SEAL of Approval

by Lynn Faye

  “We should get going. I think that would be a good idea.”

  He shook his head to deny that my idea was good.

  “I think we have some time.”

  “Nope, we should get going.”

  I couldn’t help smiling as he lay next to me, though. We hadn’t come all the way from Chicago to play in a hotel bed, though.

  “Go call them so we know when to be over there,” I motioned toward his phone he had set on the desk.

  “Yes, Mrs. Graham,” he teased.

  I finally lay back onto the bed as he went to the desk to make his call. Wow, this was going to be one hell of a weekend if the sexual tension between the two of us stayed this high. I could hardly imagine keeping my hands to myself once we were back in the room after visiting his daughter.

  “Hi, Mrs. Edwards, we just landed. What time would work best for us to stop by?”

  There was a long pause.

  “We will be right over,” Devin said as he shrugged over toward me.

  “I guess we better get going. I’ve got an acting gig,” I teased and jumped out of bed.

  “Apparently, we need to come now so we don’t interrupt Izzy’s bedtime routine.”

  “Devin, it’s fine with me. I’m all yours this weekend. Wherever you need me, I’m there.”

  “Wherever?” He smiled and looked over toward the large bed and then back at me playfully. “I’m teasing.”

  He grabbed the room key, and we made our way back down the long hallway toward the glass elevators. This time, both of us walked silently. I played over what I would say when I met his daughter and her grandparents. This all seemed like a bigger deal than it had been when I originally said yes. My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt my head getting a little dizzy as I tried to remember to take in some deep breaths.

  Devin reached his hand over and gently held onto mine. Without a single word, I felt his comfort through the touch of his fingers and mine together. We both stood and looked out the glass elevator toward the water and rode in silence all the way back down to the ground floor.

  It dawned on me that this was my first real adult date. My ex-boyfriend and I had been college kids. We didn’t go on dates in the traditional sense. Instead, we went to pizza with our group of friends or sat on the couch and watched Netflix together. Even when he had first asked me out, it was to a concert with a bunch of our friends.

  I wasn’t as nervous about the date part as I was about meeting Devin’s daughter, though. Everything I’d heard about little kids was that it was impossible to lie to them. Kids could see through a story, and they knew the truth, even if you weren’t telling them the truth. I had seen it on some PBS show and couldn’t exactly remember what the news story had been about, but I did remember the newscaster saying that adults always thought they were tricking kids.

  “Izzy’s grandparents are Bonnie and Dan, but I just call them Mrs. And Mr. Edwards. You can use either.”

  “I’m going to try not to talk to them much at all.”

  “That’s fine. And if it’s alright, I’ll probably hold your hand a little while we are in there.”

  “Yes, that’s fine,” I said and looked down at our hands as they were wrapped together still from the elevator ride.

  “Um, there’s probably a lot more, but I guess we will have to wing it. Wow, I’m getting nervous now.”

  We pulled out of the hotel parking lot, and Devin made his way onto the highway and toward the Edwards’ home. The two of us were mostly silent on the drive except for when Devin pointed out the mall that we passed as we got closer to where we were going.

  “That looks nice,” I said to try and make some conversation.

  “Yep, we should have time to stop by afterward.”

  “Sounds good.”

  When we finally pulled into the driveway, Devin’s hands were shaking instead of mine. He even had a few beads of sweat around his temple. I grabbed a Kleenex from my purse and gently dabbed his forehead.

  “Are you ready?” I asked.

  “I think so.”

  He climbed out of the car and then hurried around to let me out of my side. Devin gallantly held his hand out for me, and I grabbed hold of him as we walked toward the front door. I think Devin was even more nervous than I was, and I was the one who had to pretend to be someone I wasn’t.

  “Daddy!” Izzy screamed and darted out the front door before we even had a chance to knock.

  I let go of Devin’s hand and stood aside while the two of them had a moment together. One thing was for certain, Izzy was pretty darn excited to see her dad. I couldn’t even imagine that she had ever had any problems interacting with her father before. She seemed overjoyed to see him, and nothing else mattered at all. Izzy certainly hadn’t noticed that I was even there as she wrapped her arms around Devin, and I noticed tears in her eyes.

  “She’s had a rough couple of weeks since Ashley has been away,” Mrs. Edwards said as she stood in the doorway.

  “Hi, I’m Lilli, it’s nice to meet you,” I said as I went over to talk to her and continued to give Devin and his daughter time.

  “It’s nice to meet you too. I have to say I’m not sure who I was expecting Devin to bring, but you look like a very nice young lady.”

  “Thank you.”

  “How long have you two been married?” she asked.

  Right away I panicked as I didn’t know if Devin had told her a time frame or not. Luckily, Devin also heard the question and quickly made his way over to the two of us.

  “Izzy, this is Lilli. I’m so excited that the two of you get to meet,” he said and then leaned into Mrs. Edwards. “I think we should let the girls meet first before we overwhelm Izzy with all the details.”

  “Sure,” she agreed.

  “Hi Izzy, it’s nice to meet you. Your dad has been talking about you a lot.”

  “That’s funny because I know nothing about you,” she said as she put her little hands on her hips and gazed in my direction.

  I opened my eyes wide, looked at Devin and then back to Mrs. Edwards. It was definitely a true statement; I couldn’t fault her for that.

  “Well, I guess he needs to catch you up a little.”

  “Sweetheart, I’d love to see your room,” Devin said in an effort to save me from the uncomfortable conversation.

  “Would you like to help me in the kitchen?” Mrs. Edwards offered me.

  “Yes, that would be great.”

  Hanging out with an adult who didn’t like me somehow seemed more comfortable than a ten-year-old girl. Izzy was intimidating. Probably because she held Devin’s heart in the palm of her hands, and I had really hoped she would like me.

  I followed Mrs. Edwards into the kitchen where she was cutting up a variety of fruit. The kitchen was small but filled with newer appliances. There was a large picture of a beautiful young blonde with fake boobs and obvious plastic surgery; she had Izzy in her arms. It had to be Ashley, and I was instantly even more intimidated than I had been before.

  It wasn’t unusual that Devin would have had a relationship with a beautiful woman. That was a given, but Ashley appeared very fake with her caked on makeup, Botox, and lip plumper. She just didn’t seem like Devin’s type. But then again, maybe that was why they were no longer together.

  “I don’t think Izzy likes me,” I said to make conversation as Mrs. Edwards handed me a knife and a cantaloupe to start cutting.

  “She’s just a little sassy. It’s nice to see she was excited about Devin. You know he hasn’t come to see her very much.”

  “I know.”

  “Of course, we didn’t expect him to come visit. He’s very busy with his work and his travels, that’s why Ashley left him. No time to stop partying and spend time at home with his family.”

  Mrs. Edwards seemed like a nice enough women, but the way she was bad mouthing Devin wasn’t sitting well with me. From what I knew, she hadn’t spent any quality time with Devin in years. Of course, he was a different person now t
han he was ten years ago; weren’t we all?

  Well, technically I was an awkward pre-teen ten years before. I couldn’t help chuckling at that notion. I was basically in the middle school when Devin and Ashley were having Izzy. I wasn’t sure if Devin wanted me to say my real age though because it seemed like his daughter and her family might not take our relationship seriously if they knew just how young I really was.

  “I know Devin really missed Izzy, but he wanted to abide by Ashley’s wishes.”

  “What wishes?” Mrs. Edwards asked me firmly.

  I panicked at the way she was looking at me. I could have sworn that Devin said something about Ashley not wanting him to be around Izzy or something like that, but by the way Mrs. Edwards was looking at me, I wasn’t sure I should say anything.

  “Oh, I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Devin,” I finally managed to say. “All I know is Devin is a great guy; he’s really changed from what I’ve heard about his younger days.”

  “Speaking of young, how old are you?”

  Lying had never been my thing. Even when I was sneaking out of my parents’ house as a teenager, I inevitably told them where I had gone if they simply asked me a question. I was a horrible liar. How could I have thought I would be able to help Devin with this whole acting thing? I stared at Mrs. Edwards and tried to think of something honest I could say.

  “Obviously I’m younger than Devin, but let’s be honest, he was a big kid himself up until a year ago.”

  Mrs. Edwards laughed, and I felt a little more at ease. We continued cutting up fruit and talking while Devin and Izzy played in her room and then went out into the backyard and played. It was nice to see that Izzy was so excited to see Devin, and he didn’t have anything to be worried about in regards to their relationship.

  “So do you think you guys would like to take Izzy for the night? I’m sure she would love to hang out at the fancy hotel and go swimming in that rooftop pool.”

  “Really? Yeah, I think Devin would love that.”

  “How about you guys eat some dinner, and then we will pack an overnight bag for Izzy. She needs some fun; it’s been very hard for her having her mother away.”

  “I’m sorry about that. I’m sure it is very difficult for her. I can’t even imagine.”

  “You know, Ashley isn’t a bad person.”

  I stopped cutting the fruit and turned toward Mrs. Edwards. Sadness filled her eyes, and I instinctively reached out and gave her a hug. No matter what was going on with Devin and Mrs. Edwards daughter, the necessary human emotion of comforting someone in pain was clearly there between the two of us.

  “You know, I’ve never heard Devin say a single bad thing about Ashley. From what I’ve heard, he thinks she is a really good mother and trusts her ability to raise Izzy.”

  Tears rolled down Mrs. Edwards face as she finished hugging me and then pulled away. She turned away and wiped her tears without saying another word. I could only hope that my words had felt truthful to her because they were the truth; at least from what I knew of Devin.

  Devin and Izzy played out in the backyard for almost an hour before Mrs. Edwards called them in to come and eat. The two literally hopped all the way inside and to the sink to wash their hands. I couldn’t help smiling at how at ease the two of them seemed to be after such a long period of time apart.

  “After dinner, if it’s alright with your father, I think you should go with him and Lilli to the hotel and swim in the really cool pool there,” Mrs. Edwards said to Izzy as she scooped some mashed potatoes onto her plate.

  “Really?” She looked to Devin for an approval, and he looked toward me.

  I nodded my head yes and even caught a smile from Izzy before she turned back to Devin.

  “Yep, I think that will work.”

  “And you guys can bring her home in the morning after church if that works for you?” Mrs. Edwards added.

  Church? I hadn’t even gone to church with my parents in the last three years. I wasn’t so sure I was ready to go with a fake husband and his child. Even though I wasn’t a religious person, walking into church in the midst of such a big lie seemed a little like taunting God.

  “That sounds great, thank you,” Devin said to Mrs. Edwards. “We will have her home by noon.”

  “Really? I get to come,” Izzy screamed as she jumped up and hugged Devin. “I’m going to go grab my swimsuit.”

  Izzy started to leave the table, but Mrs. Edwards put a stop to her excitement fairly quickly.

  “Izzy, get back to your seat. It’s dinner time. You can pack your things when you have finished what’s on your plate.”

  The firm tone of her voice caught me off guard, but Izzy listened to her right away and sat back down in her seat. She didn’t seem upset by the rule that was set for her either. Instead, she simply started to eat her dinner quickly so she could go do what she wanted. It was a small peek into what it would someday be like to be a parent. Setting rules and enforcing them wasn’t something I was prepared to do at this point in my fake marriage to Devin, though.

  After dinner, Devin and I sat on the couch while Mrs. Edwards helped Izzy pack a small backpack with her things. It all felt so grown up as we walked back out to the car and loaded in to head back to the hotel. I was no longer just pretending to be Devin’s wife, but I was also pretending to be a step-mom. The lie was starting to give me an upset stomach. Lying to a grownup was something I was alright with, but lying to Izzy wasn’t sitting well with me.

  “Should we stop at the mall so you can get an outfit?” Devin asked as we got on the interstate.

  As much as I didn’t want to spend any of Devin’s money, I hadn’t gotten my paycheck before I left Chicago, and I did need something to sleep in and something to wear the next day.

  “Sure,” I answered.

  “I’ll give you my credit card, and you can run in and grab what you need. Will that work?”

  “Um, no. I don’t want your credit card,” I protested.

  Devin looked at me and then clearly looked back at Izzy as if to tell me not to protest his offer in front of his daughter. I had no choice, so I agreed.

  “Okay, sorry,” I said.

  It only took me about twenty minutes to run into the mall and get back to the car. I grabbed a casual pair of jeans, some leggings, and a T-shirt. I figured I could mix and match them as needed to get through the evening. I purposely did not get a swimsuit though because I wanted Devin and Izzy to get some time alone in the pool.

  “Here you go,” I said as I handed him back the card. “I spent thirty-three dollars and eighty-five cents.”

  I handed Devin the receipt for what I had purchased, and he laughed at me and then crumpled it up and threw it into the back seat. This made Izzy laugh as it ended up landing right next to her.

  “You don’t need to give me your receipt.”

  “I’m sorry, I just wanted you to know how much I spent so you could balance your checkbook.”

  Devin continued to laugh, and I wasn’t sure what was so funny.

  “I don’t balance a checkbook.”

  “Then how do you know how much is in your account?” I asked.

  It was a genuine question I had. Even if he had a lot of money, I thought everyone balanced a checkbook either on paper or digitally. Obviously, I was young and didn’t know that much about finances, but I knew what it was like to have a bounced check on my bank account, and I didn’t want something like that to happen to Devin because of the money I spent.

  Before pulling out of the parking lot, Devin pulled his phone out and pressed his finger onto the home button. The phone unlocked, and he opened his banking app.

  “I’m not worried about how much is in there.” He laughed and handed me the phone once he had his banking app open.

  The number on the screen took a good twenty seconds for me to register. I counted the zeros and then counted them again. Devin had $87.017.760 in his checking account. The number was beyond anything I had ever seen on a dig
ital bank account app. My personal account had never reached more than $400 at any one time.

  “Oh,” I managed to say as he took his phone back and put it in his pocket.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be cocky. Was that cocky? Sorry.”

  “Ha, well I think that was a little cocky, but I’ll let it slide.”

  “What does cocky mean?” Izzy asked from the back seat.

  Devin and I both widened our eyes in the realization that we certainly weren’t paying attention to what we were saying.

  “It means someone is full of them self or bragging too much,” I said.

  “Oh, what does full of yourself mean?” Izzy asked.

  I pointed to Devin to take this question. I wasn’t about to figure out how to explain that funny little phrase.

  “Um, it means someone who is cocky.” Devin laughed and so did Izzy. “Basically, I shouldn’t have shown Lilli my phone.”

  “Lilli, are you coming swimming with us?” Izzy asked as she quickly changed the subject.

  “I’m not. I’m really tired, so I was going to take a shower and then go to bed. Is that alright? I also don’t have a swimsuit. I forgot to bring mine with us.”

  “That’s fine. Dad, will you throw me up in the air while we are in the pool?”

  “Sure honey,” Devin said, and Izzy finally went silent for a few minutes as we drove the rest of the way back toward downtown and our hotel.

  When we arrived back at the hotel, Devin and Izzy quickly changed into their swimsuits and made their way to the rooftop pool. I was exhausted and didn’t even bother showering as I slipped into my new leggings and T-shirt and climbed into the bed. I moved all the way over to one side of the bed and closed my eyes.

  It was very tiring trying to be something I wasn’t. Everything I did, or said, was replayed in my mind as I tried to get to sleep. Had Mrs. Edwards believed the lie we were portraying? Did Izzy believe us? Did Izzy even understand what being married was or that Devin and I were saying we were married?

  There were so many questions that I didn’t think I was going to be able to fall asleep at all. I tossed and turned for a while, but about thirty minutes after crawling into bed, I finally drifted off to sleep.