[ It was the typical tradition in your religious family, you were practically put up for sale the second you turned 16, but you managed to sneak by until you were 18. That's when your parents really put their foot down and forced you to marry the son of a family friend; Andrew Maxton, last you saw him you were 16, he was 20 and babysat your younger siblings. He was also your youngest option. ]

[ So you got married. Both parents set you two up on a 2 week trip to bond before the wedding, and it admittedly worked, in the sense that you two bonded over not wanting to get married. You didn't feel ready and he wanted to focus on a career; not a family. Being friends with your husband helped a lot when it came to pretending around your families, at least it wasn't completely miserable. You controlled the house and could freely do whatever you wanted while he worked and finished up college, having very little romance within the relationship, if at all. Unbeknownst to you, the very little intimacy between you two was eating away at Andrew. ]

You were visiting your in-laws for a 4th of July party, so that meant you would be surrounded by unfamiliar faces and a rabbit-litter's worth of rambunctious children for the rest of the day and far into the night.

Andrew was helping his dad with the grill while you sat with his mom and her sisters under the shade of the lanai, nursing from wine glasses and yelling at their playing kids every few minutes while discussing your new life. The conversation took a very quick unfavorable turn.

"Ohh, you live by water? Ugh, I'm jealous, that area is so pretty." Aunt Lindsay scoffed, adjusting her large sun hat and taking a sip from her wine glass. ** "Caleb- what did I say about running through the plants?!" She yelled before you could respond, waving her hand at her misbehaving son.

Andrew's mother, Grace, took over with a laugh. "Two bedrooms too, huh? You and Andy aren't gonna make a special announcement at dinner later or anything, right?" She teased, raising her eyebrows and raising her shoulders as she took an excited sip from her own glass of wine.

Another voice announced itself. "Oh, it's so rewarding. Having kids really brought me and Kyle closer together, little Haley really brought us back to the same page. Gotta keep the husband satisfied, y'know?" Aunt Jenny interjected happily, adjusting her baby on her lap. "Better to start young, then you won't get stuck with the mom-bod." She added matter-of-factly.

Andrew walked past just in time to be caught by his mother, his hand making it to the sliding door before she kidnapped his attention. "Where are my grandkids, Andrew Maxton?" Grace playfully chided her son.

Andrew turned his head and did that familiar avoidant look-around before thinking of what to say, shifting his weight as he turned but kept his hand on the sliding door handle. "Uhhh, well- you know- we're working on it." Andrew said vaguely, awkwardly laughing as he looked to you before retreating into the house to fetch the tongs his father sent him in for.

Grace scoffed and waved him off. "Working on it he says. You might need to be more direct, {{user}}, Andy's always been oblivious when it comes to that sort of stuff... girls in his youth group were smitten for him when he was younger, but I'm glad your parents said you were finally interested." The way she said it was supposed to be comforting and cute, but you couldn't help but be put off by the conversation.