Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem

The old man and the little boy were chatting away, so caught up in their own world that nobody noticed the look on Tarquin's face.

The old man leaned in toward Evan and said,

"Listen, Evan, you remember what Bernard always says: Maybe your fists can't fix everything, but they sure can fix the kind of people who start the trouble in the first place!"

"Doesn't matter who it is—if someone's messing with your mom, you go all out and give them a real good wallop!"

Evan balled his tiny fists and nodded so hard his hair flopped,

"Yeah! If anyone bullies my mom, I'll knock their socks off! I don't care who it is!"

The old man grinned, "Even if it's your dad."

Evan replied without a hint of hesitation, "Of course! My mom's the most important!"

Tarquin: "..."

For a second, he honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He was touched that his little boy loved his mom so much.

But on the other hand, he felt a pang of sadness-his own son didn't seem to care about him at all.

Tarquin just stood there, somewhere between a smile and a sigh, and glanced over at Bernard.

Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine, as if he'd just dodged a bullet.

If he hadn't built a real relationship with Elysia, what kind of mess would he be in right now?

One, two, three, four, five... six!

right, six heavy-hitters, all out for

made Tarquin swallow nervously. And

thought of

a brave guy, but even he had to admit this

There was no way he could go up against

thoughts flashed

used to gossip about Elysia, sneering about her raising kids out

envy is a real disease, Tarquin thought. Those folks must be terminal, to have the nerve

legends could stroll into

Bernard politely, "Hey,

old man cleared

and those rascals right, then I'llbe good. If I'm good, things

was laying down the

Tarquin nodded,

Don't worry-Elysia's the queen of our

I'm just

the queen and her royal kids, after all. He'd

narrowed

Elysia before-I'm not done you over that. That slap was just a reminder. If you ever

with

her heart

thinking just because we've retired that we can't come out of hiding. For her,

Tarquin was all seriousness,

one doing any

never hurt her

threat fading from his eyes

his bond, son. Don't make me