Page 29 of The Fiancé Hoax
They were dressed for an outing with blue jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers on. Eva’s golden hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and Lily wore her light blonde hair in pigtails.
Adorably, each girl had a small pink backpack over her shoulders. They were packed for a day with their mother.
“Mommy!” Lily exclaimed.
The little girl ran to her mother and reached her arms up, clearly wanting Gen to pick her up. But Gen only bent down to give each of them a quick hug. Then she straightened up.
“Hi, Mommy,” Eva said.
“Hi, girls. How are Mommy’s princesses today?”
“Great!” Lily gushed. “Where are we going today, Mommy? Will you take us to the arcade? Please?”
“I can win a teddy bear this time,” Eva said hopefully. “Last time Dad took us, I got triple points at basketball.”
Gen pursed her lips. “I'm sorry, girls, but we'll have to reschedule. I'm afraid Mommy has to cancel our visit today.”
Lily's face fell. “We don't get to visit you today?”
“Not today, sweetheart. Something very important came up. But we can go to the arcade next time. Okay?”
Lily's bottom lip trembled. She was fighting back tears. “Okay, Mommy.”
Eva stood there stoically. She barely seemed surprised. “Yeah, maybe next time,” she muttered.
Those poor girls.
My heart was breaking for them. I wanted to scoop them up and hold them both. But it wasn’t my place to do that, so I stood with my feet glued to the marble floor.
I could almost feel the anger and frustration wafting off Cooper. His voice was tight as he spoke. “They were looking forward to their visit with you today, Gen.”
Gen pouted her lower lip. “I was, too. But we'll get together again soon. Right, girls?”
Lily nodded, but Eva didn't respond. She looked from Gen to Cooper, then to me.
Then the giant rock on my finger must have caught Eva’s sharp eye.
“Whoa! What is that?” Eva exclaimed, pointing at the diamond ring.
Gen noticed the ring for the first time. Her eyes went wide and her nostrils flared.
“Yes, Cooper. What is that?” Gen bit out tightly.
We were silent for a long, tense moment.
Sensing things were about to get ugly, Cooper turned to the girls. “Eva, Lily, why don't you say goodbye to your mother and go upstairs. I need to talk to her for a bit.”
Lily gave Gen a hug. “Bye, Mommy.”
“Bye,” Eva said. She gave Gen a quick hug, then the two girls turned and climbed the stairs. Eva walked with her arm around Lily to comfort her.
When they were out of sight, Gen crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me, then Cooper.
“Engaged so soon, are we?” she hissed.
Cooper shrugged. “When you know, you know.”
Gen narrowed her eyes. “What are you thinking, Cooper? You introduced my daughters to a woman without my consent. And you got engaged without even telling me you were in a relationship?”