Mace

Mace left the restaurant and drove directly to his ex-wife's house. Their divorce, now three years old, had been angry at best and bitter at worst. Even worse, Mace thought to himself as he steered through achingly familiar streets, his little girl had been caught in the middle. His ex, Jennifer, had used the child as a pawn to get more alimony from her ex-husband as his fame grew when the Icarus II project was announced. Mace, fearing that he would lose his daughter, instructed his lawyer to give Jennifer whatever she wanted. In the end, Mace was left with nothing, but he won joint custody with his daughter and that was all he wanted.

Parking across the street from his old home, Mace killed the engine and lights and stared into the darkness. After this visit, he would not see his little girl again for three years. She would be nine years old then. Would she remember him? Would that give Jennifer enough time to turn his daughter against him? Would Jennifer try to replace him with another man? Just the thought of that set his teeth on edge. He knew that his daughter would one day grow up and get married, but he never wanted another man to act as her father. Taking a deep breath, Mace got out of the door and walked across the street to his ex-wife's house. As he got ready to knock on the door, it suddenly swung open to reveal Jennifer. Mace had avoided any contact with his ex-wife during his last three months of training. He had his sister bring his little girl to visit him at his new apartment. For tonight's visit, Jennifer had requested that Mace visit their daughter at their old home. Mace, not wanting a confrontation before he left, agreed to visit his daughter there. Mace's sister encouraged him to try and get along with Jennifer and visit his child at her own home. After all, his sister reasoned, time heals all wounds.

His sister had never been cheated on. For the past two years, Mace had tried to block out the image of his ex-wife straddling his best friend on their martial bed. Jennifer had begged Mace for forgiveness saying that his long work hours had left her hungry for attention. Mace was a doggedly loyal man to whatever he committed himself to, but he could not forgive her. He filed for divorce and that is when things turned ugly. Jennifer had kept Mace from seeing his daughter for six months. Even worse, she moved her new lover, Mace's ex-best friend into their home. Mace had nearly beaten the guy to death when he found out. He would never forget the look on his daughter's face. She was cowering in the corner as Mace pummeled her godfather while his wife was screaming into the phone that Mace was going to kill them all. She was so afraid that night and Mace could barely look himself in the mirror afterward. Once he gave in to Jennifer's demands, Mace spent as much time as possible rebuilding his relationship with his daughter. Saying good-bye, Mace reflected as time wound down, was going to be painful.

Yet, nothing was going to be as painful as seeing his ex-wife. Jennifer stood in the door frame looking at Mace and he had to admit that she was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Smiling wanly at him, Jennifer stood aside and gestured for Mace to come in. Mace walked in and stood in the hallway. Jennifer closed the door and turned to her ex-husband and for a moment the two stared at each other. Finally, Mace broke the silence.

"Where's Trisha?" he asked, trying to keep his annoyance out of his voice. "I wanted to see her before she went to bed."

"She's upstairs in her bedroom." replied Jennifer, looking at Mace as though she had never seen him before.

Mace started up the stairs when Jennifer put a restraining hand on his arm. Mace looked down and jerked his hand away. Her touch reminded him of how much he hated her and how long it had been since he had had sex. Mace had tried to date other women, but his rage at his ex-wife had made that impossible. Jennifer's touch reminded him that he still had sexual needs. Maybe after visiting with his little girl, he would go and find a woman for one last fling before three years of imposed abstinence. His neighbor, Jessica, had always offered to bed him whenever he needed it. Yet Mace somehow suspected that their fling would find its way to the National Enquirer.

"Mace" said Jennifer, "before you see Trish, I need to say something to you."

Mace sighed deeply. He really didn't want to have a conversation with his ex-wife. He was done talking to her. Mace was secretly relishing the day his daughter turned 18. That would be the day he wouldn't have to deal with Jennifer anymore.

Mace glared at Jennifer. "What is it?" "I don't have a lot of time before Trish goes to bed."

Jennifer glared back. "This will only take a minute."

Mace walked back down the stairs and stood in front of his ex-wife. "What?"

"Trish loves you." said Jennifer spreading his arms. "She wants to know that you are coming back."

Mace glared at his ex-wife. "Of course, I'm coming back." "Why wouldn't I?"

Jennifer sighed and shook her head. "Mace, you're going to be gone for years." "It is going to be easy for her to lose track of time."

"It won't be so easy for her to lose track of time." retorted Mace through gritted teeth, "if you remind her that she has a father who is crossing the universe to keep her alive."

Jennifer cocked her head to one side and looked at Mace as if she had never really seen him before.

"Are you really doing it for her?" said Jennifer "or are you doing it to get away from me?"

Mace felt his blood boil. Jennifer knew all of his weak spots and targeted them beautifully. He walked over to his ex-wife until they were nearly body-to-body. It took all of his control not to hit her. He had never hit a woman in his life, but now Jennifer had gone too far.

"Trish is my life." said Mace trying to calm himself. "I am doing this for her." Turning back to the stairs, Mace paused at the first step and looked at Jennifer. "I stopped caring about you a long time ago when you betrayed me." Without looking back, Mace walked up the stairs to his daughter's room. Gently, he knocked on her door. Hearing her soft voice call come in, Mace opened the door and walked in.

Trish was sitting on her bed reading a book when Mace walked in. She looked up and her face broke into a wide grin.

"Daddy!" she screamed and ran into Mace's arms. He scooped her up and buried his face in her hair. He never wanted to let her go and never wanted this moment to end. "Daddy," she whispered, "I didn't think you were coming."

Mace gently placed his daughter on the bed and looked her in the eye. "I would never miss out on seeing you, baby."

"But daddy," said Trish tearfully, "you were gone before." "You were gone for a long time. Mommy says that you are leaving again."

Mace winced that Trish still remembered his six month absence from her life. Now, he was leaving her for even longer. Would she remember him when he returned? Would she hate him for leaving? Would she understand why he was going? Mace looked at his crying daughter and felt a million thoughts going through his head. He leaned over and gently wiped her tears away. Then he sat on the bed beside her.

"Baby," he began quietly, "I am leaving again, but I am going to the sun." "Do you know what the sun is?"

She nodded and seemed to be calming down, so Mace continued.

"The sun is sick and needs our help, so my friends and I are going to help it."

"But why do you have to go?" asked Trish.

"Because my friends and I are the best people to help the star" replied Mace.

"Are you going to be gone a long time?" asked Trish.

"Yes," said Mace softly stroking her hair, "But I will be thinking of you every day." "I promise that I won't lose track of time."

Trish smiled and wrapped her arms around her father. Mace picked up his daughter and sat on her bed. Leaning against her headboard, he cradled her in his arms. Together, father and daughter fell asleep for the last time.