Rose

I pull up into the car pool lane and see my kids standing there with their backpacks hanging off on their shoulders and half at their elbows. They spot my CR-V and charge towards me, stopping just fast enough to open the door and dive in with injury. They were a reckless lot, but hey, they are my kids.

They buckle themselves in their seats and off we go to our cozy, little home. The entire ride home Annamarie, my seven-year-old daughter chatters about her day with her first grade teacher and how silly she is for making her write out Annamarie Elizabeth Belikova. She then goes on to tell me that she threw her composition book on the floor and refused to write a single word after her first name. God she was too much like me some times.

My son, ten-year-old Colton, tells me that when he wrote his name, it was easy. How hard was it for him, a smart, little boy, write out Colton Dimitri Belikov? He thought it was a piece of cake. He then tells me that his friends and he played ninja at recess and got yelled at when he tried to kick and punch like his daddy taught him.

"Colton, your daddy said not to use your moves on other kids. It's not nice," I chastise in a stern but gentle voice.

"But Mama! Austin was picking on Anna!" He throws his hands up in the air in exasperation. He is normally the levelheaded one, but when it comes to his sister, he'll do anything to protect her.

"That doesn't mean that you can beat up the other kids, Hun," I laugh. This only makes him slump in his seat and glare out the window. His brown eyes piercing the glass and his brown, shaggy hair falls into his face.

I pull into my garage and the kids and I get out of the car. They run up to their rooms to start packing their bags. They are so excited to go to their dad's. They only get to see him every other week since the divorce two years ago, and I know that they hate not having both parents in the same house anymore.

While they kids are packing, I go to the kitchen and check my messages. I had been out running errands all day today and I know that at least one of the messages on the machine was from Lissa. Sure enough, first one was from her.

Rose! Hey! I'm sorry that I missed you, you must be out running around. I was just calling to see if you wanted to hang out with Mia and I tonight. No guys allowed so it's a GNO! Call me back if you want to come. Love you!

I shake my head as the message cuts off. I grab a pen and write on my hand to call Lissa. I'll probably do that after I drop off the kids. I press a button on the machine and listen for the last message. I freeze when I hear his voice.

Um, hi, Rose. I might be a little late getting to the park. The office is holding some kind of meeting with CEO's and everything so if I don't show up on time don't freak out. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll see you later. Bye.

When the message comes to an end, I delete it immediately. I take a deep breath before going to check on my kids. Annamarie is ready to go and grabbing her jacket as she leaves her room. Colton is still hunting for his church shoes which are under his desk. I grab them and shove them into his bag. He looks up at me sheepishly and smiles.

"Thanks Mom."

I pat his back and smile back. "You're welcome Buddy."

I grab my keys off the counter and the three of us make out way to the car. The kids pile into the backseat and we pull out of the garage. We head to the park in town to meet their dad.

Every other Friday

It's toys and clothes and backpacks

Is everybody in? Okay, let's go see Dad

Same time in the same spot

Corner of the same old parking lot

Half the hugs and kisses, they are always sad

I pull into the parking lot in the spot that Dimitri and I picked out when the judge said that the kids would be passed back and forth every other week. I park my car and turn my body in the seat to look into the back seat easily.

Annamarie is reading a small chapter book for her Accelerated Reading homework while Colton played his Gameboy that Lissa gave him two Christmases ago. They looked so happy and innocent. I hate that they have to deal with my and Dimitri's differences.

I remember seeing their faces after a fight or when I would come back home from storming out an hour before. I would hold my daughter tightly as she cried into my shoulder and yelling at me for leaving her. She knew that I was just taking a run around the block to burn off some steam, but the fear of me never walking back through the door scared her to pieces back then.

Things were great between Dimitri and I. We had fallen in love during our high school days and became engaged our junior year in college. We got married shortly after graduation and I got pregnant with Colton about a year after that. Three years later, Annamarie came along and we thought things couldn't be any better. Boy, weren't we wrong.

Dimitri got promoted in the company that he worked at, Guardians and Company. The company, a nation-wide corparation that made home security devices, got major sales after the 9/11 Attack. That made Dimitri work more and that led to me taking care of everything else. It wasn't a bad thing, it's just that things became too stretched out. If one of us came home irritated, whether it be from work, running errands, or dealing with a kid that wasn't cooperating, we took it out on each other. Things just got worse as the years went by and we decided that it was best if we separated.

Now, two years later, we are passing kids off to each other. We both work our jobs, take the kids to school, go to soccer games and gymnastic meets, and doctor appointments. We work well like this, but sometimes it would be nice if I wasn't alone. Then again, we saw how well that worked out the first time.

We trade a couple words

And looks and kids again

Every other weekend

I hope you like it! I don't own anything! -SagWarrior