Charlie

"Lay off Dad!" Don came between them.

"See!" Nat turned to the therapist. "Every time I even start to approach the subject, they all act as if I'm asking Alan to disown his sons, but that is far from the truth! I just want a balance!"

"You wouldn't lose sleep if Dad disowned us!" I snarled.

"Why do you feel that way?" the therapist asked, while Dad gave me his ' you're not helping' glare.

"her attitude toward me and Don" I replied. Suddenly, my brother's face had that look. The one he used when he's figured something out.

"It's like she blames us for what happened to Rach!" he told us.

"that's not true!" Natalie got defensive, of course. I agreed with my brother, and told everyone this.

"Her attitude got worse after...what happened" I pointed out.

"No! You two interfered more!" she retorted. "That's why I get annoyed."

"They're just trying to help!" Dad loyally defended us.

"Help?Help?" she repeated cynically. "Bob's banned them from the lessons because of their 'help' " Natalie referred to some arguments Don and I would get into with Bob. The guy sometimes pushed her too hard, had yet to teach her echolocation, and wasn't aware of various statistics and studies, which I had tried to tell him about. He didn't so much ban us, as maybe suggest that sometimes loved ones found it hard to watch the lessons. Dad had supported the suggestion, and it was because of him that Don and I now stayed away reluctantly, at least because there was no way to do it without him knowing.

"It's never easy seeing a child struggle" Dad tried to explain. "I find it hard not to intervene, and I've raised two other kids!"

"It's hard for me, as well, but I keep myself in check" Natalie told him.

"Do ya now...?" Dad used his driest deadpan.

"That's it...!" she snapped. "It's over."

"Whoa..hold on a minute...!" Don put his hands up.Dad just stood there, in shock.

the bitch continued ."We'll have shared custody of Rach."

"For now..." I warned her menacingly; I planned to hire a lawyer so that Dad could get sole custody. He was the one who spent the most time with my sister.

Ignoring me, she continued "We'll get a mediator to help us settle the other details."

"Just like that? you're gonna leave Dad???" My brother demanded angrily, as the therapist came between him and Natalie.

He turned to her, "Natalie,until just now, you wanted to work on your marriage. What changed?"

"I came to realize that all this...is useless..." she gulped and indicated the therapist's entire office with a finger. With that, she told Dad, in a brisk tone. "I'll pick Rach up, and start packing my things."Then, she left.

Gently, my brother led Dad to the sofa. I sat next to them.

"I'll get you the best divorce lawyer in LA!" I promised Dad.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." the therapist whispered to me.

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Natalie took her stuff out of her and Dad's place, and went to stay with a friend. Then, they had the 'sometimes mommies and daddies have to live apart' talk with Rach. The poor kid was confused and bewildered. I worried about her. When Don and I were in High school, He had a friend, with divorced parents and would come over a lot. He'd be at the house late, and it would take Dad's strong hinting to get him to leave. That guy always seemed angry, and got Don into all sorts of trouble. And he was several times Rach's age!

So far, they had this arrangement : Dad gets her Sunday through Wednesday, while that woman gets her the rest of the wee. During Rach's first visit with her mother, Don and I made sure to go see Dad especially on that first night. He looked older, didn't say much at dinner, and talked alot about Rach.

"It's so quiet isn't it?" he murmured at one point. We took him to his favorite restaurant.

"Yeah..." Don said. I agreed. We were all used to Rach's chatter.

I tried to change the subject, by asking Dad about his work. This kept his mind busy until his cell rang. Don and I listend to his part of the conversation.

"Sure...put Rach on...Rach?...I miss you too..."

What has that woman done???

TBC