After checking on Amanda and Mikey, I locked myself in the bathroom and sobbed until I threw up.

I had to get out of there.

I loaded a suitcase with clothes for the three of us, filled the diaper bag and tossed in some snacks and juice boxes and brought it all downstairs to the car.

We'd bought a very practical sedan because of the kids, rather than the restored 1968 Pontiac Le Mans I'd desperately wanted. Maurice still had his car, so I had to be satisfied to occasionally drive that. Every now and then when he could tell I was feeling a little cagey or had had a tough day with the kids he'd just toss me the keys and say "Go," and I would take it to the highway and go as fast as I could handle.

It vexed him that I never tried to talk my way out of a speeding ticket. He'd ask "Why don't you ever tell them you're married to a cop?" I'd tell him I didn't feel I deserved special treatment, and I ought to accept the consequences of my actions. "You play, you pay." I'd said simply. I'd gotten five tickets in all, but I hadn't told him about all the times I'd been stopped and they'd let me off with a warning, I'd assumed because they'd run the registration and found out who the car belonged to.

I went back upstairs. Mikey was sitting up in his crib, sucking his thumb, gazing at me with big blue eyes. He gave me a toothless grin around his thumb. Boo was still asleep and I gently woke her, and sent her off to the bathroom while I changed Mikey's diaper.

I couldn't let myself think about what I was doing or I wouldn't do it.

I gathered the kids up and walked out the door.

Once we were on the road I tried calling Rose, who wasn't there. Which was probably for the best. It would be the first place he'd look and I needed time to think.

I called Sully at his lake-side cabin.

"Hey, Dad," I said when he answered. I'd asked him to act as father-of-the-bride for the wedding. He'd agreed then tried to make Maurice ask him for my hand in marriage, which went over really well. Every chance he got he reminded Maurice that we married without his consent.

"What's up?"

"Can the kids and I come up and stay for the night?"

"What's wrong?"

"Long story." I said, biting my lip hard to keep the tears at bay.

"Come on up. Rose is here." He added.

Sully and Rose had bonded during the wedding planning and had become good friends. He'd helped her get sober and in the process they developed deeper feelings for each other. They'd been involved for just over a year. Maurice found it disturbing, while I tried to convince him it was sweet and adorable.

"Good." I said, sighing heavily. "I'll see you in about an hour and a half."

I'd been hoping to use the time in the car to gather my scattered thoughts, but the kids kept me occupied by staying awake for the whole trip. I finally got Boo to read out loud to Mikey, to keep his noise to a minimum. She'd taught herself to read just after her third birthday. She'd watched Sesame Street studiously and had shown an amazing interest in the printed word. I'd been planning to start home-schooling her when she turned four, but with her steely determination she'd beat me to it.

When I got there, Sully opened the door and took Mikey from me and handed him off to Rose before crushing me in a bear hug.

Boo eased her way around us and went right to Rose. "Hello, Grandmother," she greeted her formally. This was her own thing. We'd been calling Rose 'Grandma' from day one, but sometime during the lessons about respecting adults and addressing them properly she'd gotten it in her head that she had to use formal terms. The first time she'd addressed Maurice as 'Father' he'd nearly choked on his breakfast.

"Missed you," Sully growled, releasing me and stepping back to let me in.

I couldn't resist ribbing him a little bit. "So, are we going to be making the switch from 'Uncle Sully' to 'Grandfather' any time soon? Better hurry. Boo's old enough to be confused by it." I hoped it would happen before she figured out that 'Sully' was short for something and started calling him 'Uncle Sullivan'.

"Neither of us is in any hurry." I was lucky he'd even acknowledged the question."I'll get your bags from the car. If this has anything to do with that man you married you'd better talk to her."

"Hello, Grandmother." I teased, giving Rose a kiss on the cheek and a hug around Mikey.

"What did my son do?" she asked, and I suddenly couldn't keep the tears from leaking out.

Sully saw that when he came in with the bags and dropped them at the door. He scooped Mikey out of Rose's arms, took Boo's hand and led them across the room to the tv. He sat on the floor with Mikey on his lap and let Boo choose a movie.

Rose put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. "Tell me what happened," and she sat me down at the kitchen table and started preparing some tea for me, while I choked out the story.

She set a steaming mug of peppermint herbal tea in front of me and sat across from me, arms folded on the table.

"That certainly doesn't sound like him. There must be a perfectly innocent explanation." She stated matter-of-factly.

Her blunt statement made me realize she was right. "You're right. There has to be, right? I've never not trusted him." As a matter of fact, we had a running private joke that we'd started one night when we'd gone out to dinner and the waitress had shamelessly flirted with him. Not like the ones who just flirt with men for a bigger tip; she'd been really aggressive about it.

I'd referred to her as 'Kimmy' for the rest of the evening, which vexed her considerably because her nametag clearly read 'Sharon'. I'd had an acquaintance in college named Kimmy who felt the need to pursue or make advances toward every guy she met, whether they were with someone or not.

So every now and then Maurice would come home and tell me "I ran into Kimmy today," and I'd look up from my book or my work or the kids and say "Yeah? Where?"

"Traffic stop," or "Store 24," or "Pizza place over on Third."

I'd nod with satisfaction.

It just then occurred to me that maybe this chick had just been a Kimmy and there was nothing to it.

But if that was the case, why hadn't he said so?

Rose reached across the table and grabbed my hand.

"You need to give him a chance to explain. I've never known you to react this way to anything."

"I do. I do need to give him a chance to explain. I let my emotions get the best of me. What is wrong with me? What am I doing?"

I looked over at Sully with the kids. Boo pointed to herself and said, "Boo!", then jabbed Sully. "Sully!" And then she pointed her tiny finger at Mikey and said "Mike Wazowski!" That was funny. It had never occurred to me, and I laughed. It was such a relief to laugh that I almost couldn't stop.

Rose gave me an odd look.

"You're all over the place." She observed. I chuckled and wiped a tear from my eye.

"I am." I admitted.

"Has it occurred to you that you might be pregnant?"

I just looked at her for a second, then burst into laughter again.

Because I instantly knew she was right.

Again.