Fake Marriage to a Rock Star: Fame and Romance

by Marian Wilson

  “Of course, I will, Bren.” He held his hand out, grabbing her hand and leading her onto the dance floor.

  Maureen Powers was five-ten without heels, but tonight with her heels on, she was at eye level with her son. “I’m so proud of you and honored.”

  “Honored?”

  “Yes, the woman you chose to become your wife is a woman who’s selfless, dedicating her time and talent to the shaping of young minds. And I’m honored because her chosen career is that of a teacher.”

  He smiled. “Yeah, well, they always say that a man finds a woman who is like his mother. And she is like you in many ways, Mom.”

  Her eyes twinkled in the night. “We were surprised to get that call. But I couldn’t tell you how thankful and humbled we were that you chose to marry her when we could be here.”

  “I didn’t have a choice; I wanted you all here. That was important to me.”

  “Yes, but I know it put a lot of pressure on you to have it in such a short amount of time. Brendan, I want to share something with you.”

  “What’s that, Mom?”

  “Your father’s and my decision to become missionaries was not one that we made easily. And in the beginning we took you and Drew with us, but we struggled. We saw suffering and inhumane treatment around the world, and we knew we could make a difference. But we didn’t want you boys to partake of any unnecessary suffering, so we chose instead to send you back home with your grandparents.”

  “I never held that against you, Mom.”

  “I know that, son. But it was not an easy decision for us to send you home, and to stay away. Every time we had to leave you, I cried the entire flight to wherever our journeys led us. Well, your father and I have had a lot of time to talk and discuss things, and we’re going to retire.”

  “What does that mean?” Brendan asked, slowing down his dance steps.

  “It means that we’re moving back home. We’ll finish the last tour over the next three months, and then we’re returning home. We haven’t had much time to be a part of your later growing years, but we want to be a part of the new family you boys will be building.”

  “I’d love nothing more than that, Mom,” he said, leaning forward and kissing her cheek.

  The song ended, and he returned his mother to his father. Mitchell Powers was a tall, lean man with kind, gentle eyes.

  “I’m assuming by that look in your eyes that your mother told you the news?” His father was an intelligent, kind, and soft-spoken man, despite his towering height of six-foot-four.

  “Yes, she did, Dad, and I couldn’t be happier.” He pulled his father into a hug, and he fought to hold his own emotions back. He had missed his parents so much, and it felt good to have them here now, at the most important moments of his life. Squeezing his eyes tight, he had to block out the tears as he thought back to the countless letters his parents had written while overseas in their painstaking handwriting after having served long days in the field. Letters that they would mail to him and his brother, and they both would store away to pull out when they were missing them or having a rough patch in life. Those letters he still held on to until this day, and he knew Drew did the same.

  A throat clearing behind him, caused him to pull back from his father. Turning around, he smiled at his wife, who stood holding hands with his mother.

  “I hear that the next dance has been reserved for me and some special gentleman tonight. And I choose you,” Ava said, playfully tapping him on the chest.

  Grinning at his parents, he bashfully grabbed Ava’s hand.

  “Son, it sounds like duty calls,” Mitchell said, squeezing Brendan’s shoulder.

  Brendan walked with Ava to the dance floor as the DJ called their names, “Guests, it is my pleasure to present to some of you for the first time and re-present to others, Mr. and Mrs. Brendan Powers!”

  A thunderous applause erupted in the vast ballroom as Max Load took the stage in their suits, each of them holding a glass that they would soon set to the side.

  The soft melody of the tune they created and the lyrics poured through the room, enveloping everyone into the air of romance. Brendan had to admit, Kevin’s deep baritone sounded perfect for the song he had written.

  Casting his eyes back to his wife, he inhaled the sweet scent of Ava’s perfume. It smelled like a touch of Heaven to him. She had changed from her wedding gown into a silk two-piece that fit her body perfectly. The long skirt sported a slit up the back to her mid-thigh. The halter top she wore displayed a sweetheart neckline that beaded in hand-placed pearls like her wedding gown.

  His heart still swelled at the thought of the number of people who had chosen to spend their Christmas with him and Ava. As the two of them danced around the floor without saying a word, his eyes drifted from the number of guests in attendance down to his lovely bride. They would be flying out to Bora Bora in the morning for their two-week honeymoon. But tonight, they planned to stay at The Avalon, an exclusive hotel located in Buckhead.

  Brendan smiled down at Ava as he held her close in his arms while they made their way from one end of the ballroom to the other. He was thinking about all that their future held and looking forward to many years with this woman. Max Load was doing an amazing job with the piece he had written, and he was thankful they had agreed to step in for this one song only, before the DJ took over once more.

  My Home was a song Brendan was inspired to write about the love he had for Ava, and after he wrote it, he realized that he had written it specifically for this night. He hadn’t shared this song with anyone until the week before when he spoke with his band members and they agreed to do it. They had spent hours in rehearsal each day until they all felt they had gotten their performance to where they wanted it to be. And what a performance it was.

  “I’ve never heard this song on any of your albums. Is this going to be on the new album?” she asked, gazing softly into his eyes.

  A cocky grin lifted the corners of his lips. “I don’t know right now. That wasn’t my plan when I wrote it.”

  “Well, what was it?”

  “I wrote it for you. For this night,” he whispered, beginning to sing the lyrics into her ear.

  She gasped softly. Then, “Brendan?”

  He lowered his head to kiss her, loving the taste of that strawberry lip gloss she so favored and the faint hint of cotton candy on her breath. When they ended the kiss, she rested her head on his chest. Not long after, he felt his shirt grow wet underneath him and knew he had provoked her to tears.

  “You have given me so many gifts, Bren. I don’t think I deserve the goodness you share with me.”

  “Why not? I treasure you, Ava. You’re so perfect in so many ways, and I didn’t realize until I had to return to New York that my life was not complete without you. I took a pledge to you today to bring happiness into your life, and that I would spend the rest of my life cherishing everything about you. You’re my heart, my love, and my soulmate. There’s nothing that’s too good for you.”

  She held her head up, leaning back slightly to catch his eye. “See, you say the sweetest things,” she said, growing emotional again.

  Brendan chuckled and dipped his head down to kiss her. “I love you, sweet Ava. I love you forever.”

  15

  Epilogue – Fourteen Months Later

  “Can you guys please move that light this way just a little?” Victor, the music director called out, pointing towards the rose bushes. “Just another quarter of an inch… Perfect!” he shouted, clasping his hands together.

  Brendan watched as everyone was repositioned to where their scene would be shot, anxiously anticipating their turn to be featured in the video. Then his gaze turned to Ava, who sat just a few feet away from him, having her hair styled, while the makeup artist applied blush to the apples of her rounded cheeks.

  It still amazed him how simple, sweet Ava had taken to all of this rather easily. He chuckled to himself when he recalled the first time he had told her everything that we
nt into a photo shoot, and how she had been beside herself until she saw the outcome.

  Now, she sat in her chair like an old pro, chatting with the team as though she did this every day. A small flutter of activity caught his eye as he watched his mother-in-law and his mother scurry to the side. Reba was pointing at her prized rose bushes, excited that they had their own special lighting. When she caught him watching her, she smiled, blowing kisses his way.

  And then there was his mother. She and his father had become an instrumental part of their lives now that they had returned. He was becoming closer with them every day.

  “All right, places, everyone!” Victor called out.

  Kevin leaned against a tree with his foot planted against the base of it. Tyler stood by a swing set chatting with Misty and Nick’s four-year-old daughter, Christina, and Dylan’s arms were crossed as he faced a young teenage girl with a set of keys in her hand.

  Towards the rear of the yard on a gazebo, Stephen was dressed in a tux holding the hand of a young woman who appeared to be close in age to him, wearing a bridal gown.

  “Ready?” Victor called again.

  The cameras began rolling as Stephen and the young woman held hands in front of a minister who had recently took his place on a gazebo. The music played as Brendan sang the words to their latest song, All These Years. He looked to the side, seeing Ava where she now stood in the doorway behind him, fighting back tears.

  He continued to watch her as he sung rather than focusing on the video shoot. There were several takes before his turn finally came, and when it did, everything seemed to flow effortlessly without any re-dos at all. It was easy, because it was his life.

  Ava who had disappeared back behind the kitchen door now stepped forward, standing near where Brendan was kneeling in front of her mother’s rose bushes. He had pruning shears in his hand and was carefully clipping some roses the way his mother-in-law had taught him. It took everything within him not to laugh when he thought back on the lessons she had given him. Patiently and with love she had spent two weeks teaching him how to cut one-quarter to one-half an inch above the small bump where a leaf would meet the stem. He recalled she had called it an outward-facing bud eye.

  But at Ava’s light tap on his shoulder, he forgot about his mother-in-law’s lessons and instead set the pruning shears on the ground beside him. Turning to face his wife, his hands lifted to caress her slightly round baby bump. It had just grown to the point where she was showing through her clothes.

  This song and video were his way of announcing her pregnancy to the world. He rubbed his hands over her swollen stomach, and then slightly lifted her shirt to expose her beautiful belly. It was the most glorious thing he had ever seen, and he never stopped being fascinated by the life growing inside.

  Ava was five months pregnant now, and they were expecting a baby girl in May, exactly a year after Keith and Roxanne’s son had been born. He sang to the little girl growing inside of his wife’s womb and then kissed her belly. The little flutter of movement had he and Ava smiling at one another, now both in tears driven by pure emotion, as the director ensured the camera was focused in on that moment.

  After a small break, the video resumed, and Brendan stood to the side, watching as each of his band members re-enacted a stage in his future life. Tyler pushed Christina on the swing, who represented Brendan and Ava’s future daughter. Dylan lectured the teen version of their daughter about driving safety, and Kevin gave stern warnings to a young man about dating his daughter. Each of his band members had been made up in wardrobe and makeup to look like some future version of Brendan.

  It was the end of the video that was emotionally touching to both him and Ava, as they stood to the rear of the yard, her encircled in his arms. Her parents’ back porch had been extended by fake construction to give the view of a much larger porch than they had.

  Sitting on a porch swing rocking back and forth, holding hands were Misty and Nick. Her head rested on her husband’s shoulder and his left arm curled around her. They smiled and talked, as they reminisced on earlier years. They both wore grey wigs, and Nick had even donned a fake grey mustache, shaving his beard for the occasion. The two of them really looked like older versions of him and Ava. He was pleased at the job the director and the video production team had done.

  Brendan knew there would be several rounds of edits before the final product was complete and ready for viewing. He also knew that he would be part of the editing process, some of his suggestions taken into consideration while still others were not. But at the end of the day, the story they would tell would be unique to his and Ava’s life and the plans they had for their future. He couldn’t be prouder of the journey he had chosen and the woman by his side to share this journey of love.

  THE END

  Preview: Hearts in Georgia Series

  A Family for Christmas

  1

  “Those boxes belong in the living room. And the ones marked with the green tape go in the kitchen,” Lysander Wright said, wiping his forehead with an old, grey shirt he’d pulled from his suitcase just a minute before. It was not doing a whole lot to combat the sweat. The humidity was high, even for the second week of October, but he had to keep reminding himself that he was in eastern Georgia now, not back in Seattle where it was probably fifty degrees and raining.

  He ran his fingers through his dark blonde hair, which was getting a little too long for his liking. He’d have to remember to find the time to get it cut before he went back to work.

  “Careful, that has my daughter’s doll collection in it,” Lysander said, stepping in front of one of the movers he’d hired to help them unpack their U-haul. He took the pink storage bin off the stack that was being loaded onto the rolling dolly and turned to carry it himself. He shook his head as he stepped into the kitchen through the garage. He’d hired these guys to make his life easier, not more stressful.

  “Daddy, Daddy!” came a small voice from the living room.

  Lysander looked up and saw a pair of blonde pigtails flying behind the smiling seven-year-old girl running at him. He grinned, opening his arms as she jumped at him. He twirled her around and around in the middle of the kitchen before plopping her back down on her bright blue sneakers.

  “Daddy, did you see me swinging?” she asked, her blue eyes widening as she gazed up at him.

  He frowned, ruffling her hair. “No, sweetie, I’m sorry. I’m trying to help these men get our truck all unpacked so we can really move in.”

  The girl deflated a little, her pigtails swinging as she shook her head. Lysander realized they were a little off kilter, one sitting higher than the other behind her head. No matter how many times he practiced, he wasn’t sure he’d ever get the hair thing down. Then the girl brightened.

  “I really love our new swing set, Daddy,” she said.

  “I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “Now, you run along. And tell your brother that he shouldn’t be swinging upside down from those monkey bars.” He winked at her. “I may not see everything, but I see enough.”

  She snickered and turned around, dashing out of the house back into the backyard.

  Lysander stared out the window at his children playing together, their golden retriever chasing his son around the base of the slide. He stood there for a few minutes, hands on his hips, watching as they had already started to adjust to their new life.

  I thought they’d have been devastated, he thought. But they seem to be handling it better than I am.

  “Mr. Wright?” came a voice at the door. Lysander turned around and saw one of the movers with a clipboard in his hands. “Need your signature,” the man said, his dark mustache twitching as he spoke.

  Lysander’s eyes narrowed. “That was fast,” he said. “Your guys are done already?”

  “No, but they should be within the hour,” said the man, standing aside as two of the workers carried in his antique desk.

  Lysander stepped aside, too, sighing. “I appreciate that you want t
o get paid, but I will sign whatever you need me to sign after I know everything is in this house and undamaged. That’s what I agreed to in the first place.”

  The man gave him a curious look but shrugged and turned back out into the garage.

  Lysander pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew that his tendency to let the lawyer in him out made him unlikeable to some, but at least he never let anybody walk over him.

  Just then, his cell phone started to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket, expecting to see his parents or his brother calling. Instead, he was surprised to see a local Georgia number. He quickly answered. “Hello? Lysander Wright speaking.”

  “Hi, Lysander. It’s Martin Donnell,” said the man on the other end.

  “Oh, Mr. Donnell,” Lysander said, a flicker of nervousness running through him. “Nice to hear from you.”

  “Likewise,” Mr. Donnell said. “I hope your move has been going well?”

  “As well as it can,” Lysander answered, watching as two more movers carried in the mattress to his son’s bed. He eyed their shoes, seeing how filthy they were. With an internal sigh, he realized he’d have to hire a cleaning team to come through after all. “You know how these things are.”

  “Indeed I do. Moved here from Virginia myself about twenty years ago. Started the firm about five years later,” Mr. Donnell said. “Speaking of the firm, I hate to ask you this while you’re knee deep in boxes, but would you by any chance have any time to come into the office later this week?”

  Lysander pinched the bridge of his nose yet again. He really didn’t see how he’d be able to find the time. The kids weren’t starting school until the following Monday, and even then, they were only going to be in school for two and a half days, since there were some sort of teacher-in-service days. But this was the law firm that had paid for him to come all the way out here, had hired him on merit alone, and agreed to pay him twenty-five percent more than his firm back in Seattle had.