Dawn of a New Day

Kevin returns home from vacation to find many changes in his house, and divorce papers signed.

 

Dawn of a New Day

 

 

Kevin stood with the divorce papers in his hands, Helen’s letter of apology such as it were and the realization that his wife had finally left her family for her dream job. Even with the rockiness of the relationship, part of Kevin felt very empty.

“Dad? Is Mom really gone?” Stacy's voice brought Kevin quickly back to the difficult task in front of him, that of telling the girls of their mother's decision to take the job in New York and leave family life behind.            He turned to find Stacy, Kimberly and Crystal in the entrance of the garage. It was as if they did not notice the two new cars sitting where their mother's Jaguar normally parked. As Kevin ushered them inside, they barely acknowledged the Ipods Helen left for each of them as he sat them down in the kitchen.

            “Girls, your mother and I are divorced. She filed months ago and these are the papers. This is the only secret I have ever held from any of you. We didn’t want to upset your bids for Nationals with family drama. The divorce is final so she probably won't be coming home any time soon.  I am very sorry she decided to end our relationship this way.”

            Stacy spoke first, voicing the reality the three girls expected.

            “We're okay with it, Dad. Really we are. She's been gone for a long time, but you have the papers to prove it. You can get on with your life and she can get on with hers. We don't have to worry about whether she is coming home at night or not. It's a burden off our minds.”

            “I'm with Stacy Dad. I'm going to miss her, but I miss her anyway. When she chose to stay on the other side of the gym, I knew this was going to happen.”

            “She wasn't too good a Mommy, but she was very pretty.”

            Kevin took note of the absence of Helen’s photos in the kitchen, the note Helen left for them and then at the faces in front of him.

            “She was a pretty lady. I hope she is happy with her new job.”

            “Dad, it’s over, she’s gone and now we can all move on. Right now, we have guests who need French toast for breakfast” Kimberly said in her flat matter of fact tone which normally meant someone was about to get pounded. 

            Kimberly cleared the way for their father to work his magic with bread from the thrift store as they stacked slice after slice of French toast on the breakfast table. The girls were still all smiles, either hiding the loss of their mother from the world or truly at peace with her departure from the household.

            The mood at the breakfast table was cheerful. Very little emotions came from the girls concerning their mother, but Laura brought up Helen’s odd behavior from the Nationals. Not having been a party to the news of the divorce, she continued her normal discourse on Helen’s odd behavior and distrust of the woman’s motives while Stacy, Kimberly, Kevin and Crystal all tried to get in a word to slow her dissertation on Helen’s behavior.

            “That was weird. I don’t care how you want to spin it, brother, that was just weird behavior. We both know something is up with her.”

            “Laura, I don’t think I need to put a spin on Helen’s behavior at all. She was acting like herself, keeping her social distance away from us. I don’t think it bothered either of the girls, did it?” Kevin replied.

            “Didn’t bother me!” Crystal spoke instantly. The smile on her face kept the mood at the table light and the small droplets of maple syrup that found their way into her curls made the mood even lighter.

            “I’m with Crystal, Aunt Laura,” Stacy began. “She stayed away like she always does, but at least she was in the building. This is one of the few times she watched us compete. I’m okay with it. She made her decision and nothing was going to turn her around. We have to let her go.”

            “Where she sat didn’t bug me as much as her just being there this time. She never watched us compete before, except the times it served her. I’m fine with it,” Kimberly added.

            “What’s up with her is she accepted the job in New York. She’s already there. The girls knew it was going to happen, so we do what we have to do now. She signed the divorce papers and left everything behind. We’re through,” Kevin said as he produced the papers and laid them in front of Laura.

            Laura’s jaw flew open as far as she could ever remember opening it. Crystal had to laugh at the expression on her face. Nevada was still half-asleep from the trip, but soon, he too was rolling on the floor in laughter.

            “Aunt Laura is speechless Dad!” Stacy said. “That’s a first!” Stacy began to laugh more out of stress relief than anything else and soon, Laura was laughing at herself as well.   

Reviews

[Yvonne Heidt]

How sad is this? Still liking the "flashes" of different events.

The background is laying groundwork for the roof event, right?

I'm still reading :) ...

[Monners]

This is good. I'd love to read more. =)