Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Luke glanced at me.
“I can go to the other room,” I rushed out.
“No, don’t. I just didn’t realize you’d talked to the kids about this.”
“Why would he talk to us about your and Mom’s relationship?” Griff asked, taking a seat next to Darwin, glaring at his father. “What would have been the point of that?”
There was no missing that we were all on one side of the table, and Luke was on the other. And I wished that one of them had made the choice to sit with him, but I couldn’t make them.
It occurred to me that Luke, as well as Caitlyn, had been a great parent. They had wonderful kids, so it followed. But it was also possible that Caitlyn had been parenting alone while Luke went out and was the breadwinner. I knew she had returned to work when Tatum went into the first grade, first part-time, then full-time, but I wondered if the kids were the result of her solo efforts and I was giving Luke too much credit. I wanted to ask, but it wasn’t my place. And after Caitlyn left, Luke had provided for his children but not been there emotionally, so perhaps that’s when the schism happened.
“Then how did you know she cheated?”
“Because we all lived here when it happened,” Griff revealed to his father. “We all heard the yelling and the fights.”
I thought Griff might have, but it seemed they all bore witness.
Griff continued, “I told Tatum and Dar you guys were getting a divorce and that we’d have to decide if we wanted to live with Mom and her new husband and her new baby, or with you.”
Luke looked over at me like he was drowning and needed a lifeline.
“We have talked a lot about WITSEC,” I advised him. “And what their mother had to decide about their future and hers.”
“Oh?”
“She had no choice but to leave, and she had Mr. Conti and the baby to think about, as well as whether to take the kids with her. As you said, you two would have gotten a divorce anyway, but you wouldn’t have simply allowed Griff and Dar and Tatum to be taken away from you. You would have fought for them.”
“I certainly would have.”
“You would’ve?” Griff asked, sounding unsure.
Luke got up then, startling everyone, and I smiled, watching them all stare at their father. Finally, we would have some answers.
“I know I’ve been closed off since your mother left,” he began, starting to pace. “I’ve missed things, I’ve been unavailable, and yes, that was really bad. And it doesn’t matter that I was going through my own crap, because that’s not fair to you guys. But what was happening with me had to do mostly with being filled with rage over her choices, and never, ever, with not wanting you guys.”
All three of them were watching him with wide eyes.
“I just, I—” He glanced at me again for help.
“When your mother made the choice to begin a relationship with Mr. Conti, that, in turn, ended the relationship with your father, which he knew would then change your family because living arrangements would be altered.”
“Yes,” he said with a sigh. “That’s it.”
“You weren’t mad at us?” Tatum was making sure.
“Oh my God, no. And no way I’d have allowed any of you to go with your mother, and they told me, if I fought her for custody, then none of you would be able to go. There can’t be an ongoing court case for people in WITSEC that is not related to the reason you’re in WITSEC.”
I smiled at him. “You made that far more convoluted than it needed to be.”
He nodded emphatically. “Yes, I did.”
“What?” Griff asked.
I pointed to his son, and Luke laughed. It was a very good sound.
“Basically, your parents could not be having a custody battle and your mother still be allowed into witness protection.”
The chorus of ohs made me chuckle.
After a couple of moments of contemplative silence, Darwin spoke up. “If you wanted us with you, why were you never around?”
“Because even though I was the main breadwinner, Mom’s income helped with things like insurance and bills. I had to pick up the slack, so I ended up missing plays and parent-teacher nights, open houses, science fairs, and almost all your games,” he said to Griff. “I’m so sorry, to all of you. I want to be there, but I haven’t been able to be, not if I want you to have the life you’ve always had. That’s why this job I was on was so important, because now I can stop working so much and carve out more family time.”
Not one of the kids said a word.
“I hired a foreman as well, which means when emergencies happen, I won’t be the one who always has to take care of them.”