Broken Lives (4 page)

Emma smiles at me and gets her purse from
under the desk. “Do you have everything?” I ask. 

“
I do, Alec, and thank you,
guys. I’ll see you both tomorrow,” Emma says, waving
goodbye. 

“
Thank you and have a good
day,” I say to Brea and Sara. I take Emma’s hand as we walk to her
car. 

“
So you had company at the
house, huh?” 

“
I’m afraid so. I guess I
should have changed the locks on the doors.” 

“
Is she planning on staying
there, Alec?” 

“
Baby, I have no idea. She
said she wanted money and I left. She’ll sell anything of any value
in there that she finds, including Raelynn’s
things.” 

“
What are you going to
do?”

“
I’m not sure.” I open her
car door for her and she gets in. “I’ll meet you at home and we can
talk about it,” I say as I close her car door for her.

I follow Emma to her house and use my key to
open the door. I smile when the door opens with the key. “Look at
that, a perfect fit,” I say, holding the door open for Emma to walk
through. 

“
Did you think it wouldn’t
fit?” She laughs. 

“
I think I’m just excited to
finally have a house key, that’s all.” I close the door behind us
and lock it. 

“
You do know that you could
have had a key to my house anytime you wanted it.” 

“
I have never needed one
until now. So this is perfect timing, thank you.” 

“
You’re welcome. Do you want
to sleep while I go and get the kids from school?” 

“
We need to talk about what
the attorney said today.” 

“
Is it bad news?”

“
No.” 

“
Good, then we can talk
later. Go take a nap and I’ll get the kids from
school.” 

“
Are you sure you don’t
mind? Emma, I don’t want to put you out.” 

She gets her car keys and her purse and leans
over to kiss me. “I have to get James anyway, so it’s no bother,
but I’ll need your school’s car pass to pick her up. They won’t
release her to me without it.”

Florida schools require all car riders to
have a car pass to pick up their children from school. It’s a car
tag that hangs from the rearview mirror with the child’s name
written on it. Florida is the only state that I know of that
requires this.

“
It’s in my car. I’ll walk
you out to get it and thank you so much.” 

Chapter Two: Betrayal and Marriage

Emma

I pick up James before Raelynn since James’
school gets out first. Alec reluctantly agreed to take a nap since
he has another shift at the hospital tonight. Hoping that Alec can
get some sleep, I decide to take the kids to the park before going
home.

“
Hi, Emma. I thought daddy
was picking me up from school. Hi, James,” Raelynn says, fastening
her seatbelt. 

“
Hi, Raelynn,
your
daddy is still
asleep. He worked last night, and he has work again today. I
thought we could go to the park. How’s that
sound?” 

“
Yay,” both kids
yell. 

Once we are home, I make lasagna and a salad
for dinner, while the kids sit at the table to do their homework. I
hear the shower running and I know Alec is up. The kids and I set
the table and make some sweet tea for dinner. I walk into the
bedroom to make the bed, and I am surprised to see that Alec has
already made it.

I hear singing as I walk
past the bathroom door and stop to listen to it. Alec is singing
Luke Bryan’s “I Don’t Want This Night to End.” I stand there
listening until the door opens and Alec is standing there in a
towel wrapped around his waist. His hair is wet and mussed and
water droplets are on his chest. I look at his eyes, then look down
at his chest, abdomen, and the towel —
oh,
God, that towel! —
and then my eyes slowly
travel up his wet body. He smiles and says, “Is there something you
want, Emma?” 

“
Um, uh, um, I heard
singing,” I stutter and walk quickly down the hall to the kitchen.
I stop only when I get to the sink. I place my hands on the sink
and look out the window. I try to get my breathing under control
and lick my dry lips.

The timer on the oven goes
off and I shake my head to try to clear it of Alec’s body,
glistening in water, covered only by a towel.
Lucky towel
, I think to
myself. 

“
Smells delicious in
here.”

I jump at the sound of Alec’s voice. “I’m
sorry, Baby,” he says, wrapping his arms around my waist. “I didn’t
mean to scare you.” 

He smells of spice and musk. I take a deep
breath and rest my head against his chest. He kisses the top of my
head and whispers, “I think I could get used to this.” 

“
This is
nice.” 

Raelynn and James run past the kitchen,
yelling, “Yuk, they have cooties.”

I lean forward and turn
around and smile. “They must be talking about you. If you are going
to be staying here, we’ll need to take care of
your
cootie
problem,” I say, trying to hide my smile. Alec is standing
there barefoot, wearing jeans and a tee shirt. His hair is wet and
unruly.

“
Sorry, Emma, but they said,
‘Yuk,
they
have
cooties,’ not
‘
He
has cooties.”’

“
They did, didn’t they? I
guess we’ll just have cooties together.” I lean in and kiss
him. 

“
I like that
plan.” 

I remove the lasagna from the oven and set it
on the stove. “Salad is already on the table if you want to find
our kids and start eating.” 

“
They are probably hiding
under the beds or something.” 

“
Probably, just keep your
cooties to yourself.” 

“
I’ll try and that really
does smell delicious.” He smiles and walks to the table. “Come on,
kids, dinner’s ready, and don’t forget to wash the nasty lil’ germs
from your hands first.” 

I follow Alec into the dining room and place
the lasagna on the table. “That’s how you get our kids ready for
dinner?” I smile. 

Raelynn and James both come skipping down the
hallway.

“
It worked, didn’t
it?” 

Alec pulls out a chair and lifts James into
it, then he pulls out Raelynn’s chair, and then he pulls out my
chair before taking a seat himself. We have salads first and then
the lasagna. We talk about what the kids did at school today, how
Alec’s night went at the hospital, and James’ birthday party on
Saturday. When I mention it’ll be at Max’s parents’ house, Alec
doesn’t seem to mind. 

“
Do you think your parents,
brothers, and sister will want to come with their
kids?” 

“
Do you think that’s a good
idea? Maybe you should check with James’ grandparents first. It may
be a problem for them. You know: Their daughter-in-law moving on
with another guy and his family.” 

“
I didn’t think about that,
but really, I can’t imagine they would mind.” 

“
I would double check with
Danny and Cheryl first, and then I’ll call my family and invite
them. I’m sure they would love to come.” 

“
It’s gonna be a ninja
party, huh, momma?” 

“
It sure is, James, and
there’ll be a jump house there, too. Raelynn, I think you’ll have
fun in the jump house.” 

“
I like jump
houses.” 

Once the kitchen is cleaned
up, Alec and I bathe the kids and tuck them in bed. James takes the
bottom bunk and Rae takes the top bunk. I am surprised that Alec
and I have the same bedtime rituals
for the
kids. Bath, brush teeth, prayers and then bedtime.

Once we are sure both kids are asleep, we
talk about Molly showing up at the house and everything the
attorney said. I tell him that I would like for him and Rae to stay
with us until we figure out what to do. I also confess I don’t like
the thought that Molly can show up at his house whenever she
wants. 

“
I’ll need to go by the
house and get some clothes for Raelynn and me.” 

“
She’ll also need some of
her toys and things. I want her to feel at home while she is
here.” 

“
Emma, you don’t need to do
all this. My parents’ house is big enough for us. We can go
there.” 

I think about what he says and I wonder about
that. We have never made love and I wonder if this will be weird.
Will we sleep in the same bed? Will we make love for the first time
with the kids in the next room? What will James think of seeing a
man in my bed? 

“
Emma?” 

“
I’m sorry,
what?” 

“
What are you
thinking?” 

I take a deep breath as he watches me
closely. I’m not sure how to voice my concerns to him. 

“
Are you thinking about
sleeping arrangements for us?” 

I nod and swallow, without taking my eyes off
his. 

“
Emma, if Raelynn and I stay
here, I think you and I need to remain in separate bedrooms.
Legally I am still married and I don’t want anything to jeopardize
the divorce. Most importantly, I don’t want to confuse the
kids.”

“
That’s right, and there is
the problem with the cooties we still need to take care of,” I say
to lighten the conversation.

He pulls me closer to him and I rest my head
on his chest. “Do you think bug spray, mouthwash, or something like
that will kill cooties?” 

“
I don’t know, you’re the
doctor.” I giggle. 

“
Right, I’ll look for cootie
spray at work tonight.” 

Alec kisses the top of my head and I snuggle
closer to him. 

“
I’ve been needing a bedroom
suite for the spare room anyway. Maybe we can go shop for one this
week.” 

“
I’m off tomorrow and
Wednesday.” 

“
We have taekwondo tomorrow,
but we can look Wednesday.” 

“
Sounds good, roomie. Walk
me to the door, I have to get going.” 

“
I hate that you’ll be
working all night.” 

“
Me too, swing shift used to
work for me, but now that I have you, I would rather only work
dayshift.” Alec stands and he pulls me up with him. We walk to the
door with my arms wrapped around his waist. 

“
Lock up and call 911 if you
have any problems; then call me on my cell phone.” 

“
Alec, I’m a grown woman and
this isn’t my first time staying home alone.” 

“
I know, but I want to make
sure my family is safe. I love you, and call me if you need
me.” 

He called us his family and I want to cry. My
nose tingles and I rub it to make it stop. “I will and I love you,
too. Be careful and have a great night.” 

“
I will. Make sure you lock
up, Emma.” 

I shower before getting the kids up for
school. I decide on a white sweater dress with black heeled boots.
I leave my long blond hair down and straight. I am shocked when I
walk out of the bedroom and Alec is home. He is in the living room
talking to Raelynn about staying with us for a while. He speaks
very sweetly to her and tells her how much he cares for me and
James. I don’t interrupt, and I stay back and listen to their
conversation. Rae asks will I be her new mom, and I can’t hear what
he says. I clear my throat before walking in the room where they
are.

“
There you are.” I smile as
I walk over to Raelynn. “I didn’t expect you home so soon,” I say,
smiling at Alec. 

Alec stands and kisses me. “I rushed home
after work. I even had time to stop by the house to get some things
first. You look gorgeous.” 

“
Thank you, I hope you got
the taekwondo uniforms for tonight?” 

“
Yep, it’s the first thing I
grabbed.”

I sit down beside Rae and give her a good
morning hug. “Raelynn, would you and your dad like to stay here
with James and me for awhile?” 

“
Can I sleep in James’
room?” 

I look back at Alec and he has a raised brow.
I ask Rae, “Do you want to sleep in James’ room?” 

“
Yep, he’s going to be my
brother.” 

“
Well, then, yes, you can
sleep in his room,” I say and then add, “Raelynn?” 

“
Yes,
Emma?” 

“
Raelynn,” Alec says,
clearing his throat. “Don’t tell anyone about James being your
brother, just yet.” 

“
Ok, daddy. Can I wake up my
brother, now?” she asks, as she stands up and skips out of the
room. 

I look at Alec and he looks at me. “What just
happened?” I ask. 

“
I think Rae just proposed
to you for me.” 

“
Either that, or she just
adopted James into your family.” 

“
I’m good with either of
those.” Alec stands and walks out of the room. 

I stand there and I try to figure out what
just happened. I decide I better go and get James ready for school.
When I walk into James’ bedroom, Alec is standing at his closet.
“What do you want to wear today?” Alec asks while looking in the
closet.