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Part 3 in the Kids series!
By: Lauren Freeman
That night's dinner lasted longer then any other dinner we have ever had. It started quietly, everyone grabbing the food they wanted, but no one was really hungry, well no one old enough to really know what was going on. Lilly, was stuffing her face not even looking up to see why know one else was eating. I decided that if we were going to find out anything, I needed to start.
"Why did you leave?" Okay, maybe not the best question to ask first thing, but it's the question that's been wearing down on me since he left.
"Oh, okay." He paused for a couple of minutes, before really answering me. "I'm really not sure. I kept having these nightmares..."
"Dreams!!! You left us because of dreams?" Amy shouted, about to get up and leave. I put my hand on hers, and looked into her eyes, telling her to calm down and stay put. She nodded, and clamped her mouth shut. I looked at Jim.
"Go on."
"I was having these nightmares, you all were in them, and I kept seeing myself turning into my father, and splitting you two apart, and...have you met your grandfather?" I just glared at him, he was so avoiding my question. Jonny answered him.
"Yeah, we have met both grandpa Ellison, and Uncle Steven. They come and visit for Christmas. Dad has told us about your child hood, and stuff, so I guess I can see where your coming from, but...your not answering dad's question. You knew what not to do, how to avoid doing what he did, you did not have to leave, so answer dad's question, why did you leave?"
"Your right, that's not why I left. The truth is I could not take it. It was suddenly way to much to handle."
"You, Mr. Army Ranger, could not handle kids?"
"What? Yeah I could handle the kids, just not alone. Mary and I were getting a divorce, she kept insisting that I take the kids, but I kept insisting that..." I'm sorry I had to interrupt!
"A DIVORCE?!? You and Mary were in the process of getting a divorce? Where was I?"
"You were taking care of the kids. When you took the kids to the park, we were talking things out with our lawyer. We had planned to tell you about it later. Then I got a call from an old friend who had cancer, she asked me to come help her through it, I needed to get away anyways, so I said yes. Things happened fast after that. I told Mary, that I was leaving for a while; we could finish the divorce papers via mail. This only served to make her mad, before I knew it; Mary had all my things in bags and had them out on the front porch. She told that I was never to come back. I was furious and did not even say goodbye to the kids, before I found myself on a plane to New Mexico. That's when the guilt started to poor in. I kept saying, I'll call Blair when I get there. But there was someone they're waiting to take me to the hospital. So I said I would call you when I got to the hospital. But I didn't, I stayed by Julie's bedside for three months, while she went in and out of chemo. By then I thought you would be to mad to talk."
Okay, so let me get this straight, Mary kicked you out, you left, but not before resigning from the Cascade PD. You did not call..."
"I resigned from the PD before she kicked me out."
"Why did you feel you could not tell me you and Mary were having problems? And why did Mary say she did not know where you went?"
"We were going to when we could get you alone. When you came over it was always to be with the kids. And Mary did not know where I was going, she never asked, I never told."
"She was devastated when you left, you know."
"I was devastated when I left."
"What about the divorce, you said you were going to finish it by mail."
"We did not have to, we managed to finish it the day I left. The rest was up to the court."
"Okay, so you left for...New Mexico, and was afraid to call...which I still don't bye, by the way, what happened after your friend finished her chemo?"
"Well at that point, I had gone into self pity mode. I was stupid, and thought you would not help me out, cause I had just left you, and still had not called, so I stayed with Julia. I got a job at the local PD and things went from there."
"So, did you and Julia get married?" Amy, yes Amy asked! I just sat there shocked.
"No, we were good friends, we never let it go past that."
"So why did you come back then?" Now that was more the Amy I know.
"She was re-diagnosed with cancer last year. She died three months ago. For the past two months I have been getting everything together, and deciding what I wanted to do now. It did not take me long, to figure out I wanted to see my kids and best friend again." I just nodded. "So you say my dad and brother come to visit for Christmas?"
"Yeah, I thought it was weird at first, I mean your dad and I were never all that...friendly towards each other. But when Mary died, I made sure that I was the one to call him. We got to talk and he agreed that I should keep the kids. He wasn't all that happy when we moved to Colorado, but I quickly let him know that he was welcome here anytime he wanted. Something went for Steven. So that Christmas, they came baring lot's of gifts. We were expecting them, so we had lots of gifts to. We have become good friends since then, and somehow, it became tradition for them to come during Christmas. When Simon moved down here, he joined the celebration. And then when Daryl moved down here to work for the local PD, he joined us also. Oh, and Sally comes for Christmas also, she loves to tell stories about you and your brother, man. I know everything you did as a kid!" I could not help but smile. We would talk more about why he left and felt he could not call later. The conversation eased after that. Sam took Lilly to gymnastics, and came back an hour later with a very tired young lady. After I put Lilly to bed we all took our conversations to the living room. Amy was still not talking much, but she stopped asking to be excused, I felt that was a positive sign.
Part 3 in the Kids series!
By: Lauren Freeman
That night's dinner lasted longer then any other dinner we have ever had. It started quietly, everyone grabbing the food they wanted, but no one was really hungry, well no one old enough to really know what was going on. Lilly, was stuffing her face not even looking up to see why know one else was eating. I decided that if we were going to find out anything, I needed to start.
"Why did you leave?" Okay, maybe not the best question to ask first thing, but it's the question that's been wearing down on me since he left.
"Oh, okay." He paused for a couple of minutes, before really answering me. "I'm really not sure. I kept having these nightmares..."
"Dreams!!! You left us because of dreams?" Amy shouted, about to get up and leave. I put my hand on hers, and looked into her eyes, telling her to calm down and stay put. She nodded, and clamped her mouth shut. I looked at Jim.
"Go on."
"I was having these nightmares, you all were in them, and I kept seeing myself turning into my father, and splitting you two apart, and...have you met your grandfather?" I just glared at him, he was so avoiding my question. Jonny answered him.
"Yeah, we have met both grandpa Ellison, and Uncle Steven. They come and visit for Christmas. Dad has told us about your child hood, and stuff, so I guess I can see where your coming from, but...your not answering dad's question. You knew what not to do, how to avoid doing what he did, you did not have to leave, so answer dad's question, why did you leave?"
"Your right, that's not why I left. The truth is I could not take it. It was suddenly way to much to handle."
"You, Mr. Army Ranger, could not handle kids?"
"What? Yeah I could handle the kids, just not alone. Mary and I were getting a divorce, she kept insisting that I take the kids, but I kept insisting that..." I'm sorry I had to interrupt!
"A DIVORCE?!? You and Mary were in the process of getting a divorce? Where was I?"
"You were taking care of the kids. When you took the kids to the park, we were talking things out with our lawyer. We had planned to tell you about it later. Then I got a call from an old friend who had cancer, she asked me to come help her through it, I needed to get away anyways, so I said yes. Things happened fast after that. I told Mary, that I was leaving for a while; we could finish the divorce papers via mail. This only served to make her mad, before I knew it; Mary had all my things in bags and had them out on the front porch. She told that I was never to come back. I was furious and did not even say goodbye to the kids, before I found myself on a plane to New Mexico. That's when the guilt started to poor in. I kept saying, I'll call Blair when I get there. But there was someone they're waiting to take me to the hospital. So I said I would call you when I got to the hospital. But I didn't, I stayed by Julie's bedside for three months, while she went in and out of chemo. By then I thought you would be to mad to talk."
Okay, so let me get this straight, Mary kicked you out, you left, but not before resigning from the Cascade PD. You did not call..."
"I resigned from the PD before she kicked me out."
"Why did you feel you could not tell me you and Mary were having problems? And why did Mary say she did not know where you went?"
"We were going to when we could get you alone. When you came over it was always to be with the kids. And Mary did not know where I was going, she never asked, I never told."
"She was devastated when you left, you know."
"I was devastated when I left."
"What about the divorce, you said you were going to finish it by mail."
"We did not have to, we managed to finish it the day I left. The rest was up to the court."
"Okay, so you left for...New Mexico, and was afraid to call...which I still don't bye, by the way, what happened after your friend finished her chemo?"
"Well at that point, I had gone into self pity mode. I was stupid, and thought you would not help me out, cause I had just left you, and still had not called, so I stayed with Julia. I got a job at the local PD and things went from there."
"So, did you and Julia get married?" Amy, yes Amy asked! I just sat there shocked.
"No, we were good friends, we never let it go past that."
"So why did you come back then?" Now that was more the Amy I know.
"She was re-diagnosed with cancer last year. She died three months ago. For the past two months I have been getting everything together, and deciding what I wanted to do now. It did not take me long, to figure out I wanted to see my kids and best friend again." I just nodded. "So you say my dad and brother come to visit for Christmas?"
"Yeah, I thought it was weird at first, I mean your dad and I were never all that...friendly towards each other. But when Mary died, I made sure that I was the one to call him. We got to talk and he agreed that I should keep the kids. He wasn't all that happy when we moved to Colorado, but I quickly let him know that he was welcome here anytime he wanted. Something went for Steven. So that Christmas, they came baring lot's of gifts. We were expecting them, so we had lots of gifts to. We have become good friends since then, and somehow, it became tradition for them to come during Christmas. When Simon moved down here, he joined the celebration. And then when Daryl moved down here to work for the local PD, he joined us also. Oh, and Sally comes for Christmas also, she loves to tell stories about you and your brother, man. I know everything you did as a kid!" I could not help but smile. We would talk more about why he left and felt he could not call later. The conversation eased after that. Sam took Lilly to gymnastics, and came back an hour later with a very tired young lady. After I put Lilly to bed we all took our conversations to the living room. Amy was still not talking much, but she stopped asking to be excused, I felt that was a positive sign.