Emily felt her jaw clench as her ex escorted his new fiancé out of the house, and she turned to look at her children. "You two go back up to your room, ok? I need to talk with your father."
The seven year old paused. She knew her mother never used the word 'father' unless she was angry. "What's wrong, mommy?"
"Nothing Kay, I just need to speak with your father alone." She looked down to her youngest and nodded at the look she was being given. "You too Ella. Upstairs, ok?"
Ella looked to her mother with a frown. "I don't like her neither, mommy."
Emily hid her smile, feeling as proud as ever of her little girl as she watched her run back up the steps of her daddy's home. Spinning on her heel, the brunette mother of three darkened her gaze on the man she loved as he made his way back over to her. "A fiancé?"
Aaron slowly nodded his head. "As of last week."
The mother of three angrily shook her head. "I cannot believe you," she seethed. "You got engaged a year after we were divorced? And to a woman who I haven't even met before? What in the hell were you thinking, Aaron?"
Aaron's eyes hardened on his ex. "I was thinking that it was time to move on, Emily."
"The least you could have done was bring her to meet me before meeting the kids!" She threw her hands in the air. "My God Aaron, did you ever think that it would be a smart idea to introduce the woman you've been dating, for the shortest fucking time in history, to the mother of your children? To the woman who would be letting her offspring go and be with your precious Harriet?"
The older brunette's body stiffened. "Don't you talk about her like that."
Emily let out a laugh. "What do you want me to say, Aaron? You gave me no time to absorb any of this!"
Aaron ran his hand down his tires featured face, shaking his head. "I know, I'm sorry."
The hysterical woman let her posture slag. "How long have you been dating her?" she whispered. Despair began to seep through her skin and into her soul, her hand nervously gesturing in between their bodies. "Before we...?"
"No," he quickly denied, taking a step forward. "No, not before we divorced. I would never do something like that."
Sucking her quivering lips between her teeth, Emily shakily nodded her head.
Aaron looked to his ex wife with a soft gaze. "Trust me Em, I didn't plan this. She and I met at a conference and she helped take the pain away."
Emily felt a laugh that sounded almost like a sob pass her lips. "The pain I created, right?"
"I didn't say that."
The chocolate eyed woman shook her head, holding out a shaking hand to stop the father of her children from stepping any closer. "You didn't have to, Aaron." Emily's eyes filled with tears as she looked to the older man. "I never meant to hurt you, you know that. I just didn't understand how to deal with what had happened, and our ways of managing after that big a loss were so different." She sniffled. "It tore us apart."
Aaron felt a knot tighten in his chest at the sight of his ex wife sobbing before him, hating to see those tears slipping down her ivory cheeks. "Harriet was a distraction, alright? We started dating only seven months ago, and to be honest she is nothing like you." He shook his head when he saw Emily's eyes bore intensely into his. "She doesn't like action movies, she's one of five siblings and her favorite color is green. I never tried to replace you," he shrugged. "I knew it was time to move on because you didn't want me anymore, and I moved on with her."
Emily sucked in a breath, wiping her tears that threatened to stain her cheeks. "I see." She picked up her purse from the ground before calling to all of her children. "Harriet will not see these children until I get to know her," she whispered, her eyes glaring into Aaron's as her kids' footsteps stormed down the steps. "Do you understand me?"
"Of course."
Emily looked down at the three who immediately ran to her side and smiled. "Come on guys, it's time to go." She gripped her son's hand tight before making her way out the door, throwing a stern look to her ex over her shoulder. "And they will not be coming back here until your glass coffee table is gone and the corners to all these wooden surfaces covered." Her eyes bore hard, practically spitting at the older man with her stare. "Call me when that's done."
