I got chapter nine done like I hoped I could! YAY! I hope you enjoy. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT!

He took a deep breath before he began.

"Well, I met Lauren in college. She was a little older than me, I went to college a few years early. I'm brilliant ya know." He winked at me. "Anyway. We started dating. She was great, the best girlfriend. She liked to party, never cared too much about what I was doing, she didn't really hover; ya know? I was young, I felt that having someone to make out with and whatnot but being able to hang out with the guys was a great deal. That worked for us for a long time actually. But I guess I grew up faster than she did.

"I wanted a family and Lauren didn't. She wanted to be able go out and do whatever she wanted until all hours of the night still. I finally wore her down and she stopped taking her birth control. It didn't take too long for her to become pregnant. I was so excited, but looking back now I can tell that Lauren wasn't as enthusiastic as I was. She was just in different. When Zach was born my heart grew. I loved him from the moment I knew about him, but it just got more intense when I actually held him. Again Lauren seemed indifferent. Sure she would hold him sometimes, but she still went out to party almost every night.

"That's when the arguing started. I couldn't believe how immature she was being and she couldn't believe that I wasn't the same kid I was when she met me. I loved Zach but I was pretty much raising him by myself, and I was in the middle of med school. So I had no Intention of bringing another child into this world until Lauren grew up. Yes I was still hopeful that she would. When we found out that she was pregnant again, her birth control failed for some reason, it seemed like she was growing up. She stopped going out and partying every night. I was ecstatic. Our family was getting bigger AND better."

I sensed a 'but' coming, and I told him so. "I'm assuming things weren't as perfect as you thought?" I said.

"Well, ma'am you are correct. It seemed perfect for a while. But late I found out that she was just good at hiding, or maybe I'm just gullible. Anyway, like I said things were fine up until about two years ago. She was working late one night, like she had been for months, so I decided to take her dinner because the kids were staying the night at my parents' house. Imagine my surprise when I walk into her office and find her not only with a man but another women as well. I couldn't believe my eyes. I just stood there for a few seconds frozen. She didn't even try to explain, the only thing she said was 'well if you would satisfy me like I need then I wouldn't need to find someone else to.'

"I believed her. I was already feeling bad about being gone as much as I was. I had just started my job. She knew how I felt and she manipulated me; I gave her another chance. I thought we could work on our relationship.

"Needless to say, that didn't work out. I found out that she was still cheating not even five months later, and she had never stopped. That wasn't the last straw though. That came when Zach found me crying that night in the living room at our old apartment, I couldn't stay there anymore we moved when I left her. Anyway, Zach came up to me and asked me what was wrong. I told him that mommy and I were fighting, I didn't want to lie because if we split up I didn't want it to be this huge shock to him. When I told him that we were fighting he looks at me with these big eyes full of tears and says 'Mommy makes me cry sometimes too.'

"I just could not believe my ears. I asked him what he was talking about and he told me that whenever I wasn't home and Lauren was alone with the kids, she would yell at them all the time. She would tell them that they were both stupid idiots, that they were no good spoiled brats, and just any hurtful thing you could imagine. I felt like absolute shit. How could I not have realized how much the kids shied away from her? She was verbally abusing my kids right under my nose. What kind of crappy father doesn't notice that?"

He had tears in his eyes. I was shaking my head, getting ready to tell him that it wasn't his fault and that he was a wonderful father, but he just continued. It was like now that he started he couldn't stop.

"But, yea that was the last straw. I dropped the kids off at my parents and marched into her office, where I knew she'd be, and told her we were done. There was nothing she could do to fix this. She could hurt me, but my kids didn't deserve that. She made no arguments. During divorce court she willingly gave up all rights to the kids when I asked. I had to pay her some money, but other than that it was pretty simple. That day in the court room was the last time I have seen her in a year and a half.

"I've heard that she is living the kid free, husband free, and responsibility free life that she always wanted with some rich billionaire guy in New York. All the way across the country, it's the best thing she could have done for my kids."

By this time the tears had spilled over his eyes, and they weren't stopping. I did the only thing I could think of, I hugged the crap out of him.

This poor family went through so much. I am determined to help this family heal.

"Emmett, you had no way of knowing. You said it yourself, she was good at hiding. But when you found out you handled it the right way. You put your kids first, and now that have an amazing life and an amazing dad that loves them with his whole heart. And they don't have to worry about that crazy lunatic coming back into their lives." I tried to comfort him.

He just nodded and continued to hug me for a while. That lasted until we heard Mia's feet pounding down the stairs. Emmett straightened up quickly wiping his eyes, I'm assuming he doesn't want her to seem him so upset.

"Hey daddy, Bella! What time is it? Can we go pick up Zach and Graham and go to the park. Or maybe go to the park and then pick up the boys?" She asked excitedly.

"Sure baby if Bella doesn't mind. We can go to the park until we have to pick up the boys, then maybe go back so that they can play too." Emmett replied. They both looked to me for my answer.

"That sounds like the best idea I have ever heard." I said just as excitedly as Mia had. It got the desired result. Both of the McCarty's in front of me smiled so wide I thought their faces would burst. So worth it!