly. Ford lifted his head to glare at him. “How’d the kids happen, though?  I’m guessing they weren’t on accident.  You two probably don’t knock boots on the regular, since you’re just friends.”

              “Yes, Orion and Iris were planned,” Ford said quietly.  He took another puff of his cigarette.  “I didn’t want children.  Angie did, though.  She’s always wanted to be a mother.  I’d already taken so much from her, I couldn’t bring myself to deny her children.”  Ford grimaced.  “I didn’t expect twins.”

              “You seem to like them a lot.”

              “Of course I do!” Ford snapped.  “Orion and Iris are my children, Stanley.  I love them with all my soul.  I would do anything for them.”

              “Okay, okay, geez,” Stan said, holding his hands up in defeat.  “I get it. It’s just- you didn’t want them.”

              “Not originally, no.”  A wistful smile played around Ford’s mouth.  “But when I held them the day they were born, I- it was the happiest I’d been since- since I don’t even know how long.  I felt at peace.  Maybe it’s because I had finally accepted my lot in life.  Before Orion and Iris were born, there was the option of divorce.  With the arrival of my children, though, there was no turning back.”

              “Huh.”  Stan took a puff of his cigarette.  He exhaled, smoke pouring from his mouth.  “I gotta be honest, Ford.  You sound kinda miserable.”

              “I’m not.”

              “You sure?”

              “Positive.”  Ford smiled. “I absolutely adore my children. And Angie and I, we’re the best of friends.”  Stan eyed Ford.  He could see through his twin’s feigned happiness easily.

              “If you say so, Sixer.”  Stan frowned thoughtfully.  “Does Angie know?”

              “Know what?”

              “Don’t get cute with me.  You know exactly what I’m asking.  Does Angie know that you’re never gonna love her?”

              “I do love her.”

              “Fine,” Stan said, beginning to get impatient.  “Does Angie know that you’re never gonna love her the way a husband usually loves his wife?”

              “I told her before we got married.”

              “Hmm.”

              “I…”  Ford trailed off.  “I did my best to make it clear.  But I do- I do wonder if I accidentally left some ambiguity that she misinterpreted.”

              “The fact that you two have had sex at least once probably doesn’t help with you claiming you don’t love her in that way.”

              “We copulated for the sole purpose of reproduction,” Ford said tightly, turning red.  “Angie knows that.”

              “Yeah.  But does she know you were probably thinking of some guy the entire time?” Stan asked. Ford turned even redder.  “Which baseball player was it?”

              “I’m- I’m- Stanley, that’s-” Ford started.  Stan snickered, eliciting a glower from Ford. “I’ve told you how I wound up where I am.  It’s your turn to share.”

              “All right.”  Stan ground the butt of his cigarette under his heel.  “It’s not that interesting, but if you wanna know, I’ll tell you.”