The majority of the day was spent lounging around with Mathias on his couch. I flipped through channels while the Dane dozed in and out as he leaned on my shoulder. It wasn't till near seven that Mathias decided to get up and dress for work.
"You should probably start heading out. They might want to have dinner with you." He yelled from the bathroom. I stayed seated, blankly staring at a large poster of the landscape of Copenhagen, his hometown. "Hey! Are you listening?" He said coming out and flopping next to me, shoes in hand.
"Ja, just nervous." I replied turning a worried gaze to him. "Don't know how I'm going to be able to face my kids." The "or Tino" was left unsaid.
Slipping on a pair of worn out tennis shoes, he tied the laces before leaning on his knees in a huff. "Look, you'll do fine. You'll go back, spend time with your kids, then you'll sit down with Tino and figure out what the next step is." Turning off the TV, he pulled out something from his jean pocket and handed it too me. "Here's the spare key to my place, just in case you need to come back here, but hopefully you two won't get that bad." Thanking him, I put the key in my own pocket with my phone. "Now come on, I can't afford to be late again." Mathias smirked, standing up and offering me a hand. Taking it, I pulled myself up and let out a deep breath.
"Hopefully." I muttered as we headed to our cars. "Have a good night at work." I said before leaning in for a kiss.
Mathias accepted it, but gave out a small laugh. "Damn, you got me all domestic like in less than twenty-four hours. How the Hell do you do it?" He joked before getting into his car. "See you soon."
I waved to him as he drove off, finding anyway to delay the inevitable. Finally finding nothing else to stop me, I got into my own car and drove to the all too familiar, perfect house. When I pulled up, I noticed that the grass had been cut, and for some reason that upset me. I knocked on the front door, not knowing if it would still be acceptable to just walk in. It took a minute, but the door finally opened to reveal a happy Peter. He quickly wrapped me in a tight hug.
"I'm so happy that you actually came." I raised an eyebrow, but straightened my face when he released me. "Come on, I've got some games set out for us to play." Peter started dragging me to the living room, when I voice stopped him.
"Peter, dinner first, then you can go off and play." Tino said coming out of the kitchen, Hana right on his heels. He then turned his attention to me. "I hope you're hungry. We ordered some Turkish food from the place down the street." He said giving me a shy smile. I nodded and followed both blonds to the dining table. I noticed Bjon was absent. Tino noticed my look and shook his head. "He's staying at a friend's tonight. Not taking this well I'm afraid." He replied taking his usual seat as well as Peter. I let out a hmm, understanding why she chose not to be here.
It was nice to be able to really sit down and hear about what Peter has been doing and how happy he is when hanging out with his friends. He told me about the clubs he goes to after school and how his hockey team is doing and when his next game is. I can't remember the last time I got to do this without the fear of Tino and I getting in to a huge fight soon after. Not saying that there was no chance of that coming again, but I wasn't thinking about it, all y focus was on Peter. We all got to laugh and part of me started to feel like this was how it was supposed to be, us as a happy family.
After dinner, Peter dragged me to the living room and handed me the second controller. He and I ended up playing one of the sniper games we had till eleven, which was when Tino sent him to bed.
"So, I'm guessing this is the time we talk about everything." Tino said shuffling into the room. Bags were starting to form under his eyes and worried lines were seemed to begin to form into his face.
"Ja." I muttered leaning forward on my knees, giving me better access to coffee table. "Do you have a pen and some paper?" I asked pushing my glasses up so I could rub my eyes.
"Give me a second." The Finn said before disappearing for a moment. I took that time to remember everything about the room before it would ultimately change, just like when my parents separated. First it would be little things, like the pictures, than it would move to the wall color and lastly the furniture. Unless he decided to just sell the house and move. Handing me an old notebook when he came back, he sat next to me. "You have a place to stay right? You haven't been sleeping in your car have you?" Tino asked, fixing his light eyes on me.
Biting my lip, I wrote down both our names on the sheet. "I need to talk to you about that." I said readjusting my glasses. "I'm staying with my new boyfriend." The title made it seem like I was back in high school.
There was a pause before Tino spoke again. "That was fast. Was it the man who answered when Peter called?" His gazed was fixed on the muted TV. "He told me someone answered and he didn't recognize the voice."
I let out a sigh. "Ja, and even though he doesn't know him, you do." I could sense Him tense beside me. "It's Mathias." I answered his unasked question.
"The bartender Mathias?" Tino replied, shocked. "How could you have sex with him? I thought you two hated each other. I introduced you." He was babbling, trying to get his head around the information.
"You slept with Eduard from your job." I simply stated. "I know cause of the way he looks at you, like at the Christmas party you dragged us to." I could see his shift out of the corner of my eye.
"It's all out in the open now." The Finn whispered. "What's our next step?" Tino asked, never having to deal with this stuff before. His parents were married for almost forty years now and seemed to be as happy as ever.
"I want to make it clear that I want shared custody of the boys and no restriction on visitation rights for either side." Tino nodded, knowing my parent's divorce was hard on me. "Next, we'll need to divide our assets. I was thinking we each get our cars, I'll get my clothes and any small important items to me."
Once again Tino nodded, eyes looking as if he were holding back tears. "What about the house and Hana?" He asked, giving the living room a once over.
I let my eyes follow his gaze to the first family photo we took with the boys. "I was thinking you should keep the house since I have a place to go. I'm not sure what Mathias' apartments say about pets so I guess Hana can stay with you too." I noticed that he had started to spin his ring. Looking down to my own finger I slipped the metal off. My finger felt naked with it, but it make me sick to think about all the times I had ignored it, never taking it off when I was with Mathias. "Here." I grumbled handing it to him.
Tino's eyes widened as he looked to it. "I can't take your ring." He squeaked, almost releasing his tears.
"You got them for us when I couldn't afford any." I said, still holding it out.
"I did that because I love you and it's not right to take it back. I know we're ending this, but that doesn't mean I don't still love you. It might not be the same kind of love, but it's still love. I bought it special for you and I want you to keep it to remember me and the good times we had." Tino said curling my fingers around the jewelry. "Keep it as the last favor to me." A sad smile graced his round face.
"'K." I said, looking at the shinny trinket.
Letting out a deep sigh, Tino got up. "I could use a drink. How about you?" He hopped up and headed to the liquor cabnet, cracking it open and going straight for the vodka. "Do you want anything?" He asked, shooting back a shot.
"A whiskey." I said, writing everything down. Tino handed me the chilled beverage before collapsing next to me with his bottle.
Taking another sip, he propped his feet up. "Alright, I have to ask. Is he better in the bedroom than me? I would think he is with his track record."
"It's not about that Tino." I said leaning back taking a gulp of my own drink.
"Never was with you Ber." We sat in silence for about five minutes before Tino decided to get up. "I'll get you a pillow and blanket, then I'm going to bed." He staggered off, collected the spare bedding we had in the hall closet, and brought it back to me. "Hyvää yötä." Was his response before shuffling up the stairs.
Laying back on the couch, I pulled out my keys and examine the key to Mathias' place. It was still shiny and looked as if it were bran-new. It might have been a poor choice, but I ended up hooking my ring on to the bundle of keys. The next thing I did was probably even stupider than that. I grabbed my phone and dialed my mother's number, knowing it was daytime there.
"Berwald? What are you doing calling at this time? It must be so late over there." She asked in Swedish. I felt so nice to hear my native language.
"Hej." I breathed. "It is, but I thought I should let you know that Tino and I aren't together anymore." By no means was I drunk, but I could feel a buzz that calmed me down.
"I'm so sorry dear." I could hear some show going in the background. "What happened?"
I let out a chuckle. "We were both cheating on each other, but to sum it up…" I paused to get myself together. "I left him for a Dane."
My mother didn't answer right away, seeming to think of what could be said. "What are you going to do about Bjon and Peter?" Her voice was soft and comforting. She was obviously trying to ignore what I said before.
"Shared custody. Tino is keeping the house so they'll probably stay here mostly." I answered, not redirecting her.
There was another pause. "I guess you're a bit more like me than I thought." It sounded like she turned of the TV. "The weather has been nice here lately." Her comment threw me off. "It's been a while since I last saw you or my grand-children. Maybe you should come and visit."
"I would love to, but it's just not in the cards now. I have to get everything settled here."
"I know, I was just hoping. Try and get some sleep. You tend to forget about that when you're upset."
"Yes, mother." I replied."
"Good night, and remember you're always welcome to visit."
I said my thanks and good-bye before hanging up. Tossing my phone on the table, I pulled the blanket over me, shifting to find a comfortable position on the couch. Maybe I should call my dad tomorrow.
Translation:Hyvää yötä: Good night (Finnish)
A/N: Thanks for everyone who has read this and reviewed. :)
Guest: Thank you, I've been trying to add more details to the stories I write, I hoped it would make it better even if it was a little. I appreciate the correction :), I will try to double check any other things I try to translate. ^.^