It had been a long day for Artie. He did not sleep well the night before thanks to the couch that he tried to sleep on in Olivia's hospital room. Not only was the couch uncomfortable, but his mind was filled with thoughts on what to do next. How was everything going to pan out? He was the father of two children now, the first born he rarely saw and now the second one was here and her mother was very adamant about child support. He really didn't want to deal with it, he just wanted to run away and never see anyone again where he would be happy and things would be alright for him.

He wanted to say yes to his boss about moving to Capitol City, but for some reason, he was holding it back and waiting for the right opportunity. He wanted to ask Marge, perhaps her mind had changed over the past few months and was ready to move on. Perhaps she was willing to return to the big city and grow with their little family. Olivia would have to deal with it, he would pay child support and that was all he wanted to do with them. Olivia had ruined his life and wished he knew how to get her out of it. But of course he had to go and knock her up.

He knew he was at fault for that and he knew that what he did to Marge was unforgivable. But he couldn't help but think that he should have never married her. He had been cheating on her before he even proposed, he thought he would change, but instead he kept doing what he did until it led to another child not belonging to Marge. Things just weren't looking good for him and he admitted to himself that he was too afraid to go home that night. But he needed to, he and Marge needed to talk things over and find out what could benefit them in the long run.

The drive home was the worst, every traffic light seemed to stop him and the roads seemed to be longer. He kept wondering if Olivia could be transferred out of the hospital soon, which meant he would have to pick her up and take her home. Hopefully though it would not be until later, when all was said and done. He finally needed to confess to Marge, he finally needed to tell her the truth, he finally needed to jump into the fire. He just needed to get out of his car first.

Artie could only stand by his car after he had parked it in front of the house. The lights were on so Marge was home waiting for him. Was she eager to see him after a night of going missing, or was she not concerned with such matters and simply watching a movie without him like so many times in the past? How could he even start the conversation? He had played many ideas in his head, but none of them sounded good at all. He had to come up with something, maybe just tell her about the job and then admit the mistake. Marge would probably want a long conversation about the job first. He had no idea, all he knew was that it was time to confess.

Slowly he made his way to the front door and slowly entered. He was surprised to discover that the TV was not on. Maybe she just got bored and wanted to do something else so he searched the rooms as he made his way in looking for her and wondering what she was up to. He tried the kitchen, but she was not in there, nor was she in the living room. He peeked into the baby's room and there she was, sitting in the rocking chair nursing little Lisa and staring out the window. There was a longing look in her eyes like she was deep in thought and he began to wonder if he should even disturb her.

He watched her, wondering if she even knew he was there. For a moment, he saw the girl that he wanted to marry, the girl he fell in love with. For a moment, he felt a sense of calm and the need to be close to her again, but he was afraid and could feel the need leave him quickly when he remembered why he was there. He didn't know what to do, and he thought about walking away and going to his room to change when Marge suddenly spoke.

"What's her name?"

Artie turned back to her, startled that she was even talking, especially when she wasn't looking back at him. He wasn't even sure he heard her right.

"What?" Artie replied startled.

"Don't act dumb Artie, I want to know her name!" Marge said again without looking back at him.

For a moment, Artie wanted to sound innocent, like he knew nothing of what Marge was playing at. But he knew Marge was smarter than that, and he really could not get past her with something like this even if he tried. He knew it would happen sooner or later, he just didn't realize that she would find out somehow, he always thought he would wind up telling her. Of course if he told her, her reaction would be very different. Not like this at all.

"H-How did you find out?" Artie asked worriedly.

"Why else would you be gone all the time? A true husband and father would at least take the time out of his busy schedule and see his newborn daughter and wife. He would be excited to see me when he came home, and he would at least show some compassion at the birth of his newborn daughter. But you didn't, you didn't even care if she was healthy or not, you just threw a tantrum like a toddler," Marge said in a voice that was rising every second. "Was this what you wanted to talk about last night when you called me from the hospital?"

"The hospital?" Artie asked surprised. How in the world did she know that?

"I heard a baby crying in the background, along with several other people. I tried not to think that it would be true, but I heard it enough times to believe it. How long has this been going on?" Marge asked. This time she stared back at him, her eyes showing both anger and hurt. She looked like she was about to cry but she seemed to hold it in as she tried to remain strong so she could get information out of her cheating husband.

"A while," Artie said nervously.

"How long is a while," Marge asked as she set the bottle down and got up to put Lisa in her crib. "Dammit Artie! I am not playing games right now! You had an affair! You had another child out of this, so it has to be more than nine months! You betrayed me!"

Artie let out a sigh and stared at the floor. This had been going on for a while, longer than it should have, but how could he tell her that.

"Answer me!" Marge yelled again as she stood nose to nose with him before walking out of the room and toward hers.

"Since... before I asked you to...marry me," Artie admitted. He felt as if a stone was dropped into his stomach and he wanted to vomit. He felt like he was being interrogated by an angry police officer for stealing an expensive diamond. He could not believe he didn't try to call her in a more secluded place, she heard what was true and he could not hide it any more.

Marge turned around and stared. He saw the sadness in them, he saw the anger and the pain. Yet he could not move forward to hug her, he knew she would reject it and he knew that it really no longer mattered. He was unfaithful to her and a hug could not cure that.

"Then why the hell did you marry me?" Marge asked as tears formed in her eyes.

Before Artie could even respond, or even think about why he even did so in the first place. Marge slammed the door in their room and locked it. Artie moved forward, trying to figure out what to say between the door, but he couldn't think of anything, all he could hear was her sobbing on the bed for what he did. He knew he had to think about it, he knew he had to give it some time. Quietly he made his way to the living room, sat down, and stared at the wall.

Why did he marry her? Well the main reason was because they had been together for so long and neither of them showed any interest in ending it back then. They were happy and independent of each other really. For the first year or so they tried to stay out of each others way and saw each other when they could. It seemed to work out alright. But then, once they both started sharing an apartment in college, that's when Artie started seeing Olivia. He remembered it now. He wanted a weekend away from Marge after a crazy week of school work. While working in the office, he met Olivia who seemed to sense his need to be away from the one he loved. And that was when she went in for the kill. Ever since then, he could not get away from her. He was now trapped between someone he loved once and someone who ruined his life forever. He wanted to run, to just take that job in Capitol City and never look back. But it wasn't that easy.

He sat in silence for a good hour, thinking about what to do and what to tell Marge. He knew he would be sleeping on the couch tonight. He wasn't going to try to argue with that logic, Marge knew now and she was probably not going to forgive him. He had no idea how long Marge would stay in their room or if she would want to talk to him again tonight. He could leave if he wanted to, but he knew that the only other place he could go at the moment was to his parents. He didn't want that, not right now, they would be very disappointed in him.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by Lisa, who started crying heavily in her room. For a while he sat there, wondering if Marge would come out of the room and attend to her. But she never did, perhaps this was a test, to see if he would even go to her. He decided to be a father and made his way to the room where Lisa was lying on her back crying her heart out. Artie looked down, not sure what to do and a little nervous about the situation. Finally he picked her up and held her his arms. It seemed to work too, Lisa stopped crying and looked up at her father with bright eyes and a happy smile. Artie could not help but smile either. She really was a beautiful little girl, a blessing and a miracle.

"If only you knew how much of a sleaze your father is, you'd probably still be crying," Artie said with a sigh.

Lisa only stared back and grabbed his shirt as if she was trying to get closer. Artie pushed her away a little and instead had her hold onto his finger. He let her do this while he made his way over to the chair in the living room and slowly rocked her. Marge would need his help to support her, but would she still want him to stay around? Highly unlikely, there was no way you could forgive and then trust someone after committing those crimes.

"I'll do my best to support you, you deserve it. But it's up to you if you ever want to see me. I probably wouldn't be a very good Dad for you," Artie said. "I really don't know why I even married your mother in the first place, maybe to show off, or maybe just because I thought I knew what love was and then took it for granted."

As Artie talked to Lisa, Marge slowly opened the door to their room and listened, it was true, she wanted to see if he would go to her, but she was not expecting him to talk to her. He sounded so sincere about what he was saying, he knew what he did was wrong, but he had been doing it for so long that Marge could not forgive him. He made a small mistake that caused him to slip up, and he could have hidden it even longer if the baby did not cry by the phone. But it was good to find out, she had been living with a cheater and a liar and she thought he loved her just as much as she did.

"I feel like I've lived a lie," Marge said quietly once she got closer.

Artie jumped up, startled that Marge was standing right behind him. Her eyes were puffy from crying, her hair in a big mess. It had been a long day for her as she waited for him to come home. He had been so nervous and scared, in fact he still was because he didn't know what was going to happen next.

"Did you ever even love me?" Marge asked as tears fell down her face.

Artie stared back at her, he had to admit, he did feel bad for what he did, even ashamed. And as he looked into Marge's eyes, he knew there was more hurt than anger. She had loved him with all her heart. But did he? He remembered the night of the prom, how beautiful she looked in the moonlight, how he wanted to be with her after that night. How he always thought about her night and day and how he wanted her to succeed, and succeed she did. She was now a very good teacher at the college. Yes he did love her once, he still did, but for some reason he knew it wasn't the same love.

"I did...and I still do," Artie said.

"What a load of bull! If you still loved me you would never do such a thing to me!" Marge replied angrily.

"Well I don't hate you, is that what you want to hear?" Artie asked with a raised voice before realizing he had a child in his arms.

Marge let out a sigh and stared down at the ground. "I thought I was your everything, your heart and soul, that you would always be there for me and Lisa."

"You were, and then I let my selfishness get the best of me. I know I should say I'm sorry but..."

"...Sorry won't even cut it for me, especially now that you have another kid to deal with. So tell me Artie did you get lucky and get a boy out of her?"

Artie shook his head and stared down at Lisa who was cooing softly in his arms. Two girls out of two relationships. The odds were definitely not in his favor. He let out a sigh, he knew that what he had done was wrong, he always knew, he simply never knew when to stop. He tried to ignore the consequences and the fact that he loved an amazing women with talent and heart. There was no one like her in the world, yet he took her for granted and cheated on her. And his daughter, well he just wished he didn't get so upset when she was born, she was healthy and that was all that really mattered. At the moment though, he felt he wasn't worth enough to hold her.

"Does she need to go back to her crib?" Artie asked as he held Lisa out to Marge.

Marge looked at Lisa, she seemed content in her fathers arms, so she shook her head. "Hold her for a while longer, because once this is finished, I want you to leave."

Artie already knew that he was not sleeping with Marge tonight, he was prepared to sleep on the couch. But he did not realize that Marge would kick him out so quickly. "I can't even sleep on the couch tonight?"

"You have a floozy to sleep with, go home to her!" Marge replied angrily.

"I don't want to go home to her Marge! She's still at the hospital any way, and truthfully, I never actually liked her, she was just so damn tempting that I couldn't walk away from her. She had me like putty in my hands," Artie said.

"And yet you still kept seeing her, Artie how can I believe any of that?" Marge asked.

"Because she threatened to call you if I didn't give in," Artie replied. "Now that I think about it though, she threatened to call you if you had a girl. That was why I was so upset when Lisa was born. But apparently she never did, did she even have our number?"

"She manipulated you, and you never walked away. Did you even think about how this would ruin us? How I would feel? How you betrayed me and our love?" Marge asked.

"I tried, but she kept getting in the way," Artie said with a sigh.

Marge let out a sad sigh and turned away. This was just too much for her to handle, she could no longer hold it in and began to sob heavily. The man who she thought loved her unconditionally, never truly did. They were only married because they had been together for so long and both thought that it was enough to be together forever. She knew that Artie didn't care, that he knew what he did was wrong, but didn't try to change it, he didn't care about the consequences and now he was finally caught.

"Marge, the real reason why I wanted to talk to you was because I went to a meeting yesterday. The guys in Capitol City want me back and..."

"Then go! If it makes you feel happier then go! I'm not stopping you, just like how I never stopped you from cheating on me!" Marge interrupted as she turned around with tears falling down her face.

"You wouldn't want to come with me?" Artie asked just to make sure.

"Artie, I told you before, I don't want to live there because of my family. I don't even know how long my Dad has left," Marge said. "And why would I go with you? All I would think about is how I've spent years with you not knowing that you cheated on me until now. How can I even trust you any more."

"...You can't," Artie replied sadly, he knew he could never stop giving into temptation no matter what, and Olivia would most likely keep pursuing him.

"At least you are honest about that. When you've had enough of holding Lisa, please leave. I don't care where or when, just leave. I'll go out and get the divorce papers sometime this week," Marge said as she began walking back to her room.

"I can do it, if you'd like," Artie said knowing it would save Marge a lot of grief especially for someone with a baby.

"Whatever Artie, I don't care. Just like you never did," Marge said before closing the door behind her.

Artie stood near the door for a minute, thinking he needed to say something. But nothing came, until he remembered something very important, at least to him any way. "If I'm supposed to leave, then what about my things?"

"Come back tomorrow," Marge replied.

Artie stood there, it was really too late to go looking for his things any way. Marge just wanted him out right now, there was no more arguing, she was done and that was all there was to it. He could wait and come back when the time was right. For now though, he was alone in the living room with Lisa who was barely making a sound as she lay in her fathers arms. He was actually sort of surprised Marge trusted him to be alone with Lisa. Probably because Marge knew Artie just wasn't the kind of guy who wouldn't do anything bad, and she was right. He really didn't want to do anything harmful any way, what good would that accomplish? Just a lot of heartache and nights in the slammer.

Artie knew he had to make this last time with Lisa count, he had held her before, but not for this long and he wondered if he would ever do it again. Would Marge even want him to see her? How much would she want him to pay for child support? He really hoped it wasn't a lot, but that was him talking. It was Marge's and courts choice, he could not decide on that.

"Well Lisa, looks like you're gonna be without a Dad for a while. If your mother does find someone else, I hope he loves you just as much as he loves her. I'm sorry you'll have to go through this. Of course you'll be too young to remember but your mother will tell you what happened to your real Dad, I just know it. I have no idea how often we will see each other, or even if we will see each other. But if not, I wish you the best."

Lisa let out a tired yawn before falling asleep with her thumb in her mouth as Artie rocked her back and forth. For the first time, he felt a sense of pride for having this child, but it was really too late to do anything about it. He screwed up big time and now his marriage was over. Divorce was on the horizon and he could not blame Marge for not wanting to keep the marriage going. He knew Olivia would keep pestering him and he could never get away from her. Who knows what else would happen down the line.

For a good hour he held Lisa and remembered the good times he had with Marge. They all were so long ago now, way back before they were even married. Yeah, there really was no point in getting married. He just wanted to do it because of how long the relationship lasted. He remembered how nervous he was at the altar and how he realized he was going to be with her night and day. It was something he really did not count on until it came up and bit him.

Finally, he got up and carefully put Lisa to bed without waking her. He watched her sleep for a few minutes longer while leaning against the crib and wondered what his daughter was dreaming of.

"Goodbye Lisa, stay sweet, for your mother's sake."

He tousled her hair lightly before making his way out of the room and shutting it gently behind him. Finally, Artie grabbed what he could, which was only a small handful of things and carried it toward the door. He took one more look at the house where he lived in with Marge for so long and realized it was no longer his home. It was just a place he called home with the one he never really loved to begin with. Not many memories were actually here, it was just a place to live in, a place where dirty, dark secrets were kept. He really did not belong here, Marge could keep it and do whatever she wanted with it, maybe even make it a better home. Maybe.

Finally, he crossed the threshold and made his way out the door before closing it behind him.

A/N: Well, what can I say really. It was a bit difficult to write because I wasn't sure what kind of emotion both of them would use. Well mainly Artie, so hopefully I made it believable. I've often wondered how men or women who cheat on their husbands or wives feel about what they've done. And truthfully I've wanted to ask my Dad that question. But I know it would be too much for him to talk about. Yes, my Dad cheated on my mother. In fact it was sort of like this marriage between Artie and Marge. Though my mom knew all about what he was doing just shortly after she became pregnant with me, and the girls would actually call my mom in the middle of the night telling her that my father was coming home. They divorced a few months after I was born and I know my dad regrets it, I heard him say it to my step brother when I came in at the right time to join them on a car ride. Oh and my step brother is two years younger than me in case you are wondering. And he didn't care what I came out as, he was just thrilled either way.

I still see him when I can, I love going fishing with him, he's still a great Dad, he just made a bad choice when he was younger. He always checks on me and is always excited to see me. But it is a little hard to get to Maryland when when you live thousands of miles away in Colorado.

But any way sorry for that little story right there, just thought about sharing. So I hope you all thought it was okay. I got two more chapters to go. How will it pan out? Well you'll just have to wait and see. On a side note, I'll be at the Denver comic con on Saturday. I want to listen to Billy West talk. Any way please review and have a great week.