I Promise

12

I nod and motion for him to come in, and he gives me a smile of gratitude. My mom is nowhere to be seen as everyone but her goes to meet him. JT and Ashton latch onto his legs, squealing in delight as he walked into the living room. They missed him and it's only been two days. I wonder what would happen if they ended up living with my mom after the divorce became official. To be honest, they loved my dad. A lot.

Peyton even manages a small smile despite her crumpled face, and I realize that the weight of her big secret she thought no one else knew is finally wearing off.

Finally, I hear footsteps and my mom appears. She looks like she doesn't want to be here, but then again, that's her doing.

"Hi Abe," she says. She even manages a small smile, and an overpowering feeling of hate surges into me. I can't look at her or even talk to her right now.

"Karen," my dad says, acknowledging her like she's a coworker or something.

Mom: zero.

Dad: one.

My dad also carries a duffle bag in the other hand, no doubt to take the rest of his stuff. I wonder how he managed to pack so fast without disrupting anyone, and how he managed to take off with all his stuff early in the morning.

We leave dad to pack his stuff, but before he leaves into his old room he hands mom the briefcase and doesn't say anything. I almost smile because her face is so amusing, and she looks utterly confused. As if she is clueless and doesn't understand that when you're married and stroll off with someone else, surprise! Divorce papers are your gift.

Dad packs, and I tell Peyton to pack some of her stuff, and help JT and Ashton. If we weren't going to see my dad every day, well, a few days overnight wouldn't hurt.

I walk into my room behind Peyton, taking a small backpack to put some of my stuff in. A change of clothes, toothbrush, and anything else I think I need. And when I walk out, I hear voices coming from the den.

Ever since my nana moved in from England to California, she always tried to be as little of a "bother" as possible. She claimed that she needed to live on her own, but there wasn't enough money to buy her an apartment, and she didn't want to part with her country house in England, so she settled for the den. Thankfully, it had a door and was fairly large, so she decided to go ahead and make it her bedroom.

So when I walk closer to the shut door, I know it's her talking to my dad.

"It's horrifying, Abe. And to put the kids after her own needs!!" she utters, and I can tell my dad is trying to quiet her rioting down.

"You should have seen the looks on their faces, Abe. I tell you, back in my day, this was unheard of! If only you married a good British girl. My, we'd never have to go through this!!"

I can tell my nana is upset, because she never mentioned my dad's marriage to him. And when she mentioned her "back in my time" references, then she was not having it, and she was angry. I wonder if she ever liked my mom in the first place, if she somehow knew it was going to end up like this.

I shake the thought from my head because I didn't want to think too much on my parent's marriage. And then I hear my dad speak.

"I know mom. But, I have a good job, I'm getting a divorce and I want partial custody of the kids. I want them to have equal time with me and Karen. I will make this work. And before you know it, I might just have enough money with my savings and new job to buy you an apartment."

My nana begins to protest but my dad quickly quiets her down. I bet he gave her one of "this is not open for discussion" looks.

"You should have seen the look on their faces."