Her children returned to her late Sunday afternoon full of stories of their time with Daddy. She listened, feeling once again jealous of Peter. This time it was because he had it so easy. He had weekends, and she had weekdays and getting them out the door for the bus and picking them up from aftercare. She had overtired kids and forms and homework. He had soccer and activities and fun.
Monday morning, she was getting a holocaust DVD from the library to show to her class. She looked over to where their old table was. The furniture was new, but there was a girl and boy sitting in the same place. She laughed, because they weren't studying. They were intent on something on their smartphones.
The crazy thing was that the same contact she made for Peter had stayed in her phone, upgrade after upgrade. The text she received about needing bunny came from the same number he gave her in chemistry class. As much as some things stayed the same, things had definitely changed. At lunch in the teacher's room, she sat down next to Jack Conrad. Strange to think her favorite teacher was now her colleague. It was not entirely coincidental as he inspired her career choice.
After school, Megan had to rush to an appointment with her obstetrician. They greeted her at the front desk when she arrived. She went about the routine of peeing in the cup. When they called her name, she stepped on the scale. Luckily she had a good handle on her weight gain, but with her twins that was not the case. She felt fat and not very good about herself for a long time after they were born. She refused to make that mistake again. Megan hoped this baby came late. She didn't have a lot of sick days and couldn't afford to take unpaid leave. If she could deliver close enough to the end of school, she wouldn't need to go back before summer vacation. Like everything else she refused to worry about things she couldn't control.
She was told that everything was going like clockwork. "Textbook pregnancy," her doctor said.
She had to rush to get to aftercare before she incurred a late fee. She didn't pay for it, Peter did, but still he didn't need to pay because she was late.
At dinner, she asked the twins how they wanted to celebrate their birthday.
Sophie answered, "We told Daddy."
"You did. What did you tell him?"
"We want a party with Daddy and Mommy," Nick said.
"One party this year?"
"Yes," they said in unison.
"And who else would you like at your party?" She held her breath. The only person she wanted to be with less than their father was her mother.
"Well Ben and Ivy," Nick said.
"Victoria. John," Sophie added.
Megan never met, Peter's friend John, but she certainly knew Victoria.
"Anyone else? Friends from school?"
"No, but we forgot Nanny and Grampy and Gram and Auntie Becka," Nick said.
There it was her parents and Peter's family. That was a group that hadn't been together in years, probably since the twins' baptism.
She loved her kids and wanted to give them anything she could, but this would be pure misery. She smiled. "What did Daddy say about this idea?"
"He said that he needed to talk to you." Sophie sounded very grown up.
"Yes, Mommy and Daddy will talk, but that's a lot of people and neither our house nor Daddy's is very big."
She was eager to get the kids settled in bed so she could talk to Peter. She wondered what he thought of the idea. She would typically just text him when they needed to communicate, but for this a phone call would be easier. It was not that they never spoke, but texting was less personal.
She dialed his number, and he answered quickly.
"Hi. What's up?"
"I think we need to talk birthday."
"Oh, hang on a minute."
Megan heard muffled voices. "If this isn't a good time."
"No, it's fine. I was just downstairs helping with chemistry."
Megan would have laughed at the irony, if she hadn't had more important things to think about.
"So what did they tell you?" Megan asked.
"A party with both of us and family and both our closest friends."
"Not my mother!" Megan couldn't handle that.
"I can talk to her. I try to make her come around. I can't understand why she made her relationship with you a casualty of our divorce."
"Well now, she's got fuel to flame her fire." Megan referred to her pregnancy. "What about your mother? I haven't seen her in years. Does she know about...?"
"I haven't told her. I figured it's no one's business."
"Thank you for that. Your sister, Becka knows, so maybe they all do."
"Do either of us even have room for a party?" He paused and said, "Let's tell them this. I'll have a party here and you will come. We'll skip the family and have John and Dan's family. I'll take them to see the others separately."
"Do you think they'll go for it?"
"I bet they really want both of us. They're in school now and learning that most kids live with both parents."
"Most is questionable, but I get your point."
"Can you make it one afternoon in the same room as me?"
"For Nick and Soph, I can do almost anything." Talking to him wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be. "When are we going to do this and how's it going to work?"
"Their birthday is on a Sunday so we can have it on the actual day. I'll take care of it. You have enough going on."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's the least I can do," he said in a regretful tone.
YOU ARE READING
Shattered Hearts (TP1)
Romance(Complete) Peter isn't prepared for the reality of another man spending the night with his ex. He should be, but his heart has never let her go. Peter, who was abandoned by his father as a young boy, will do anything for his kids. He won't stop unt...
