Patti went home later. It was getting to be that time she dreaded, the alternate Friday evening when her ex-husband, Kevin, picked the children up to go and spend the weekend with him.

With him and that woman – a young woman who Kevin had left Patti for. Patti thought it was a travesty of justice that said woman should be allowed to speak to the Polk children at all. But Patti's divorce lawyer, Melinda Delaney, had said there was nothing that could be done about that. Children couldn't be kept from their father, since it wasn't good for them, no matter what he'd done and no matter who his associates were. The courts apparently weren't considerate enough to consider the very existence of this woman as the insult that it was. Patti didn't see how that woman could say one word to any of Patti's children without it being in some way harmful.

But then in her less angry moments, Patti was at least a little mollified that Kevin still cared about his children enough to take them every other weekend. It appeared he did spend time with them, doing things and going places, on his weekends. So he wasn't doing it just to rub it in Patti's face that he'd left her. Or so it seemed. The children came back, usually saying they'd had a good time. The youngest, Dasha, would be a little bratty, but she usually had recovered by the time she was home from school on Monday.

Tony, who was ten, and Dasha, who was seven, had their bags packed. Patti went through them to make sure they had their toothbrushes and enough clothes. Dasha usually forgot her toothbrush no matter how many times Patti reminded her to pack it. Taryn was eighteen now, and she handled her stuff on her own. Patti saw her putting a newspaper into her bag but didn't say anything. It was just a good thing that Taryn was reading a newspaper.

Their bags sat there as they waited. To pass the time, Tony and Dasha played on gameboys. Taryn paced around in the hallway, and tried to call someone on her cell phone, expressing exasperation at getting the voice mail "again." A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

Patti opened the door to Kevin, and let him in. "Hey, team," Kevin greeted his offspring this way. "Ready to go?"

"Yep," Dasha said, ending her game and getting up. Tony made Kevin wait about thirty seconds to finish up a section of the game. Taryn rolled her eyes and picked up Dasha's gameboy to make sure she took it along.

Patti went to the doorway, where she usually stood to watch them get into the car.

She looked out into the driveway. Kevin's car was not there, but a late model BMW.

It was her car. And she was at the driver's seat, waiting.

Kevin had brought her with him to pick up the children.

All Patti could see was a blonde head. It was enough.

"How could you?" she asked Kevin. To her horror, tears started to fill her eyes.

"Not in front of the kids," Kevin said, leaning on that as power to stop her.

"You could come alone to pick them up," Patti said.

"Be quiet, Patti," Kevin said. "If you have issues with me, discuss them out of the kids hearing."

Taryn rolled her eyes. "Why'd you do it, Dad? To rub it in Mom's face?"

"Be quiet, Taryn and go get in the car," he said.

Taryn hugged Patti and said, "Don't worry about it, Mom."

Tony and Dasha stood still, as if they thought something had gone wrong and there might be a change of plan and they weren't going after all.

"Go ahead," Patti said to them, reassuringly, hugging each one of them.

They said goodbye to her and they said the usual "see you Sunday night."

"Really, Patti," Kevin said. "My lawyer said you're not supposed to try to turn them against me."

"I'm sure you're not supposed to bring her here," Patti said. "You just did that to insult me."

"I just did that because we're all going somewhere," he said. "And it's most convenient, that's all."

"Convenient to you, that is. Which is all that matters."

"What difference does it make to you, Patti? It's not like she's coming in for tea."

"No surprise that you don't understand," Patti said.

"You have to learn to be more practical, Patti," Kevin said. "Now I have to deal with Taryn."

"You'll always have to deal with Taryn," Patti said. "You'll never live down what you did."

"Then you stop turning her against me."

"I don't have to! What you did is enough alone!"

"You're the parent."

"So are you and you can't expect me to tell Taryn that she should believe what you did is all just fine and dandy. A man's prerogative. To leave his wife when he's tired of her for a younger model."

"They're waiting," Kevin said. He turned and went to the car.

Patti watched it drive away. She normally made one last wave to the children, but she couldn't do it this time.