553-480 I hung up the phone before I pressed the last number. I feel like I’m calling her for the first time. I wasn’t even this nervous when I called her the first time. What happened to that confidence? I took a deep breath and sat down on the couch with the phone in my hands. 553-48 I hung up again. Why did I even hang up? Why am I nervous about calling my wife? 553 I took a deep breath and threw the phone across to the other couch. Why am I acting like such a wuss? Ok I need to just get over this and call her. I would have called her sooner but let’s just say this exact situation with the phone has happened the past few days. I just want to see her again… I think. I don’t even know what I want. I thought some time alone would be good but it’s not. I miss her. I miss the kids.
553-4805 Shit it’s ringing. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath, “Hello?” she answered and I felt my knees go weak, it was like the first time I heard her speak, “Hello? Justin?”
“Yeah, hey” there were a couple seconds of silence, I guess because I called and it’s my job to keep the conversation going, “How’s it going?”
“Ok” she paused for a second, “I mean good actually, everything’s going great. We went to the zoo the other day; the kids are having a lot of fun. It’s good to be home with my parents and sister and everything” she’s making it sound better than it really is. It’s not possible for her to have that much fun when she’s home with her mother whom no person can take for more than a day at a time. I knew her mother was really getting to her, I wanted to just tell her to come home but I can’t. That’s giving in. And even if I did she wouldn’t… I’m the asshole in this whole thing. It’s not her
“Good” I paused, “So when are you guys coming back?”
“I don’t know”
“I want to see the kids, I miss them” and you I miss you too, “I can take them for the week or something” she was silent for a little, “Are you there?”
“Yeah” she said softly. I know the last thing she wants to do is leave the kids but it’s only for a week. And I need to spend time with them too. Plus it’d be good for her to have a few days to herself; she has a lot of things to think about.
“So when?”
“Whenever you come and get them,” she’s just saying that because she knows damn well I’m not going to Arkansas especially with her parents.
“I’m not coming to fucking Arkansas Kimberly”
“Alright then I’ll just put them on a plane, hell I’ll just put them in a box and ship them. It’ll be cheaper… and safer too we can get those packing peanuts and it’ll be real comfortable”
“Or you could just bring them”
“Why do I have to do all the work when I don’t even want them to stay with you?”
What’s that supposed to mean, “You don’t trust me with my own kids?”
“I just don’t like being away from them”
“That’s why you come back here. You can stay at the beach house or something, you’ll be a half hour away”
She was quiet for a couple seconds, “Alright, we’ll come tomorrow”
Success! “Great” I felt a smile cover my face, “Do you want me to pick you up at the airport?”
“It’s alright we’ll get a ride” she said softly
“Alright well if you change your mind just call me with the flight info”
“Alright bye”
“Bye”
I spent that night and the next morning cleaning the house. I guess it’s safe to say I haven’t been the neatest person these last few days. I actually spent most of the morning pacing around my house. I was nervous, there’s no other way to put it. Why? I don’t know. I have no idea. Why am I nervous? I took a deep breath when I heard the doorbell ring. Why did she ring the doorbell? I walked over to the door and checked myself in the mirror before opening it up. Ok Justin, get a grip.
“Daddy!” Hailey screamed and ran into my arms
“Hey baby girl I missed you,” I said as I hugged her tightly. Jacob just stood by his mother as if he’d never seen me before. Ok I just saw him a couple days ago. This is really getting annoying. “Jacob man, what’s up?” I asked as I held out my hand for him to slap.
He looked up at Kimberly before doing anything, “Go ahead”
He walked over to me and slapped my hand and then gave me a big hug. Thank God I was getting worried we’d have to go through this whole who-the-hell-are-you thing again. Then they both walked into the other room and I was left alone with Kim. What do I do? Hug her? Kiss her? Shake her hand? “It’s good to see you again” why the fuck did I say that? It’s like I haven’t seen her in years or something. She just smiled slightly and nodded her head; it was a polite smile, not one that actually meant she was happy.
“Well, I just need to get some stuff before I go”
“Yeah alright, take your time” I said as I walked into the living room with the kids. I sat down on the couch and Jacob stood up and ran to his mother. This isn’t going to be good, “So Hailey did you have fun with Nana and Papa?”
“Yeah, I gotta monkey” she said with a smile
“Awesome” she has such a cute smile, she’s gonna be a heartbreaker, I can promise you that
A little while later Kimberly came down with Jacob in her arms. She looked like she was ready to cry, “Alright well I’m going to get going” I nodded my head and stood up, “Hailey sweetie come here and give me a kiss” I saw the tears forming in her eyes already, “Be good and remember what I said” Hailey nodded her head and then went back to the play room where she started setting up for a tea party… oh boy can’t wait to see what she has in store for me, “Alright Jacob time to go see Daddy” he shook his head and held onto her tightly, “Yes sweetie you’re going to have fun”
“Nooo” he started to cry
“Alright alright don’t cry,” she said softly as he calmed him down, “Um, just make sure Hailey takes her medicine. She’s going to act like she doesn’t need it but she does no matter what” I nodded my head, I know she needs her medicine, “And Jacob, he’s going to be afraid of the monsters under his bed, just make sure you use the monster spray, it’s next to his bed, then he’ll be alright” Monster spray? That’s good, “If Hailey can’t sleep just tickle her back a little and she’ll fall right to sleep. Make sure they don’t eat too much junk food and they brush their teeth for one minute exactly, no less” she paused and sniffled back a little, I just realized she’s never really been away from them. “If you need anything call me, no matter how little it is. If you go out don’t leave them with anyone unless it’s with your mother. All right? Please don’t Justin”
“I won’t, it’s only a couple days Kim don’t worry” she nodded her head and Jacob started to cry again, this is so hard for her. I felt bad taking the kids away. It’s like I’m this big monster or something. Hailey’s fine but Jacob would rather die than stay here with me. The last thing he wants to do is leave his mother and I’m making him. I’m making him stay here with me, this guy who’s only been around for about half of his life. If that.
“Come on Jacob it’s going to be alright. You’re going to have fun,” she said wiping away his tears, but she needed someone there to wipe away hers.
“No Mommy please?” he cried, “You stay”
‘No sweetie I can’t stay. You’re going to have fun with Daddy”
“Noo, I come,” he cried and I could tell it was breaking her heart. She didn’t want to let him go. Hell it was breaking my heart just watching.
“No, Jacob no. You’re going to have fun. You’re going to have so much fun with Daddy and Hailey” she said more seriously this time; she managed to stop the tears from falling down her own face. I couldn’t even say anything; I was just watching them both carefully. What kind of a father am I that my own boy doesn’t want to be alone with me? What kind of a father am I that I’m making my son and wife spend the week in different houses? “You’re going to have so much fun I’m jealous” she laughed slightly, “And you have to show Daddy the Johnny the Monkey too” she paused, “Alright I’m going to go sweetie, have fun”
‘Nooo” he cried even harder this time
“I have to go, I love you,” she said as she kissed his forehead, “Call me later ok sweetie? Daddy will let you call me tonight” she said and he just kept crying like he just got his leg cut off or something, “Just take him” she said to me. I gave her a look like are you sure? I don’t really want to get in the middle of this, “Bye Hailey, I love you”
“Bye Mommy” she screamed from the other room. She’s so different from Jacob; he’s very clingy she never really was. I guess a lot of that’s my fault, I was around a lot more while Hailey was growing up than I was for Jacob,
“Alright Jacob go see Daddy. Mommy loves you, be good” I grabbed him in my arms, “Bye baby, have fun” she waved and then walked quickly out of the house.
“Nooo” Jacob screamed and kicked, I let him down and he ran to the door. This is going to be a crazy ass week… what have I gotten myself into?
“Come on Jake we’re going to have fun. You want to play Spiderman?”
“NO!” he screamed
“You want to watch Sponge Bob?”
“NO!”
“You want some ice cream?”
“NO!” you know something’s wrong when a kid turns down ice cream
“Well then what do you want?”
“Mommy!!!!” he screamed… of course the one thing I can’t give him. I took a deep breath, I never babysat as a kid, what the hell do I do?
“I’ll get him Daddy” Hailey said as she walked over to Jacob and put her hands on his shoulders, “Jacob stop crying. Memba what Mommy said?” he nodded his head and the crying stopped a little. That was it? That’s all you have to say? Remember what mommy said? And what exactly did Mommy say? Some Justin bashing I’m sure
“And what did Mommy say?” I asked as Hailey came back and sat down next to me on the couch
“She said we was gonna have fun. And to be good. And that daddy’s tryin hard and wants to see us so we better be good for him” Well… not exactly what I expected, “He likes Play Dough… then he’ll be good”
“Play Dough huh? Sounds like fun” I said and I saw a little smile cover his face. And here we go… let the week begin.
Ok I need to grow up or something. Why am I crying? I get a week vacation. This is good… no reason to cry. I’m getting a week alone to think, to do whatever I want. But all I really want to do is play games with my kids. I’m such a dork, it’s like I need them to be happy. I need to be independent or something. This will be good for me, I need to get used to them being away, Hailey’s going to start kindergarten next year. That’s all day, not like this preschool stuff that’s only for a couple hours. That’s going to be hard. But at least I’m at the beach house. I love this house. It’s so beautiful. I can wake up, look out the window and see the ocean. I can sit out on the porch sip my coffee and just sit there at the water. Just walk out and take a quick swim… it’ll be fun. But I know I’m just going to be thinking about the kids all day.
It’s not that I don’t trust Justin. He’s a great father, I just don’t like being away from them. I wish I could just go home and everything would go back to normal. It kills me because Justin is actually home now, and we should be together… but we’re not. I took a deep breath as I opened up the curtains and looked out at the Pacific Ocean, it’s so beautiful. I wish I weren’t alone here. Ok I need to get over this and look on the bright side. I get to relax and think about this. I walked into the bedroom and dropped my bags on the bed. Of course the big picture greeted me on the wall of our wedding day. So of course I, being the emotional wreck I am, started bawling like a baby. We were so happy. A month after we got married in Vegas we had another wedding, like in the church so it would be recognized or whatever. It was our parent’s ideas and we just wanted to make them happy at that point. It didn’t matter to us, we were already married. But now I’m glad we did it. I got to wear the whole white dress and everything, and that’s every girl’s dream. I sat down on the floor in the living room and grabbed the photo album from under the table and started looking through all the pictures. Why I’m doing this I don’t know. It’s making it worse but I couldn’t stop myself. That was such a wonderful day. All our family and friends were there, not to mention I got to meet Kevin Bacon. Can you believe it? Kevin Bacon came to my wedding. Now even I’m part of that seven degrees of separation with Kevin Bacon thing. I’m still not over that. It was such a loving day, a day of laughter; we thought we’d live happily ever after. And we did… for a while we were very happy but that changed pretty quickly. The pictures are starting to fade… just like our relationship. But I still pray that it’s not real, that it’s not really happening and he’s not going to leave me for her.
I would beg him if I had to… forget the self-respect I will fall to his feet begging him to stay with me. I can’t let him leave me… I just can’t do it. I can’t find one reason to let him go. Sure he cheated on me, and that’s wrong but I’m willing to overlook that. I’ll forget all about it, like it never happened. I can’t let him leave me; I don’t know what I’d do. I need to just go home and see him. But I can’t. I need to stay strong.
I need to straighten myself out. I need to be cheered up. And how does any girl cheer herself up? Shopping and ice cream. Maybe even some pizza too. But first shopping. I fixed my hair and make-up and grabbed my bag and drove right to Rodeo Drive.
I always feel weird when I go shopping here because I really feel like I don’t belong. I mean I kind of don’t. But everyone’s real nice, which is kinda weird. I thought it’d be more like Pretty Women, but I guess they know who I am… which is stupid. The only thing I hate is that the sales people are almost too nice. They always say everything looks wonderful and they make you think like you couldn’t live without it. But I’m not going to buy a lot, maybe a pair of shoes… and a purse… but that’s it.
I parked my car and walked down the street when I felt someone grab onto my arm. I looked over at the guy standing there with a smile covering his face, “Do you have the time?”
“No I’m sorry,” I said as I looked at his wrist and laughed slightly, “You might want to try checking your watch there”
He laughed and threw his head back, “It’s broken”
“Oh is it?” I laughed as I grabbed onto his arm and looked at the watch,
“Looks about right to me’
He laughed, “I’m John”
“Kimberly”
“Beautiful name” he smiled and kissed my hand, oh he’s smooth, “So let me guess, you’re a model”
“Oh god no” I laughed, “That’s good”
“Are you serious? You had me fooled. I guess it’s a good thing, you’d put poor Tyra Banks out of a job”
I couldn’t even control the laughter. Who is this guy? “You’re funny”
“Can I buy you a drink?”
“Oh I’m sorry, I’m married”
“Oh shit, my bad. I didn’t even see the ring” he held up my hand, “Damn look at the size of that thing how the hell could I miss that?” he’s cute,
“Looks like you got yourself a rich one”
“Something like that” I laughed
“Well of course all the good ones are taken” he smiled, “Well if it doesn’t work out you give me a call,” he said as he handed me his number.
I laughed and grabbed the piece of paper, “It was nice meeting you John”
“The pleasure’s all mine darling” that was sweet. A major ego booster if nothing else that sure made my day a little better.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks so much for reading and the feedback is wonderful :)
Story Tags: daddyj celebrityj cheaterj postsync proposal marriedj
