He couldn't just walk away! We had started a life together, we had a dog, a house with a white picket fence, and we were well on our way to having 2.6 children. We were the 'American Dream'; he wouldn't just walk away from all of that! His son, if he was going to stay for any reason it would be for his son. Little Alexander, the boy with honey locks and eyes as green as emeralds, was a carbon copy of his father. I looked down at my little prince's crown of golden curls and slowly picked him up.
"Our king may abandon us, but you will always be my little prince and I will love you till the end of the world." I vowed with a shaky whisper.
"Mommy, I want Daddy." Alex whined in a voice that shook with emotion.
"He will be back, don't you worry." I smiled with wet eyes.
My son would not see me cry, not here, not today, not over this.
"Mommy, is Daddy going to play a game with me again?" Alex asked with genuine curiosity.
"Yes honey. What game do you want to play when he gets home?"
"Race Car!" He shouted with glee as he jut his little fist out in front of him.
I could not control the laugh that erupted from my mouth as he started making little engine-like sounds.
"I can play that game right now if you want?" I suggested without much hope. Stephen had always been better at those games than I had.
"No Mommy!" He exclaimed as if I had made the most ridiculous suggestion ever. "I want to play a different game with you! I want to play Robin Hood!" He cried as he attempted to wiggle out of my grasp.
I sighed, we had played this game for hours before I said Lady Marian had to be excused to go make dinner.
"Okay, who will I play this time? Will I be Robin Hood?" I asked jokingly.
"No, Mommy! You are Lady Marian." He explained as if I was possibly the silliest person ever.
"Oh yes that's right I forgot!" I giggled. "But I can only play for five minutes and then I have to go make dinner!"
"Yay!" he cried as he successfully wormed his way out of my arms and ran off to his playroom.
I took the briefest of moments to allow my heart to fill with grief before I went off to play. Five minutes later I was bedecked in a plastic tiara with diamantes encrusted over the majority of it and Alexander was sporting the Robin Hood hat I had made for him last Halloween, his toy bow and arrow were grasped firmly in his hands.
"Don't worry Lady Marian, I save you!" He called as he ran over and wrapped his little arms around my neck.
"Thank you my little prince of thieves! I need to go but we can play a litt-" my words were cut off as I heard the door slam. "Stay here Alexander. I need to talk to your father for a minute."
He bobbed his little head and I slowly headed out to meet my husband. As soon as Stephen saw me he sneered.
"Honey, I'm home." He called sarcastically.
"Where were you?"
"None of your concern." He stated sharply.
My heart wanted to break; there was no love in his voice.
"You didn't come home last night. You smell like a bar and a cheap hooker. Go take a shower before Alex sees you." I demanded quietly. "And I am your wife, you better believe it's my concern when my husband, father of my child, doesn't come home."
"How do I know he is even mine, Catherine?" He bit out without looking up.
I was stunned. How could he be questioning Alex's legitimacy? I opened my mouth to speak but closed it when I realised I didn't have the words.
"I have seen the way you look at other men. I would be no surprise to me if you had another on the side!" he roared.
"In our six years of marriage I have never looked at another man! And in the five years we dated I could not bother to even think of a man that compared to you! How dare you accuse me of cheating when you come home every other night to sleep in our bed smelling of other women?" I yelled. "I let it slide because of Alex, I wanted him to have his father, despite how unfaithful you are to me, but if this is how you treat me I can guarantee you will never see him again!"
"There is no need for idle threats, Catherine, I have already packed. I don't plan on seeing either of you again." He declared as he moved to head up the stairs where I knew his bags were packed.
"Stephen, if you leave, if you abandon this family I will make sure you never see a cent in the divorce!" I called, ashamed that I had even stooped so low as to suggest he would stay because of my money.
"Take it, Catherine, take the house and the cars and the money. Take all of it, and take your son as well!" he called back with a venom I had never heard from him before.
"God damn it, Stephen! How could you do this to us, to Alex? He's three years old and thinks you are a god! How do I explain to him that his father had abandoned him and never wants to see him again?" I cried.
"Explain however you wish Catherine, it's not my responsibility anymore." He stated as he made his way back down the stairs with several bags. "I will send someone over to come pick up the rest of my things and give you the papers. I have had enough of this, of you, to last me a lifetime."
I could say nothing as tears ran down my face. I turned away and flinched when I heard the door slam shut behind him. I turned slightly when I heard a little cry from the corner out of the corner of my eye I saw a small red feather dash away. I grimaced as I realised that Alex had seen something.
"Alex, Alex honey. It's okay; you just saw Mommy and Daddy fighting, it's okay." I repeated, still unsure about how I would explain to him what happened.
"Mommy, where is Daddy going?" he asked with tears staining his cheeks.
"Oh, baby, he just needs to be alone for a while." I explained softly.
"Is he coming back?"
"I don't know, Love, I really don't know." I whispered as I started to cry again.
I bowed my head unwilling to let Alex see how sad I was. I felt a small pair of arms wrap around my neck and a puff of hair rest on my shoulder.
"Don't cry Mommy, I love you." He stated in the way only three year olds can.
"I love you too, my little prince. I love you so much and I promise that I will love you forever and ever and ever."
"Mommy, I'm hungry." He whispered.
"How about pizza?" I suggested after a moment. Any desire I once had to toil around in the kitchen had left me and all I wanted was to see Alex smile.
"Mommy, Chucky Cheese?" He asked excitedly.
"Sure, Love, that sounds like so much fun. I'm going to invite Lucca and Stephanie too."
"Yay! Lucca!" Alex shouted as he moved off to find the toys he wanted to bring.
I called my sister and we agreed to meet up at the Chucky Cheese. I left everything very vague about what happened with Stephen but made it clear that we needed to talk. An hour later our two young boys had devoured an entire pizza and were waiting impatiently for us to get up and play games. Lucca, who had just turned six, had already won several tickets and Alex looked on in quiet jealousy. I had explained the situation to Stephanie and she had responded with a quick and decisive, good riddance. She had never liked him form the moment I had brought him home my first year of Uni.
"The way I see it this is your chance to have a little freedom. Even when Stephen was loyal to you he would never let you make your own decisions. You need a chance to be free." She insisted over the blaring music.
"I know. I don't even think I'm really sad about him leaving, our relationship has been over for a while, but I wanted Alex to have a whole family like you and Jonathon." I insisted.
She was my older sister and I did everything to try and emulate her for some reason I had never quite felt as if we were on the same playing field. Stephanie had always been so happy with her completely ordinary life, she knew at age ten that she wanted nothing more than to be a mother and wife. When I was ten I wanted to climb a mountain and see the world. I was about to expand on my thoughts when I felt a tugging at my sleeve.
"Mommy, play now?" Alex asked with big eyes.
He knew every trick to make me give him whatever he wanted.
"Yes, Love, play now." I smiled before looking back at Stephanie who was rolling her eyes.
The following three weeks were a constant party for Alex. I tried everything to keep him busy and not thinking about Stephen. It worked for the most part and I tended to feed off of his positive emotions. The divorce was quick because while we had combined most of our income Stephen agreed to ask for nothing if he did not have to pay child support. I signed the papers as soon as I received them; I had no wish to be legally bound to a man that wanted nothing to do with his son.
On one unseasonably warm afternoon in April I agreed to camp-out in the back yard. Alex gathered all of his Robin Hood gear and insisted I play Lady Marian while we camped out. I indulged him and found the dress I had worn for Halloween and placed the tiara on my head before helping Alex into his own costume.
We had a night of cooking hotdogs on a small camp stove and making s'mores. It was not until after I had read him a story and tucked him into his small sleeping bag that I heard him ask.
"Mommy, are you going to find a new daddy?"
I wanted to cry at the question but remained smiling.
"Why do you think I am going to find a new daddy?" I asked.
"That's what Lucca said. That my Daddy doesn't want to see me again and you are going to find a new daddy for me." He told me with an incredibly serious face.
"Daddy is just really mad right now but I think he will want to see you again." I reassured him while making a mental note to talk to my sister about her son.
"But I want you to find a new daddy that will play games with me and teach me about the outdoors." Alex demanded in a soft voice.
"Okay, Love, I am going to work very hard to find you a new daddy that will teach you all about the outdoors." I nodded my head and gently pushed on his shoulder. "It's time to go to bed now but in the morning we can have pancakes!" I smiled.
This seemed to be enough for Alex as he placed his little head on the pillow and closed his eyes. It took me a fair amount longer to fall asleep but I finally drifted off some place between amused by Alex's request and heart broken that he thought his father never wanted to see him again.
When I woke up a blinding light assaulted me. At first I could think of nothing save for covering my eyes but after the first seconds were over I realised that the blinding light was coming from the sun and should not have been there at all. We were sleeping in a tent in the backyard. I looked around and saw Alex still asleep but rather than tucked into his Buzz Lightyear sleeping bag he was cuddled up in the long grass. As I continued to look around I realised we were no longer in our backyard, instead we were on a small grassy hill that overlooked several other hills.
"Where are we?" I asked out loud not expecting an answer.
"Well it would appear to me that you are less than a days walk to the Shire." Came an old wizened voice from behind me.
I jumped about a foot in the air and clutched at my heart. When I turned I saw an old man dress in a strange grey dress with a matching wizards hat.
"Good God, man!" I cried. "Give a girl some warning would ya!"
"My apologies." The old man bowed his head slightly. "It was certainly not my intention to alarm you. My name is Gandalf, Gandalf the Grey"
"Well, I am Catherine, the -" I paused to look down at my clothing; I was still wearing my pink Lady Marian costume. "The pink?"
I then realised that the tiara I was wearing last night was still lodged in my hair and I attempted to wrestle it out while the man named Gandalf looked at me and let out a short burst of laughter.
"I did not address myself by the colour of clothing I wear but rather by my title." He explained softly.
"Oh, well in that case, I'm Catherine, just plain Catherine, and this is my son Alexander." I introduced again.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Gandalf nodded his head again this time at the now awake Alexander.
Alex just stared at him and waved before placing his Robin Hood Hat back on his head and collecting the toy bow and arrow from his side and rushing over to cling on my leg.
"Did you say where we were?" I asked looking around desperately for a landmark I would recognise.
"Yes, these are the hills of the Shire. You are about a half days travel to Hobbiton." He explained slowly.
My mind was moving one hundred miles a minute and still that seemed too slow. I had never heard of the places he mentioned but knew I would have to act fast if I wanted to keep Alex calm.
"Mommy, you said we would have pancakes!" Alex whispered into my leg.
"We will I promise." I whispered back before turning to Gandalf again.
"Is there a place to eat in Hobbiton, a restaurant maybe?" I asked hopefully.
"There is no finer place to enjoy a meal than with a hobbit. I am headed there now if you wish to accompany me."
"Yes, thank you. That sounds perfect. Alex did you hear that? We are going on an Adventure to find pancakes!" I tried to make my voice sound cheery but on the inside I was having a meltdown and my voice came out sounding mechanical.
"Is Lucca coming?"
"No, he has his own pancakes to find!" I laughed.
"Can you carry me?" He asked sweetly.
"Yes I can would you like a piggy back ride or a normal ride?"
He thought about the question for a minute before answering with a very serious face.
"I'm Robin Hood and Robin Hood only likes normal rides!"
"Well I am Lady Marian and Lady Marian only gives normal rides!" I exclaimed before leaning over and scooping him up.
I looked to Gandalf for directions and he set off at a reasonable pace down a dusty road that looked near so narrow I hardly believe a car could fit on the road.
"Is this Amish country?" I asked, that would explain the lack of cars or much of anything else. Though I still could not account for how we got here.
"I do not believe I am aware of this Amish country, though this is a simple place." Gandalf responded with a slight smile.
I needed to find a way home but I was swiftly falling in love with the green rolling hills and absence of cars and planes.
AN: I guys/gals! I started writing this one but I'm not really sure if it's going to work. So I need some feedback on if I should continue or which direction I should go in with this one. Please let me know if this is even somewhat interesting. I was looking around a little and I didn't see anything quite like this out there yet so if anything I can be somewhat original.