Here is chapter 21!
Chapter 21: Olga Finds Out
A cheerfully, "I'm home!" notified Bob that his oldest daughter Olga was home from her job at the local daycare center.
The patriarch of the Pataki family had been home alone for the past few hours. Helga and Miriam were off somewhere, not together, obviously, and quite frankly, he just didn't want to bother wondering their whereabouts.
Furthermore, Olga was just the person he wanted to talk to.
"Olga!" He called out, "Can you come into the trophy room for a moment?"
A pitter patter of footsteps, and Olga appeared, a glass of water in her hand.
"Is there something you need, daddy?" She asked in a sweet voice. She thought he had taken her in her so he could once more brag about her achievements. It was something he always did, whether or not she was around.
But, something caught Olga's eye. Her father's face looked worn and haggard. Dark circles adorned his eyes, and he looked years older than he actually was.
Something was very wrong, but Olga couldn't put her finger on it.
"I don't need or want anything from you Olga," he said, "I just need to talk to you about…something."
"O….okay….."
"You uh….you might want to sit down for this."
Olga slowly sat down in the chair opposite her father, and turned to face him. What was going on? Why did her father look so horrible?
Bob stared at his daughter for a few minutes, thinking exactly how he was going to tell her the news. Thoughts ran through his head.
'Should I let her down easy, or just come right out and say it?'
Deciding that there was no easy way to tell your child what he was about to tell his own, he figured because Olga did not take kindly to bad news, he's start it off gently.
"Olga. I have something to tell you, and I think it's best if you first hear it from me, so you know…you can get everything exactly word for word….no sugar coating, no beating around the bush."
'There,' Bob thought, 'that's….that's good. Just keep it calm and straight forward.'
"Olga," he said, "I'm very sorry, but I am planning to divorce your mother. I talked to your mother about it a few days ago, and I told her that I want her out of the house by the end of the month. That'll give her plenty of time to find a new place to live, and once that happens, I am forwarding her the papers."
Olga couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her eyes widened in shock, unable to process this new and devastating information.
No, she would not allow this to happen!
"No!" She cried out, "Daddy, what do you mean you're divorcing mother? How could you….why would you…."
"It wasn't an easy decision for me to make, Olga. But I had to make it."
Olga stared at her father frantically, trying to come up with some sort reason, anything at all, to make her father see that what he was planning to do was wrong.
"But…but…can't you two work it out? Can't you two just talk about it? Daddy, I'm…I'm sure if you would just try to work it out with mother then…then everything will be ok again. You can go to couple's therapy, you can both work this out!"
It tore Bob's heart to see his kid in such distress, but as a father, he had to remain strong and firm in telling Olga about his plans.
"My decision is final, Olga," Bob held up a hand, signaling that nothing she could do could change his mind, "I promise you that I really wish it didn't have to come this, but it has. Your mother has a lot of issues she still needs to deal with, but I can no longer be a part of it. This marriage has exhausted the both of us, mentally and emotionally, and I….I'm sorry, but I just can't do it anymore."
Olga knew her father was firm in his choices, but she still pressed forward.
"But…but I thought you loved mother. That's….that's why you two got married right? How can you...how can you just give up so easily?!"
"Look, Olga, I do….still love your mother. But, just because you love someone doesn't mean you should marry them. Furthermore, our marriage was based on so many things that are just too complicated to try and explain. I understand why your mother is so miserable and depressed, Olga. It took me a while to see things from her side, but I really do get why she is the way she is. But, I will no longer allow her to take her sufferings out on other people. It's not fair to make others miserable because you yourself are."
He watched as his oldest daughter cried brokenly, sobs wracking her body. Bob's heart was also breaking. In truth, he didn't want it to come to this, he honestly didn't. But he no longer had the desire, nor the energy to fix this broken marriage. Olga was still very young, and wasn't even engaged yet, so Bob knew that she couldn't begin to understand what divorce meant to a married couple. But, he couldn't scold her for being so hurt.
Bob wrapped his arms around his daughter, intent on comforting her as much as he could.
"Olga, listen to me. Just because your mother and I will no longer be together does not mean that I will no longer allow you and Helga to see her. She will still be in your life, it's just that some changes are going to be made that everyone will have to get used to."
Olga said nothing, but cried into her father's shoulder, as she realized that the loving supportive family that she grown to admire and love was slowly falling apart.
And there was nothing she could do about it.
Chapter 21 is done! Chapter 22 should be up shortly. I'm still trying to figure out what Arnold's plan should be. Any suggestions are greatly welcomed!