“It’s been in the works since the day we got engaged,” she told the outlet. “It was never just decided upon — we knew from day one this was going to be it.”
Standifer Edwards said Bentley, the 9-year-old son Edwards shares with Teen Mom‘s Maci Bookout, did not know she was already married to his dad. (Mackenzie also has a son, Hudson, from a previous relationship.)
“Everything is just kind of at a resting place right now. It’s about our boys,” Standifer Edwards said. “This is a day about us, yes, but it’s also about us becoming a family.”
On the way to their elopement, which was aired during season 6 of the MTV reality show, Edwards’ then-fiancée doubted his sobriety — and questioned if he was under the influence while driving to their wedding.
As Edwards was behind the wheel, Standifer Edwards looked visibly worried and tight-lipped. Keeping on eye on him, she had to tap him several times to get him to focus on the road; his eyes visibly looked dazed and slightly shut. At one point, she took the wheel in her hand from the passenger seat to straighten their car on the road.
Turning toward the cameras placed inside the vehicle, she began to shut them off. Although the cameras were turned off, the audio continued to roll and caught what she asked her soon-to-be husband.
“Did you take Xanax again?” she was heard asking.
“Um, I don’t … I don’t have any,” he responded with a mumble.
“You did,” she stated.
“I put that on my kid’s life,” he answered, denying he took any form of drugs or medication.
After the episode was taped, Edwards decided to enter rehab.
“A little over 30 days ago, I made the decision to check myself into a rehabilitation facility. I am back home now doing well, and life could not be better,” he said in a statement at the time. “Without the support of my wife and parents I would not have been able to do this. Thank you all for your well wishes.”
Bookout revealed in her book I Wasn’t Born Bulletproof… that Edwards was her “most painful breakup” — a relationship that led to a teen pregnancy and one she “had so much invested in.”
“I convinced myself that I needed to make it work and ignored a lot of red flags,” she wrote. “It was my second love, and my most toxic relationship. When it finally ended it was painful, but I also felt a sense of relief that the relationship was over.”
Bookout said that it took a year of disconnection from Edwards before they finally separated for good. Despite having lost their focus on their relationship, they still tried to make it work.
“We tried for a little while because we thought staying together was the right thing for Bentley (after all my parents have stayed together through all kinds of ups and downs since they were teenagers),” she wrote. “But ultimately we realised that being happy and apart was far healthier for our son than being miserable and together.”
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE