Mac had just returned home from work when she heard a car pull up outside the house. The meeting with the lawyers had taken a while, but they were glad that they had been able to agree on a lot of things even if some of the finer points had taken some discussion before they could find terms that both liked. Now they were going to have to live apart for six months before they could be officially divorced.
After the meeting they had both gone back to their jobs and Mac had by now returned home again. Jack was going to go and pick up the keys to his new apartment and then he was coming home too and they were going to tell Isabelle about the split up. Hearing a car drive up, she went to go greet Isabelle, Harm and Trish.
Outside she was met by the vision of her daughter walking hand in hand with her father up to the front porch.
"Hey, honey."
"Hey, Mom."
"Did you have a nice time today?" she asked them both, but it was obvious that the trip to the park and the picnic had been great for the two of them.
"Yeah," Harm and Isabelle said both at the same time.
"That's great," Mac said.
"Mom, can Harm come with us to Grandma Sarah's farm? She was his grandma too, you know," Isabelle said very purposely.
"Mac, I didn't..." Harm started saying not wanting Mac to think that he had put Isabelle up to asking that question.
"Harm, I know," Mac interrupted him laughing a little. She was quite used to her daughter being very straight forward. "Belle, maybe we can talk about that when Harm comes over tomorrow."
"I'll see you later, Isabelle," Harm said and kneeled down before her. She gave him a hug and he hugged her back very tightly. "I'll call you tomorrow before I come over, Mac."
"OK," Mac said "Bye."
Mac and Isabelle walked back into the house, but both stopped just inside the door and watched Harm drive off.
"What are we having for dinner today? Should I set the table?" Isabelle asked Mac once they had closed the door together. She was always very eager to help before dinner since she knew it would come faster then. After they had eaten was a totally different matter.
"We're going to wait a little with that," Mac answered.
"OK, can I go and play then?"
"Yeah," Mac said, but soon she had to call her back down because Jack had returned home and it was time for them to talk to her about Jack moving out. Jack had been ready to back out of the conversation saying that maybe they should give her some more time to get used to Harm being back, but in the end they both knew that it wasn't going to get any easier on anyone of them with time if they choose not to tell her now.
"Let's sit down here at the table," Mac said when they were all three gathered in the kitchen. The little girl had already sensed that they weren't going to have dinner, that something was really strange.
"Isabelle, we need to tell you something."
Isabelle nodded. She had a feeling this wasn't going to be any positive news.
"Remember this winter when your Mom and I fought a lot... We tried to hide that from you, but I think you still knew about it."
Isabelle looked down at the table, shook her head a bit denying that she had heard them.
"We didn't want to fight so we went and talked with a lady that was going to help us get better along, but even though we tried really, really hard it didn't work out like that," Mac continued to explain where Jack had left off.
"And we've decided that it's better for all of us if I don't live here anymore, honey."
"Are you getting a divorce?" Isabelle asked looking at her mom.
"Yes, we are," Mac confirmed.
Tears started to fall down Isabelle's cheeks and at the sight of that Mac couldn't keep her tears under control either.
"I don't want that," she said and climbed over to sit on Mac's lap burying her face in her mother's shoulder.
"Well, it's nothing that anyone of us really wants, but we're just going to get unhappier and unhappier if we don't do this."
"I don't want you to get a divorce," Isabelle said again and she was making Mac's shoulder considerably wet.
"I know, honey, I know, but the fact is we can't stay together just because you want us to. It doesn't work that way. We'd both do anything to make you happy, but that's just one thing we can't do."
Jack had remained sitting on the chair watching the exchange between mother and daughter and not knowing what to do for the little girl that was obviously in so much distress. There seemed to be no end of her tears. Suddenly she looked up at him and reached out her arms to him.
"Dad," she cried and wanted to hug him yet she didn't climb over to his lap at once. She was trying to physically bring them closer together.
"Oh, honey. It really isn't that bad, you know," Jack tried to convince all of them "My new apartment isn't so far away so you can still come and visit and you and Mac are still going to live here in the house just like you are now."
"But you're not going to be here. I just want everything to stay the same."
The three of them continued to sit together for a long time until the tears of their cheeks had dried.
"So what do you say we make some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight?" Mac suggested.
"I don't want any, I'm not hungry. I'll go and brush my teeth," Isabelle said and both Jack and Mac were rather shocked. Isabelle not being hungry was definitely a first. She stood up and walked up the stairs to her room. Mac and Jack looked at each other, not sure if this had gone considerably well or not. It was just too intense to tell. Mac got up and followed her daughter upstairs. She helped her get into her pajamas and brush her teeth and then she tucked her in under the covers. Tears had started to fall down Isabelle's cheeks again and Mac wiped them away with her thumbs. She realized she couldn't leave her now, not like that and lay down beside her and hugged her close to her.
"It will be OK. It will be OK," Mac repeated over and over again both for herself and for her daughter. Eventually they both fell asleep.
TBC
AN: When I started posting this story I thought that in November I'd have more time to write on it and then soon finish it so I could also start posting more frequently. That changed this Thursday and right now I'm not even sure if I'll be able to keep posting at the rate I am. I will do my best to at least do that, but right now RL is very time-consuming. Thanks to everyone who's sent feedback on the story. It's very helpful, both as encouragement to actually write and to do it better. Many, many thanks to Cria for beta-reading the story. Your help is very needed (something she probably knows better than anyone else!)!