No Matter What

Chapter 4

Don looked up at Meryl after she nursed the babies, and they were all sitting on their large sofa sectional. "Baby, can I get you something to drink? Something to eat? You know how you need to eat after nursing especially with this damn concussions."

"I need to do something for my husband." Meryl said seriously. "And I don't want any arguments."

Don shook his head, he didn't want to be the focus after the awful morning they had. He wanted his wife and their youngest children to be the focus. The last thing in the world he wanted was for her to be worried about him. "Baby, I'm fine."

"No, Don Man, you're not. If you were then you wouldn't be you. You are ALWAYS putting me and all of the kids first. Today, I am doing that for you. I want to do what you need, whether you realize it or not. I realize it. I know you better than anyone and anything, which I am pretty proud of. That is why I have made a decision. I know I usually say we need to ignore your mother, but not today. This isn't about me, this is about you, and how I see you are breaking at what she did. You deserve your shot at that miserable old woman." Meryl knew she would get a smile out of Don if she said that, and she did get to see that little smirk she loved so much. "That is why you are going to Indianapolis and get EVERYTHING off your chest, and you are going to do it TODAY."

Don looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Baby, of course NOT!" Meryl said as she picked up Brady, and he did the same with Mags so she could scoot closer to him. "You are NOT going anywhere without me and the babies. I wouldn't let you go through this alone. We are going with you."

Don shook his head vehemently as he stood up with Mags. "Uh uh. No way. She is NOT getting anywhere near you. I don't like that you are even in the same fucking time zone as her."

"Come on baby boy, let's swing." Meryl said as she put Brady in his swing, and noticed that Don followed suit with Mags. Once the babies were settled, Meryl went over to Don and pushed him down in the large overstuffed chair and quickly sat in his lap, taking his head in her hands. "Baby, you have been so focused on me. Yes, what she sent to the kids and me was damn hurtful."

Don's eyes got huge. "Hurtful? Meryl, she made you think that you weren't good enough for me. She made you think that I and the kids would be better off without you. I almost lost you. Our children almost lost you."

"I promise, Don Man, that will NEVER happen." Meryl was mad at herself that she reacted the way she did to what happened, but this was her opportunity to hopefully give Don what he needed and to show him that she wasn't going anywhere-that NOTHING Jane could ever do would take her away from him and their family. "She did this as much to you. She tried to hurt you and our children in the worst possible way by trying to make you doubt me and my love for you."

Don cupped her head in his hands as he used his thumbs to wipe away her silent tears as they fell. "NO ONE could EVER make me doubt you. She made you doubt yourself."

"But I have the most amazing husband in the world." Meryl brushed her lips across his. "Don Man, you gave me the space to break down and feel what she TRIED to do to us. You deserve that. You NEED that. I WANT you to have that. Baby, I have seen you struggling with what to say to her. You shouldn't have to do that through text. I know you, you need to do it in person or else you will continue to feel unsettled about everything. She didn't just do this to me, she did this to you, she did this to us. That is why we are confronting her TOGETHER. If I am wrong, and you don't need to do this for yourself, then okay. However, the last thing I want is for you to NOT do this because of me. So, am I wrong?"

Don couldn't help but smirk at his wife. "When are you ever wrong?"

"I like that you think that." Meryl said taking a deep breath as she ran her fingers through his hair as she repositioned herself so she was straddling him. "Baby, if this is what you need, then we are going."