Locked in Marriage 2: Here Comes Baby

Chapter Twenty-Two

Six Months Later

"Are we ready to go babe?" Colton yelled up the stairs as he held onto Charlotte. They were just playing the loving couple for image sake. Something had changed between them and neither one of them could figure it out. She had on a little black dress with a black and white head band on. She looked just like her mother. Colton had on his black Armani suit and black tie. They were finally going to take the family pictures. Giovanna had had them planned for a long time but they all just became too busy to get together for an entire day and take them. 

"Yeah, I'm coming right now!" She yelled back down as she put a gold earring into her ear. She looked at herself in the mirror several times. It had taken her awhile to lose the baby weight and it made her feel incredibly self-conscious when she had on a dress. She thought she looked great, but not like she had before she had the baby. Kayla sighed and took one last look at herself and walked down the grand staircase. Colton had planned to have to picture taken in his father's Las Vegas compound in the family room so both his parents urns were present. Kayla did not invite her family. It was just a Manning family photo. 

"You look great dear," Colton said smiling at her and kissing her cheek as she came down the stairs. She smiled weakly and walked into the living room. Giovanna came in with a tight fitting black dress and smiled at them. 

"We are ready for you," GiGi said summoning everyone into the room. Kayla walked in first and Colton and Giovanna walked in holding hands. Byron and Anna were already in the room standing around giggling with each other. Anna was fixing Byron's tie as everyone walked in. They immediately stopped touching each other and turned around to look at everyone walking in. 

"We've already taken our photos so it's just the family photo and the three of you guys," Byron said as he straightened his jacket. 

"Awesome, so this won't take long then?" Colton said moving his tie and walking over to his brother. 

"No, hopefully not," Byron said. "Then we can go to the golf course and play a game." Colton nodded and smiled at his brother as Kayla glared at him. They brothers smiled at each other and GiGi tapped his feet impatiently. 

"Lets go. Lets hurry this up. I have places to go," he said placing his hand on his hip and picking his camera up. Giovanna smiled at everyone and Kayla rolled her eyes. Charlotte was finally behaving and Kayla wanted to get out of this dress and back into her sweatpants. She just wasn't up to feeling sexy at the moment. Kayla and Colton's photos were taken first and Colton could tell that Kayla was not comfortable at all. She stood next to him but something didn't feel right. Something deep down was eating at her and she just wasn't sure what it was. 

"Stand close together. Make it look like you love each other, come on you two, you just had a beautiful baby," GiGi said. Colton awkwardly put his arm around Kayla and pulled her in close and Kayla put her hand on Colton's chest. She looked up at him and smiled, but when he looked down and smiled at her she could tell it was not sincere. The fall of their marraige was beginning and she had no idea what she could do to stop it. Why was it happening already? She did not want this to happen. 

Colton was already bored with Kayla and his life. Why? He loved his wife and his new baby, but there was something missing. He didn't know what it was. He pulled Kayla in and he faked the smile. It was just like when they were first married. He could feel her body tensing up next to him and he breathed deeply. He didn't feel the tingle anymore when she would touch his body, he wanted to feel it again. What was happening? He tried to relax his body to make her feel more relaxed, but she wouldn't allow herself to relax.

They pulled the fake smiles out and GiGi began snapping picture after picture. After he was finished they looked at the photos and they looked incredibly convincing. They smiled at each other and then Giovanna handed Charlotte back to Colton. GiGi placed them in front of the fireplace and Colton and Kayla stood awkwardly next to each other. 

"We need to figure this out," Kayla said trying not to move her lips too much. 

"What are we going to do about it?" Colton asked looking down at her and smiling. He positioned Charlotte so that she was facing the camera and Kayla and Colton stood staring at each other and smiling. GiGi pointed to the couch and they sat down and Colton sat Charlotte up on his lap and tickled her belly so she would smile. She giggled and both he and Kayla laughed as well. The one thing holding them together was the amazing human being they had created. 

"Okay, now the whole family," GiGi said as he pointed at Colton's siblings. All three of them joined in and Byron stood behind Colton and Kayla while Giovanna and Anna stood to the sides of the couch. GiGi snapped picture after picture, but Kayla didn't know how much longer she could take of faking the smiles and the laughter for everyone. She just wanted them to be happy like they were when she was pregnant. 

"For now, lets not over think it and just go about the routine," Kayla said finally answering Colton's question. He nodded and they pulled into each other as they sat on the couch. Charlotte held onto Kayla's finger tightly and Kayla could never imagine leaving her baby. 

"We can't get divorced. I could never handle it," Kayla said staring at Colton. He turned to look at her, looked down at his daughter, and then back up at Kayla. 

"We will work this out. If not, we will figure something else out," Colton said trying to comfort her. Colton attempted to put his arm around Kayla but she subtly pushed him off. He let his arm drop and moved his finger so Charlotte could grab a hold of it. She held on tightly and began to giggle. 

"I love how she just laughs for no reason," Giovanna said chuckling with her. Byron turned to look at her and laughed and Anna walked in closer to them and she began to laugh as well. Colton and Kayla looked at each other. There was one thing they could agree on, and that was their baby and how much they loved her. GiGi had captured the perfect picture between the six of them: Byron, Anna, and Giovanna were all standing close together and laughing at Charlotte. Colton and Kayla were looking at each other and smiling like they had on their wedding day and Charlotte sat on her father's lap with a beaming smile. An innocent smile. She had no idea the family she was born in to. When GiGi had finished he sent the pictures to Giovanna and she hooked up her iPad onto the TV so they could look at all of them. 

"These look great. Which one are we going to release?" Giovanna asked as they had all changed out of their suits and dresses and into jeans and t-shirts. Kayla was sitting in sweatpants and oversized t-shirt with Charlotte in her lap. Colton was sitting on the opposite side of the room watching the two of them. 

"The one where we are all laughing. That's the best one," Colton said pointing at the screen with all of them laughing at Charlotte. 

"And one of the ones of the three of us. Like one of the serious ones," Kayla said pointing up at the screen as Giovanna flipped through the photos. "Yeah! That one, right there." 

It was a picture of Kayla, Colton and Charlotte. Colton was looking down at Charlotte, there was a gleam in his eye, one that made Kayla fall more in love with him. Kayla was looking at Colton and smiling at him, Colton hadn't seen her look at him like that for a long time. Charlotte sat staring straight into the camera, she was smiling happily as her parents looked on. 

Colton and Kayla knew they could fake the perfect family. But for how long?