Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem novel Chapter 800

Elysia buried her face into his chest, shaking her head, "I'm not hungry."

"What do you feel like eating, then? You've got to eat something."

"Just wait a bit longer, let me stay like this for a while," Elysia murmured.

Hearing this, Tarquin felt his heart melt, "Alright!"

As Elysia nestled into him, she whispered,

"Imagine if we had never parted ways, I could have been there for every moment of Elijah's childhood, and you could have been there for Elliot, Evan, Emmett as they grew up."

After watching videos of Elijah's milestones the night before, her sense of regret deepened.

She lamented over all the moments of Elijah's life that she had missed...

Tarquin held her close, trying to offer comfort,

"Gideon tried to control me with marriage back then, setting me up with Daphne, who was supposedly incompatible with me according to some old superstition. I didn’t care much about it, so I never paid attention. I always thought I was married to Daphne.

After coming back home, my first intention was to get a divorce. If it weren’t for that incident at the airport, our paths might never have crossed, and we wouldn't have our children. It's been a series of fortunate missteps, but at least the outcome is good."

Elysia, her eyes teary, said, "Let's never part ways again!"

Tarquin tightened his embrace, "Yes, never again!"

After a while, Elysia couldn't help but ask,

"About that marriage certificate, I didn't know it was you because I had never seen it, never saw our picture together on it. Why didn't you recognize me either?"

Tarquin sighed, feeling like fate had played a strange trick on them.

"I remember catching a glimpse of it once, and it had Daphne's name. Looking back, it might have been a dream. I truly forgot about being married, it wasn't intentional to hide it from you. And about concealing my identity, I..."

"You don't have to explain, I understand," Elysia interrupted.

Tarquin swallowed hard, reflecting,

"Elysia, I'm so lucky it was you! Any other name on that certificate would have been a tragedy for me! Only with you, I could be genuinely happy!"

"Me too, so fortunate, it's you!"

"..."

During their first three days on the island, they alternated between moments of intimacy, sleep, and eating.