He's My Husband

Thirty

Earlier that day

"I'm bored" Gwen said getting up. She'd been spending her time with Lisandra or Albert but now that she had broken up with both of them, she had nothing to do. Staying at home all day was starting to get old. At first she was hurting too much to realize what time of day it was. But after Darren took her out and she met Trent, she realized just how long the days were when she had nothing to do.

It made her wonder if it was time to get a job. As the youngest in the Carter family, her family had given her whatever it is she wanted. Sometimes she didn't even have to ask, Max would hand her anything he thought she needed. So she never thought of working. Until now. But what could she do? She majored in business management in college. Technically she could start her own business. She just needed to decide what kind of business to start.

"I'm going out to have a drink or something. I can't stand staying another minute in this house"

"Can I come along?" Zander asked rushing into the living room where she was talking to TC "Please Auntie Gwen. I'm bored too"

"I can't take you anywhere without your mother's permission. I'm sorry kiddo"

"Let's call her and ask then" he said jumping up and down. Shaking her head, she grabbed the phone and called Emilia. To her surprise, there was no answer.

"She's not picking up"

"I'll leave her a message" Zander took the phone and said "Hey mom, we tried calling but you didn't answer. I'm going out with auntie Gwen and I promise to buy you something pretty. Don't be mad, TC's coming with us too. I love you, bye"

"Yeah, I'm not sure about that Zander. Leaving a message isn't the same as asking for permission"

"TC will come with us. Right?" he turned to TC who nodded "Come on, please take me with you. Please, please, please"

"No"

"Pretty please?"

"Okay" it was impossible to refuse him when he begged like that "Go change and come back down. You have five minutes"

"Yes" they both watched him running upstairs and chuckled. He looked so excited that she couldn't bring herself to leave him behind. He took less than a minute to change and came back downstairs carrying his shoes. Apparently he thought that if he took longer they would leave him behind.

Half an hour later, they were sitting in a restaurant arguing over what to order. Like any other kid, Zander wanted to eat all the junk food in the place because his parents weren't around to stop him. And like all aunts, Gwen felt obligated to let him since that was what she was supposed to do. Let things slide. Especially when he mentioned how his 'aunt Thea' let him have whatever he wanted whenever they went out together. It wasn't a competition between the two of them but Gwen would be damned if she let a fake aunt beat her at becoming her nephew's favorite person.

But to be honest, it was fun being an aunt. She was cooler than his mother because she let him get away with things his mother wouldn't. She also loved seeing the admiration shining in his eyes. It made her feel special, knowing someone looked up to her. She used to think that if Max had a little girl they would become the best of friends but seeing Zander so happy she realized that it didn't matter whether he was a boy or a girl. They were definitely going to become besties.

"I want a chocolate milkshake. What about you TC?" she asked lifting her head to look at him and was surprised to find his eyes on her.

"I'll have the same thing you're having" he replied still looking at her. The normal thing to do was to smile and move on to Zander but something about his gaze stopped her in her tracks. It was so intense that if she hadn't been sitting down, her knees would have crumbled to the floor.