FicWad

After we got back from our camping trip Pete went back to the studio with the guys. It took him another few weeks to get Patrick to talk about what was going on with him and Elisa. The two of them went out one evening to just talk. Pete had sent me a text to let me know he wouldn’t be home for dinner and why. I was relieved that maybe Patrick would open up to Pete and maybe, something would come of it. I had hopes that Pete would convince Patrick to try to work things out with Elisa.

Pete came home in a strange mood after talking with Patrick. He was a bit aloof with me and seemed to be lost in thought. He wouldn’t tell me anything about what the two of them talked about. He had never kept anything from me before, but this was different. It wasn’t his news to share. I was ok with him keeping his friends' secrets. After all, I expected him to keep mine.

My editor called me the day after Pete talked to Patrick. She told me that my latest book was the best thing I had ever sent her. And that if I was smart, I would finally get a manager and publicist. She was sure this book would be a bestseller.

“Grace, you need to get at least a manager. This book is the best you’ve sent me. I think it’s going to be huge. Someone is going to want to make a movie out of it.” My editor told me.

“Do you really think it’s that good?” I asked her in surprise.

“Yes. I always knew you could write more than romance novels. This is excellent and I truly think it’s going to be a hit. I’ll be sending it to the publisher soon.” She hung up shortly after that.

I was left feeling excited and a bit overwhelmed. I had never needed a manager or a publicist. My other books were never that big and my channel had grown organically. I had always been able to handle them on my own. I figured I could talk it over with Pete since he had experience and he could help me decide on how to move forward.

I texted Pete because I needed to share the good news. I just got a call from my editor. She had amazing news. When will you be home? I can’t wait to share it with you!

He didn’t text back. In fact, he didn’t even look at it until hours later. When he finally did, he replied with, Hey, that’s great! Can’t wait to hear it. I think I need to stay with Patrick tonight. He needs me. I’ll be home tomorrow.

I only answered with, Oh, ok. Love you.

I was very disappointed, but tried to be understanding. They had been best friends for over twenty years. I knew Patrick had been there for Pete when his relationships ended, this was just Pete paying it back. Or so I assumed.

Elisa called me the next day. She wanted to talk to me because she felt she needed to warn me.

“Hi Moony. Can you talk? I really need to talk to you.” Elisa said as soon as I answered the phone.

“Hi Elisa. Yeah, I’m free to talk. Are you alright?” I asked her.

“Well, as alright as I can be. The boys and I are back in Chicago and settling in.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “I assume you know I’ve asked for a divorce?”

“Yes, and I’m so sorry Elisa. I really am.”

“Thanks. That’s why I’m calling you. I left Patrick because he never put me or the boys first. At best we were the third most important thing in his life.” She paused again. “I got tired of coming in after Pete. Pete, the band, and the music all came before us.” I could hear the tears in her voice. “I love him more than anything but he couldn’t love me the same way.” She choked on a sob.

“Oh, Elisa, I know Patrick loves you all…” I started to say.

“But not as much as he loves Pete. You know, I think he’s been in love with Pete for more than twenty years and I can’t compete with that anymore.” Elisa stopped talking at this point. I could hear her crying softly.

“Elisa, please don’t cry. I’m sure he loves you enough to want to work things out with you.”

“No, I really don’t think we can. I just don’t believe that he can change and put us first. I think the only way that could happen is if he cut Pete and music out of his life. I won’t ask him to do that. He wouldn’t be the man I love if he did. But, the reason I’m calling you is because I thought you should know. I thought you should be prepared for Pete to pick Patrick. Now that Patrick’s a free man, you’re the only thing keeping them from being together again. I like you Moony, so I wanted to give you a heads up. I’m pretty sure that Pete will pick Patrick. I mean the only reason they broke up years ago was because Patrick didn’t want to face the fact that he liked a guy. They’ve always picked each other over who they were with. You’ll probably want to contact a divorce lawyer. I’m sorry.” She hung up after that. I didn’t even get a chance to say anything.

My mind started wondering. Would he pick Patrick over me? Was he secretly in love with him? And why the Hell hadn’t he come home in the last few days? I admit, I started to spiral into a very dark place. And I started getting angry.

That evening, as I put the kids to bed, all of them asked for their father. Marvel was the easiest to settle. She believed her dad was just working and she would see him over the weekend because you don’t work on the weekends. Saint knew something was going on, but he was ready to accept the excuse that Dad was just working late. The twins fussed badly and didn’t want to go to bed. I ended up putting them to bed in my bed and I laid with them until they fell asleep.

I went down to the kitchen with my laptop after getting the four of them asleep. I wanted to wait up for Pete. He had said he would be home that night. I had a lot I wanted to say to him. None of it was nice or good. I had put off looking for someone to be my manager. I really didn’t have any idea how to even start looking. So I had reached out to my editor to ask if she knew of anyone in the book world that could point me in the direction I needed to go. She had responded with a list of names saying I should check them each out and see if I wanted to talk to any of them.

I was Googling them that evening. Trying to concentrate on reading bios and trying to find one that I thought I could work with. I wasn’t having much luck.

Pete finally came home after midnight that evening. He was surprised to see me still up and waiting for him.

“Hey, Baby. I didn’t expect you to still be up. But I’m glad you are. I’ve missed you.” He said brightly and with a huge smile.

I didn’t smile back at him. In fact, I frowned at him.

“Where’ve you been?” I asked. This stopped him in his tracks. He was still on the other side of the kitchen from me, the island separated us.

“With Patrick. You know that.” He answered with a frown of his own.

I only gave a short huff. “Yeah, with Patrick.” I mumbled.

“Grace?” He started to ask me. His confusion was apparent on his face.

“So, did you convince him to go back to his family?” I interrupted him.

He closed his mouth on what he was about to say. “I don’t think so.” He finally answered.

I noticed that he wasn’t in the same clothes he had left the house in the day before. “Those aren’t your clothes.”

“Borrowed them from ‘Trick.” He said with a small shrug.

“Elisa was right, wasn’t she?” I asked without thinking.

“Right about what?”

I finally looked him in the eye. “Are you leaving me for him?”

Pete looked totally shocked and surprised by that question. “No! Oh my God, Grace, no. No, I’m not leaving you! Why? Why would you ask that?”

“Because he’s the only person in the world that you love more than me or the kids. You’ve loved him for over twenty years. And now he’s free. Elisa thinks he’s been in love with you all this time. He puts you ahead of her and the boys. So why wouldn’t you leave me for him?”

Pete looked very hurt and a bit confused. “Grace, I promise you, I’m not leaving you. This isn’t what you think...”

I interrupted him. “Really? Because I think the man you’ve loved for half of your life has finally made himself available to you. And I can’t compete with him. Just like Elisa can’t compete with you for his love. I don’t even want to try.”

“You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not going to leave you for him.” Pete said as he took a step towards me.

“If you were single, would you be with him?”

Pete didn’t answer right away, but the look on his face was all I needed to know that he would.

“So you would. Good to know.” I closed my laptop, picked it up and got up from the stool I was sitting on. Without looking at him I said, “School’s out in a few weeks. And Bronx’s graduation is two Saturdays from now. I’ll be taking the kids to Dads after that. But I’m not going to miss his graduation. I’ll stay in the twins room until we leave. I want the twins, they’re too young to go back and forth. We’ll work out something for Saint and Marvel.”

“What!?! What do you mean? Are you leaving me?” Pete asked in a panicked voice.

“I’m letting you be with the person you want to be with.” I spat at him and then left the room.

Getting to our room I picked up Jupiter and without waking him up, I took him to his room and put him in his crib. Then I went back for Star. Pete didn’t come up while I was moving them. I didn’t sleep that night. I sat up in the rocking chair and looked up divorce attorneys in the city closest to Dad.

The next morning I took the twins downstairs to the kitchen so I could get breakfast started. Pete was there, still in the same clothes as the night before. It was obvious he hadn’t slept. I was actually surprised to see him.

I didn’t greet him as I walked in. But the kids were very happy to see him. The twins ran to him with arms open and shrieking “Dada!” “Dadee!”

He scooped up both of them and hugged them tight.

“Good morning Jupiter. Good morning Star. I’ve missed you both so much. I’m sorry I’ve been gone the past few days.” He told them as he hugged them. He put them in their chairs, dropping a kiss on each of their heads. I moved to the stove to start breakfast.

Saint and Marvel were coming into the kitchen looking for breakfast at this point. Both of them were happy to see their Dad too.

“Daddy! Where’ve you been? Mommy said you were working.” Marvel asked him as she ran up and got a hug and a kiss from him.

“Uncle Patrick needed a friend to talk to. He’s very sad about Elisa and the boys going back to Chicago. I’m sorry I haven’t seen you for a few days.” He told her.

He looked over at Saint, expecting to get a hug from him too. But Saint had an angry scowl on his face.

“Good morning Saint.” Pete greeted his son.

“Why haven’t you been home? You told us you and Mom weren’t splitting up. But you’re not home anymore.” Saint’s tone was accusatory.

Pete looked defeated. “I know. I’m sorry I haven’t been home for a few days. I’ve been trying to get Patrick to go home and be with his family.”

Saint gave his father a very level look. “Did it work? Did he go back to his kids?”

Pete sadly shook his head.

Saint’s face darkened. “I hate Uncle Patrick.” He said with so much contempt it was surprising.

“Saint, don’t say that. You don’t mean it.” Pete tried to scold him.

“I do! He’s so stupid!” Saint yelled at his father.

Pete looked to me for help.

“Sir Saint, I know you’re very unhappy with what’s going on. Declan is your friend and you want him to be happy and have his family all together. But this is something that the grown ups need to deal with.” I told him gently. “And right now, you need to eat breakfast and get ready for school. Here’s your oatmeal.” I put his bowl of oatmeal in front of him and one in front of Marvel. “Here you are, Miss. Marvelous. Eat up and then go get ready for school.”

I went back to the stove and dished Pete up a bowl too. Taking it and the twins bowls to the table I sat it in front of him and said, “You need to eat too.” Then I moved to the other side of the table and fed the twins.

Pete only looked at me. His eyes followed me as I sat down and started fixing the bowls of hot cereal with some milk and brown sugar before giving it to the twins.

“Thank you.” He finally said. He started making his bowl up and eating.

“Daddy, will you be home when I get out of school?” Marvel inquired.

“I’ll be there to get you off the bus. I’ll walk you both to the bus stop this morning too.” He told her with a gentle and tender smile. She grinned back at him.

We had breakfast and then the kids went upstairs to get dressed and ready for school. As soon as they were out of the room, Pete turned to me and said, “We need to talk. Please talk to me.”

I nodded because we did need to talk. But not in front of the children. “When you get back from putting the kids on the bus, we’ll talk.” I got up and started clearing the table.

He reached over and grabbed my wrist. I stopped what I was doing and met his eyes. “Grace, I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want us to be over.” His eyes pleaded with me to believe him.

“We’ll talk when you get back. Let’s get the kids to school first.”

He let go of me and I finished cleaning up from breakfast. He took care of the babies for me. He got them cleaned up and out of their chairs. He took them upstairs to get changed if needed and dressed. By the time he came back down he had all four of the children with him. All of them dressed, and ready to go.

“Marvel, your hair looks so cute.” I told her when she came back into the kitchen. Her blond hair was divided in half and she had two sweet buns very much like Princess Leia in A New Hope. “Did your Daddy help you?”

“Yeah, he did. I like it!” She said as she grinned up at me.

“I do too. I think it looks really good.” I smiled back at her. “You all ready for school? Got your homework? Bookbag?” I was checking her over as I asked. She had everything she needed.

“What about you Saint? Ready to go? Have everything?” I asked him.

He only nodded his head.

“Alright, give me a hug, your Dad’s gonna take you to the bus. Have a good day. Love you.” I kissed and hugged Marvel.

“Have a good day Sir Saint. I love you.” I told him as I hugged him.

“Love you too, Mom.” He said back. Then they left for school.

I took the twins to play in the living room. I waited for Pete to come back home. It wasn’t long before he did come back. He found me in the living room with the twins. I was on the floor with them.

He came in and sat on the sofa. He looked like he hadn’t slept in 24 hours and like he was about to cry.

He didn’t say anything at first. I just sat and looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

Jupiter brought me one of his toy trucks. “Mum, play?” he asked me.

“In a little while, Little Man. Go play with your sister.” I told him gently. He turned and went to his sister. The two of them found something to keep them occupied on the other side of the room.

I looked back at Pete expectantly. I was still waiting for him to speak. But he was just sitting on the sofa, elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands. He sighed deeply and lifted his head to face me. I could see how exhausted he was, and how hurt he was. He gave me a pleading look.

“Last night, you said that I love Patrick more than anyone else, including you and the kids. But, that’s not true. I love you so much more than him. I realized that these last few days. I don’t love him the way you think or the way you think he loves me. There was a time when I thought I was in love with him. I thought we could be happy together. But I know for certain that I have never been in love with him.”

“You’re right about having loved him my whole adult life. I have. More than any other friend. He’s my best friend, and we’ve been through Hell and back together. And, it’s true that I did love him more than I loved Ashlee or Meagan. Because I did. I did put him first when I was with them.” He took a deep breath and sat up.

“When I first met him, I knew that it would be different with him. Everything would be different. Like, my life, my whole fucking life, was going to be different because of him. I was...obsessed with him the first few years. It came out as the kisses on stage, cuddling in the back of the van, hanging off of him at every chance I got. I knew by then that I was into guys as much as I was girls. I thought he was beautiful. Not just his looks, but who he was, who he is. I was very attracted to him.”

“I wanted him so badly, I wanted to date him, be in a relationship with him. He wasn’t interested in dating me. Said he wasn’t gay, didn’t want a boyfriend.” He paused again, took a breath and continued. “He didn’t seem to mind me creeping into his room in our shitty apartment and blowing him though. But he would sing me to sleep after, and let me sleep in his bed. So that was good.” He gave a humorless chuckle. He sighed again and put his head back in his hands.

He looked up and just gave me the most pain filled look. He blinked hard a few times and swallowed hard. I could hear the repressed tears when he started talking. “It didn’t last long, the secret late night sex. I wanted more from him. He didn’t. We weren’t good together, not like that. I felt that something essential was missing. I didn’t know what it was, I wasn’t able to articulate it. But something was just off, something was missing. So, I stopped. I just stopped going to his room or his bunk. Infinity came out, I decided to stay here permanently. He went back home. Our friendship was strained after all of that. Then I met Ashlee and we got pregnant and I thought, this was what I was missing. A family, a home.”

He slid off the couch to the floor and crawled towards me. He stopped a few feet from me and sat cross legged. He started to reach out to me, but stopped himself. “Patrick was mad at me for moving on and finding happiness. We were so angry with each other. But I still loved him. Then Folie happened, and we fought so badly. He punched me. Did you know that? I deserved it, but still, he punched me. The band went on the break. I stopped talking to him and tried to enjoy family life. You know how that ended. Then I met Meagan, and fell in love with her. He met Elisa and fell in love with her. We mended our friendship and the band started working together again. Things were good for all of us. Things were really good. We were making music again.” He stopped again. He stayed quiet for a long time. Star came over and crawled into his lap. He gave her a real smile and cuddled her as she settled on his lap.

Jupiter couldn’t be left out and come over to get some time with Dad too. He hadn’t spoken in a few minutes. He just held the twins on his lap.

When he started talking again, he didn’t look up or meet my eyes.

“Patrick told me everything the other day. He loves Elisa and the boys. He didn’t want them to leave. But he did confess that he’s been wondering ’what if’. What if he hadn’t been too scared of being with me when we were young. What if we were together now. He has a lot of feelings and he’s having a hard time dealing with them. He did ask me to give him a chance. To give a relationship with him a try.” He stopped talking and looked up to look me in the eyes. “I told him no. I don’t want that kind of relationship with him.”

I stayed silent for a moment thinking over everything he had just told me.

“Did you sleep with him?” This was something I needed to know before I could move forward.

“No.”

“Did you kiss him?”

“He kissed me. But I needed to know. I needed to know if the spark was still there.” He confessed.

“Was it?” I could feel my throat closing with the effort it was taking to keep from crying.

“No. I felt nothing for him. It felt like kissing my brother.”

Because I couldn’t keep them back any longer, a tear slid down my face. I wiped it off and swallowed hard to get myself under control again.

“Grace, please believe me. I’m in love with you . I only want you .” Pete said.

“You call him your soulmate. How can I compete with that?” I asked bitterly.

“Part time soulmate, full time problem. That line is about him.”

“But he’s still your soulmate, not me.” I said. And then more tears came.

“Platonic soulmate. Not romantic.” He said.

“That doesn’t make it better. I’m your wife, but not your soulmate.”

“Mama sad?” Star asked. She moved out of Pete’s lap and crawled into mine. She hugged me with her little arms and gave me a wet kiss on my cheek.

“Mama’s ok, Sweetie. I’m ok.” I told her as I hugged her back.

“Do you believe me?” He asked me, his voice pleading with me to be ok with this.

“I do believe you. But I need some time. I’m, I don’t…” I trailed off. I really wasn’t sure what I was feeling. I was hurt, but not as much as I would have been if he was leaving me.

“Please don’t leave me. Grace, you’re my everything. I’ll give up everything to keep you.”

I met his eyes and saw he was telling me the truth. I only nodded at him.

“Did you sleep last night?” I asked him. He shook his head. “Go get some sleep.” I told him.

“What about you? You can’t tell me you got any sleep.” He asked me.

“Go get some sleep. I’ll be fine.” I told him. I tried moving Star so I could get up off the floor. But she only held onto me tighter.

“Are we ok?” He asked me.

“No, but we’re better than we were last night. Go get some sleep. I’ll get a nap in later, when you get up.”

“I love you.” He said before moving Jupiter out of his lap and getting up. He headed up to get some sleep.

“Come on Star, let me up. Your brother is making his pooping face. What about you? Do you need a diaper change?”

Star looked up at me with her big blue eyes and asked, “Mama sad?”

“I’m ok, Baby Girl.” Then I smiled at her and kissed her on the forehead. I looked over at my son and said, “Come on Jupiter, let’s go change your diaper.” I got up and took them both up to their room and got them cleaned up.

I was exhausted so I didn’t work like I normally do during the day. I didn’t film, or edit, or write as I normally would have while letting the twins run and play. We stayed inside and watched Disney movies and more Bluey than any adult should watch. I made lunch for them and myself when we got hungry. But we stayed in the living room and kitchen all morning.

Pete got up just after lunch and came down to let me get some rest. He was in clean sweatpants and a clean but well loved and worn Metallica t-shirt. At least he was in his own clothes. He found me on the couch with Star in my lap. She had been very clingy all morning.

He came into the living room, greeted me and sat next to me on the couch. “Go get some sleep. I’ll take over with the twins.” He said.

I nodded because I needed sleep. “The bus gets here at 3:40. The twins should be ready to go down for their nap around 2. Come get me if you need anything. There’s some egg salad made up in the fridge if you want a sandwich. And there’s some after school snack things for the kids when they get home. Don’t feed them a bunch of cookies though.”

I handed Star to him so I could get up. He took her and she looked up at him with her big blue eyes and said, “Dadee, Mama sad.”

Pain flashed over Pete’s face. “I know Mommy’s sad.” He told her as he settled her in his lap. “But I’m gonna try to fix that and make her happy.”

He looked up at me after that and told me to go get some sleep. He would be fine with the kids. I went upstairs and to bed. I fell asleep as soon as I laid down.

I had set an alarm so I would be up about that same time the kids got home. I could hear the kids as I was coming down the stairs.

“Where’s Mommy?” I heard Marvel ask.

“Sleeping. She didn’t get much rest last night.” Pete told her.

“Why? Are you guys fighting?” Saint asked.

“Saint, you don’t need to worry about me and your Mom. We’re gonna be alright.” Pete told Saint.

I walked in the room as he was telling Saint not to worry.

“Hey guys. How was school?” I asked them as I came into the room.

“Hi Mommy. Look at what I made in art class!” She showed me the picture she made in school.

“Oh, Miss. Marvelous, this is beautiful. I think it needs to go on the fridge.” I told her as I admired the drawing. She grinned at me. “Why don’t you go put it up so everyone can see it?”

She ran to the kitchen and put her drawing on the fridge.

“What about you Sir Saint? How was your day?” I asked my eldest son.

“It was ok. Are you and Dad fighting?” He asked pointedly.

I smiled a small smile at him. “Don’t worry about me and your Dad. We’ll be ok. All couples have disagreements. But that doesn’t mean we don’t still love each other.”

Saint looked like he didn’t believe me, but was going to accept my answer.

“Do you guys want a snack?” Pete asked the kids. They were hungry so we got them something to eat. After the snack Marvel took her baby brother and sister to the playroom to play with them. Saint went up to his room.

Pete had kept his distance from me. But once the kids had left the room he closed the distance between us. But still didn’t touch me.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. You’re my everything and I only want to make you happy.” He told me.

“I’m not sure just what I’m feeling. I have never been jealous of Patrick. Never. But that was before he wanted to take you from me. Now, I’m just hurt, disappointed and angry. I’m hurt by his actions and angry at him for throwing his family away and trying to destroy ours. I’m disappointed and hurt that you kissed him. And I’m, I’m not sure I want to stay with someone that calls his best friend and ex-lover his soulmate.”

Pete finally touched me for the first time since that morning at the breakfast table. He reached out and placed one hand on my arm. “Tell me what I can do to save our marriage. Please, I’ll do anything.”

Before I could censor myself I said, “Disband Fall Out Boy and never speak to Patrick again.”

Pete’s hand dropped from my arm. He looked shocked but then I could see the resolve to do just that if it meant keeping me. “If that’s what you want and what it will take, I’ll do it.”

I just shook my head. “No, that’s not fair to Joe and Andy. Or the fans.” I stopped for a second and then said, “I still want to take the kids to Dads for the summer.”

Pete agreed immediately with that. “Yeah, ok, we can take them to the farm. When do you want to go?”

“After Bronx’s graduation. The week after. I’ll bring them home before school starts back up.”

“ You’ll bring them home? Are you planning on going alone?” He asked me.

“You have an album to finish. I figured you’d be staying here.”

“I want to go with you. And what about Bronx? Are you taking him?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not planning on taking Bronx. He’s going to be busy this summer getting ready to leave for college. But I do plan on offering him a plane ticket to come out if he wants for a few weeks, or as long as he wants to stay.”

Pete’s brows were pulled together in a panicked frown. “And me?” he asked.

I stopped and thought about that. What did I want from him? He had been apologetic and remorseful. And really, he hadn’t done anything wrong. He had turned down Patrick. Yes, they had kissed, but in a way, I could understand that. The need to know for sure, I could understand that. I was hurt, true, but that was for me to deal with.

I stepped forward and placed one hand on his chest, just over his heart. “Come out when you’re done recording. You said yourself that you didn’t think it would be much longer. Come and spend the summer with us when you're done. And maybe, bring Bronx with you.” I took another step closer to him bringing us together and placed my other hand on his chest. He took this as the signal he could touch me. He placed both hands on my hips and held tight. He leaned in and rested his forehead on mine.

“Ok. I’ll come out when we’re done recording. I’m so sorry Grace.”

I breathed in deeply, smelling his scent. He smelled like the soap he had used to wash his face, his cologne and his unique scent, cinnamon and sun and skin and just Pete. He smelled like home.

“I know, and I accept your apology. I’m hurt and upset, but that doesn't mean I don’t love you.” I told him.

His arms moved around my waist and pulled me close. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him back.

“I love you.” He told me.

“I love you too.” I answered.

We stayed like that for a while. Until Marvel and Jupiter interrupted us.

“Mommy, I think Jupiter needs to be changed. He smells.” Marvel announced as they entered the living room.

I pulled back from Pete and gave him a small smile. “I’ll take care of him. What do you want for dinner?”

“I’ll have something delivered. Neither of us have the energy to cook tonight.” He said as he smiled back at me.

“Works for me.” I said and then I gave him a very light kiss. I turned and faced my son. “Come on Jupiter, let’s go change your diaper. I wonder if you’re too young to start potty training?”

After changing Jupiter I stopped at Saint’s room. I knocked softly and waited for his “Come in,” before opening the door.

Leaning against the doorframe, with Jupiter on my hip, I asked him, “You doin’ ok, Sir Saint?’

He was sitting at his desk playing a game on his computer. He paused it and turned to look at me.

“I’m ok.”

“What would you think about spending the summer on the farm?” I asked him. I had not talked to the kids about going to the farm.

He smiled, but then asked, “Will Dad be coming with us?”

“Once he’s done recording, he’ll come out and join us.” I told him.

Saint thought about it and then said, “Will Abby be there?”

“They always go to the farm for the 4th of July. You’ll see her then. But maybe I can call Uncle Scott and see if she would like to come down and spend more time with us. Whadda ya think about that?”

“Yeah, that would be fun.” He said.

“I’m thinking we could leave after Bronx’s graduation. We’ll fly out. I’m not sure the twins could handle the road trip.”

“I’ll help with them when we go.” Satin offered.

I smiled at him and then said, “Thank you. I’m sure I’ll need it. I think we’re going to have something delivered for dinner. Any requests?”

“I liked that chicken place we had before. The one where the chicken was really tender and it had beans and rice with it. Do you remember?”

I smiled because I did know which place he meant. “I do. I’ll let your Dad know. Don’t spend all night up here. Come down and spend some time with us later.” But I closed his door after that and went downstairs with Jupiter.

That night we ordered from the Peruvian restaurant Saint had asked for. The food was delicious and we enjoyed it very much. Both Pete and I were tired and didn’t want to do much other than veg on the couch with the kids.

Once it was late enough to put the kids to bed we did. And then we went to bed. We were in bed, both of us on our backs, when he rolled over and put his arm around me.

“Grace, what was the good news from your editor? You texted me that you got a call from her with good news. What did she say?” He asked me.

I had almost forgotten the call from her. I had been preoccupied with other things.

“She said this book is the best thing I’ve sent her. That she thinks it could be a bestseller. She recommended that I finally get a manager and maybe a publicist. She said that she could see someone wanting to make a movie out of it. I could end up writing a screenplay. I’ve never even thought about that before.”

Pete moved so he was up on his elbow, looking down at me. “Babe, that’s amazing! I can get you in touch with my manager and publicist if you want. I’m sure they will be able to help you find someone who knows the book world, maybe even tie in your channel. That’s really exciting news. I’m so proud of you.”

I thought for a moment before responding. “I had hoped you’d help me find someone to work with. I have no idea what I’m doing or should look for. Thank you for the offer. I’ll take you up on it.”

He moved the hand he had wrapped around me to cup my face. Looking in my eyes he said, “You are my whole world. I love you. There is no one else in the world I want. Only you.”

“I love you too.” I told him and allowed him to kiss me. It was soft and tender and love filled, and still wow.

We cuddled down and went to sleep. We were going to be ok. This was just a bump in the road. It was a big bump, and one that rattled my teeth, but we’d make it through as long as we did it together.