BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE by blackrandl1958
Nothing good ever happens when you're somewhere you aren't supposed to be. It wasn't my fault. I was sitting at the stoplight and a guy pulled up next to me. He motioned for me to roll down my window. "You've got a low tire," he said.
I told him thanks and pulled into the Walmart parking lot off to the right. I got out and looked. Shit! I could see a screw head embedded in the tire tread and air was slowly leaking out. Great! Now what? I decided to go in and get a can of that Slime stuff. When I came back, I took the screw out. Big mistake. Now, the air really started hissing out. I screwed it back in and got some air at the gas station in the parking lot. I was only fifteen miles from home and I'd check it several times. If it started getting too low, I'd put in the can of Slime.
There was a convenience store about five miles from home and I could see the tire was getting pretty low in the driver's side mirror. I pulled in and they didn't have air. Time to test the Slime. I put it in and some green goo, I guess they call it Slime for a reason, came out, but the hissing of escaping air stopped. I was just about to get back in my car when I noticed a pickup truck pull in. It was one of those giant ones with the huge tires. It sat up so high that you'd need a ladder to get in. Obviously, the guy had a giant dong. I recognized the truck from somewhere. The door opened and a tall blond guy got out. He had on cowboy boots and a huge belt buckle. I chuckled a bit, but that died about halfway out. The passenger door opened and a beautiful raven-haired woman hopped down.
I definitely recognized her. It was Rachael, the woman I'd been married to for the last 18 years. What the hell? I was parked over to the side and they never even noticed my car. It was the company car, one of those little box-shaped imports and not very noticeable, I guess. They were holding hands as they went into the store and she was laughing up into his face.
I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move; all I could do was stand there like a fool. Now I remembered where I'd seen the guy before. He worked at the same company Rachael did. She was the office manager for a mental health clinic and he was one of the caseworkers. I'd seen the truck at their building. The question was, what was Rachael doing with him? I couldn't think of his name. Finally, it came to me, Jerry Garner. The question was, why wasn't Rachael at work?
I was going to find out. I got back in the car and waited. He helped her in when they came out of the store, carrying cups of coffee. They roared off and I followed at a discreet distance. They drove to our house and he pulled into the garage. The door came down and I couldn't see any more. I sat there for thirty minutes, but the thought of the tire made me nervous. I kept checking it, but if it was going down, I couldn't see it. After two hours, the door came up and they drove back past me. I held a file folder up in front of my face, but I don't think they would have noticed, anyway. She was sitting right over against him and they were too busy looking at each other to notice anything else. Rachael didn't get off until five, and it was two-thirty. I'd have plenty of time. First, I'd have to go in and see what I could find. I had to pick Tobi up at four, and I had no idea what I was going to tell her. Tobi was my 15-year-old daughter. I couldn't imagine what I was going to find inside, but maybe I'd get some answers.
When I went inside, everything was quiet. I could hear the drip of that faucet I'd meant to fix in Tobi's bathroom. That was the only sound aside from the whispering of the air coming from the air conditioner vents. I looked around, but I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. I checked upstairs. The bed had been changed. There were fresh sheets. My heart sank like a stone. I put my back against the wall and slid down to the floor. I felt numb. There seemed to be only one rational explanation. I must have sat there for thirty minutes; my mind was in free-wheel mode. I couldn't seem to make any sense of my thoughts and I felt as if I'd been drugged. My stomach began to feel queasy and I got up and opened a Sprite. I felt hot and sweaty, so I went back to the bathroom. I fumbled in the vanity for a washcloth, wet it in the sink and washed my face with cold water. After washing, I felt a little better. Then I noticed something. The floor of the shower was wet. They had taken a shower before going back to work. I wandered back out into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed in a daze, the bed that my wife and her lover had just vacated. I jumped up at that thought and looked at it in horror. This was the scene of the crime.
I had no idea what I was going to do. Well, I was going to divorce Rachael. That went without saying. I was totally without a clue. I didn't know any lawyers; I had no idea how to proceed and I had to pick Tobi up from school. Tobi! What was I going to tell her? I made my way out to the car, feeling like I'd been drunk for ten days straight. My head was throbbing and I looked like death warmed over. I was in no condition to drive, but I couldn't keep Tobi waiting. I suddenly realized that she was the only thing in my life that I could really count on. My baby girl was going to be okay. I was going to have to see to that. Whatever I did, it was going to have to take her into account. When I pulled up in the line of cars, I could see her waiting at the school doors. She walked down the sidewalk toward the car, so beautiful it hurt my heart. Tobi had her mother's hair and skin, dark and almost Mediterranean looking. She had the most spectacular eyes I'd ever seen. They seemed to have her mother's dark brown, shot through with gold and streaks of green. The doctor called them hazel, but I'd never seen anything like them. She was tall, like me, all long honey-brown legs and beauty. She opened the back door and threw in her backpack. When she got in, she slid across to kiss me and froze.
"Dad, what's wrong?" she asked. "Are you sick? Did something happen? Is Mom okay? What's wrong, Dad?" Her voice was rising and there was a note of fear creeping in. I had to say something.
"I'm okay, Kitten," I said. "No one is hurt or sick or anything. I need to talk to you, Tobi. Let's go to the park and just let me hold you and talk to you for a minute, okay? Don't ask me any more questions until we get there, okay?"
"Okay, Dad, but you're kind of scaring me," she said. "I know, Kitten, but everything is going to be okay," I told her, hoping that it wasn't a lie. It only took us about five minutes to get to the park. I had pushed her on those swings a thousand times. Rachael and I had both sat on the benches and watched her play on the equipment. Happier times, was that all my life was going to be, just reminiscing about happier times? We walked to one of the benches and she held my hand, swinging our arms as we walked, just the way she had since she was a tiny little thing, just able to walk. We sat down and I struggled with the words to begin. "Just tell me, Dad," she said. "I can handle it."
"Well, I'm not sure I can," I said. The story came tumbling out. I told her everything; everything I'd seen; everything I was feeling and the tears rolled down my cheeks like a river. She held my hand through it all, and when the fountain of words and feelings dried up, she snuggled up against me. "It doesn't sound good, Dad," she said. "We need to go home and ask Mom about it. I guess everything depends on what she tells us. I know it looks bad, but we don't know enough. We have to talk to her." I kissed the top of her head. My heart swelled with pride. My baby was so much braver than I was. She pulled on my hand until I stood up. "Wanna drive?" I asked her. Her eyes shone. She had just gotten her learner's permit. A cloud passed across those beautiful eyes as she thought, but it quickly passed. She drove carefully home, and Rachael's car was in the garage. This was it. She met us at the door with a hug and a kiss for each of us. You would have thought that she wasn't a cheating slut. Either she was an Oscar winning actress, or I had misread the whole situation.
"You two want takeout tonight?" she asked. "My treat." "I think we just need to talk to you for a minute, Mom," Tobi said. "Okay... is everything all right, Baby?" "I don't know," Tobi said. "Let's find out." We went in and I sat on the sofa beside Tobi. That left Rachael to sit in that hideous chair she just had to have. "What's up?" she asked. There wasn't a single shred of concern on her features. "How did your day go?" I asked. She looked at me curiously. "Just the usual," she said. "One of the drug reps brought lunch from The Onion Bin. It was pretty busy and I hardly had a minute. Why are you asking that?" "So, you were at the office all day?" Tobi asked. "Of course," she said. "What are all these questions? What's going on?" "So you weren't at the house here with Jerry Garner this afternoon?" I asked. Her face went pale. "Of course not," she said. "Are you accusing me of something, Oliver?" "I saw you," I told her.
"What... you didn't see anything," she was stammering, now. "What are you trying to do? He's lying, Tobi. I was at the office all day. You can ask Angel."
"No, I don't think he's lying, Mom," Tobi said. "I think you're lying. I won't be asking Angel. She'd lie for you. I think I'll give David Jones a call. He's your boss, right? I don't think he'd lie for you. What's his number?" "He's left for the night," Rachael said. "I'll have him call you tomorrow. What are you two doing? Are you trying to trick me, or something? You think you can just come in here and try to trip me up? What are you accusing me of doing?" I guess she thought the best defense was a good offense. "I think you tripped yourself up," I told her. "You lied, Rachael. All three of us know you lied. Why would you do that?" I could see the wheels spinning in her head. "Okay, I was here," she said. "This is the reason I didn't want tell you. I knew you'd give me the third degree and try to accuse me of something." "No one has accused you of anything," Tobi said. "I'm accusing you of something, now. You tried to make me believe that Dad is a liar. You tried to make him look like a liar to cover up your lie. What are you lying about, Mom? Are you having an affair with that jerk?" "You don't even know him," Rachael said. "Why would you say he's a jerk?" "I've met him twice," Tobi said. "The way he looks at me makes me want to take a bath. That doesn't matter, are you having an affair with him?" Rachael's eyes moved back and forth between us for a moment, looking like a trapped animal. "I didn't want it to be like this," she finally said. "I wasn't ready."
"Wasn't ready for what?" Tobi asked.
"I've just fallen in love with Jerry," she said. She looked over at me. "I'm sorry, Oliver, it just happened. We work together very closely, you know. He was just... I don't know. He's like the other half of my soul. We just connected and I couldn't help it. We're in love. I was going to tell you when we were ready. As soon as we can both get divorced, we're going to get married. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to find out this way. Tobi, it's going to be okay. You'll still get to see your father whenever you want to. Jerry has a really nice place out on the lake. He has a daughter, too, you know. He likes you and we're going to be very happy." "Are you nuts?" Tobi practically exploded. "I'm not going to live with that asshole! He'd probably be sneaking into my bedroom at night to molest me. You're right, I'm going to see Dad anytime I want because I'm going to be living with him. It's you who I'm not going to be seeing. How could you?" She turned on her heel and walked upstairs to her room. I heard the lock on her door click. Rachael turned and looked at me. "She'll get over it," she said. "Jerry is really a good guy, Oliver. I think you'll like him. I'm sorry, but I need to be happy. Jerry makes me happy and that's all there is to it."
I just stared at her. Who was this person? It was as if she'd been body snatched or something. I wasn't about to argue or discuss anything with a dangerous lunatic. "Whatever, Rachael," I said. "When are you moving out?" "Moving out?" she said. "I'm not. I don't have anywhere to go. Jerry is married and we can't do anything until we tell his wife. We'll all have to get divorces and see how the settlement is before we know what we need to do." "No, you're moving out," I told her. "I'll give you three days."
Her jaw dropped. "What the hell are you talking about? You can't kick me out of my own house. If anything, you should be the one who moves out." "You're forgetting something," I said. "This is my house. I owned it before I met you. It was paid for, and I owned it clear before we got married. The house isn't a "marital asset," it's mine. My name is on the deed and yours isn't. No, you're moving out of my house." "Where?" she asked. "Are you just going to throw me out on the street?" "I really don't care where," I said. "Maybe you could get a room down at the Cheating Slut Motel. Maybe one of those rent by the hour places, you know. That's where you sluts do the dirty, right?"
Her eyes filled with tears. "That really hurts, Oliver," she said. "There's no need for name calling. I didn't try to fall in love with Jerry, it just happened. We just clicked and I knew I needed to be with him. I wasn't trying to hurt you." "Ah, you just hurt me by accident," I said. "Sort of like falling when you're running with a stick in your hand and poking your eye out. Mom always warned me about that. I see how it happens now. Well, that's okay then. It was an accident." "There's no need to be so sarcastic, either," she said. "Why can't you just accept that we're in love, Oliver?" "Um, gee, I don't know, Rachael," I said. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that when I left this morning, you told me that you loved me. Now you're telling me that you love him. I guess I'm just a little confused."
"I do love you, Oliver," she said. "I'll always love you. I'm just "in love" with Jerry." "Oh, well, that explains it, then," I said. "You have told me every day for the last 18 years that you were 'in love' with me, Rachael. I thought that was why we got married. We were in love. I guess I was delusional."
"Oh, no, we were in love," she tried to hold my hand. I shook her off. "You've got three days, Rachael. If you're not out in three days, I'll have the sheriff remove you and throw your shit out in the driveway." "Please, Oliver," she was scared now. "It doesn't have to be this way. We can still be friends. Jerry wants to be your friend, too. We have Tobi to think about. I told you that I love you and I don't want to lose you as a friend. We've been together too long for you to just throw that away." I just stared at her for a minute. I could feel all that sadness, all that loss just draining away to be replaced by a wave of white-hot anger. "You must be fucking nuts, Rachael," I said. "Friends? With you? With that asshole? I kind of think not. You should tell that piece of shit that if he sees me, it should be briefly, just before he runs away as fast as he can. As for you, you're the enemy, Rachael. I'm going to burn down your house. You have three days, then I never want to see your skank ass again. I'll talk to a lawyer in the morning and you'll have your divorce as quickly as possible." I turned and went to the bedroom, leaving her standing there making noises. That's all they were to me. She followed me around, still spouting her crap about "friends" all the time I was moving her stuff into the spare bedroom. She had more clothes in the closet than I could carry and I just draped them over her, carried an armful to the spare bedroom and hung them in the closet. She followed me. She stood there for a while yapping and watching me, but when she went to hang the clothes up, I took advantage of the situation to leave and lock the bedroom door. I heard her come down the hall, but she tried the knob, and then went away. Tobi texted me after a few minutes. "You okay, Dad?" "Yes, Kitten, you?" I texted back. "No, but I will be," she said. "Okay, love you," I sent. "Text me if you need anything." "Take me to school in the morning?" she said. "I don't want to be in the car with her." "KK." I got in bed and laid there for hours, trying to figure out what I needed to do. I must have drifted off about three, and then my phone alarm went off. I got up, took a shower and called my boss. I told him that I was getting a divorce and needed a few days off. He told me to take as long as I needed and made all the right noises about how sorry he was. I went and made coffee, had a cup or two and made some breakfast for Tobi and me. She came down right on time, looking as beautiful to me as ever, and wolfed down her breakfast. Rachael came in and got a cup of coffee after a bit. She tried to talk to us, but we ignored her. It was time to take Tobi to school and Rachael asked her if she was ready. Tobi just looked at her, turned to me and asked, "You ready, Dad?" I jingled the keys and she grabbed her backpack. "Okay, you can act like two-year-olds if it makes you feel good," Rachael said. She stalked away and got her purse, shot us one more glare and left. I took Tobi to school and she kissed me when she got out. I sat there and watched her go in. I was thinking of my friend Dan. He'd just been through a divorce, and I thought I'd give him a call and see what attorney he'd used. He didn't recommend his attorney. He told me I should use his wife's attorney. He gave me the name and I looked up the number. When I called, a woman answered the phone and put me on hold, after I told her what I wanted. She agreed to see me that afternoon, and I made all the usual moves. We had investments and there wasn't going to be much I could do about that. I could make sure she didn't run up credit card bills, so I called and lowered the limits on our cards to 500 dollars. That would put a crimp in my style, too, but I would be damned if I was going to fund her little scheme. My appointment with Elizabeth Baxter didn't get off to an auspicious beginning. She had made some assumptions, and it was necessary to disabuse her of them before we could get started. Her assumption was that I was dumping Rachael for a newer model. "You need to think again," I told her. "She's been having an affair with her co-worker; he's married and they both plan to divorce and marry each other." "I apologize," she said. "I won't represent anyone who is making the kind of move you say she's making. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror." "I understand," I said. "We have a daughter. I want to minimize the fallout. Do you think it's possible for me to get custody of her?"
"It's possible," she said. "In theory, either parent is considered as likely as the other to gain custody. In practice, fathers rarely get custody, especially of female children. How old is she, and is she likely to want to stay with you?" "She said she did, and she's fifteen," I said. "That will weigh heavily in the court's decision," she said. "In this state, children over 14 get to choose, and younger children's wishes are always considered. If she was very young, you wouldn't stand a prayer. Having the primary residence and the fact that a fifteen-year-old wants to stay with you should be a major part of the custody arrangement. This shouldn't be a problem." "Just do your best," I said. I drove home and wondered what I was going to do. I was going to do something, but it was going to have to be legal. Landing in jail would cost me Tobi, and I wasn't about to risk that. What avenues were open? You have to be careful when burning down houses to make sure your own isn't on fire. This was going to take some thinking and planning. I suspected his wife was as clueless as I was, so the first step would be letting her know. I needed to make a list. I was certainly going to let her family know. Rachael's mom and dad loved me, and they certainly loved Tobi, so letting them know was at the top of the list, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. Making sure all our friends knew was also on the agenda in a big way, and I thought I could get up enough of a social media storm to make their lives interesting. That was the first thing on my agenda. She had a Facebook account for our family. I played with it a bit, used Messenger a good bit and I knew my way around. I searched around on the internet and found out that dear old Jerry's wife did the same. I screen-shotted some pictures and posted on Rachael's page that we were getting a divorce, that she had found her "soul-mate" in Jerry, posting a picture of him. I changed the password and logged out. That felt good. I wondered how long it would be before her friends and family started blowing up her phone and the Facebook page. I hoped the asshole's wife would get the message. I didn't know her, and felt some guilt about the shitstorm that would be descending on her, but if she was like I was, she would rather know than be ignorant. I called Mom. That conversation went about as badly as I thought it would, but beyond initial disbelief, she just told me she would tell Dad and that anything I needed, they were there for me. I decided I'd let Rachael tell her parents. We were close, and I didn't want to be the cause of any estrangement. I had no idea what I would say to them, anyway. Somehow, "Your daughter is a cheating slut" didn't seem like the ideal message. They would probably shoot the messenger. It didn't take long for the shit to hit the fan. About 2PM, Rachael's number showed up on my phone. I answered, and she was pissed! "You asshole!" Her opening salvo gave me a great deal of personal satisfaction. "You couldn't just let it go, could you? I know you locked me out of Facebook. You take that shit down! Jerry's wife doesn't know! All my friends are calling me, asking me what happened. My parents know! I'm telling you, Oliver, take that shit down." "No, you aren't the boss of me," I told her. "What? Are you fucking five years old? Take it down, Oliver, I'm telling you!" "Why?" I asked. "You should be happy. Everyone can get used to you and your soul-mate this way. Are you ashamed for people to know you're a cheating slut, Rachael?" "I'm not..." she stopped. Evidently, she realized the absurdity of what she was about to say. "Oliver, please take it down. It wasn't supposed to be like this." "You lost any ability to choose what it was going to be like the second you cheated," I told her. "Any right to consideration, any claim you have to my respect or even politeness went up in smoke. I told you, you're the enemy now, Rachael. Get used to it." I ended the call. My phone buzzed again, immediately, but I ignored it. It was time to pick up Tobi. I told her the result of my conversation with Elizabeth Baxter, and while she was happy that she would most likely be with me, she wasn't at all happy, in general. "What is wrong with her, Dad?" she asked. "You know I love her, but she's always been a little wack. I've never really felt like she was an adult. Not like you, anyway. It's always been like you have two kids, her, and me. Have you ever noticed?" "Not like that," I said. "Now that you mention it, she's always been sort of impulse driven, but she's always been like that. I never thought she'd do something like this." "Well, we're just going to have to make the best of it," she said. "Dad, I do NOT ever want to be in the same house with that creeper without you being there. I don't care what you have to do, make sure that doesn't happen, okay?" "I'll do my best," I promised. We picked up pizza on the way home, and I was just enjoying my second slice when my phone buzzed. It was Bob, Rachael's father. I wasn't looking forward to this. I told Tobi who it was and she told me to put it on speaker. He got right to the point. "Oliver, I don't know exactly what is going on, but Rachael came here last night and asked if she could stay with us. Care to explain how that happened?" "Did you ask her?" I said. "She said you kicked her out." "Well, I did, but did she tell you why?" "No, she said she was going to explain, but she wasn't ready." "Are you sure you don't want to wait for her explanation?" I asked. "Can't you just tell me?" he asked. "She has been having an affair with Jerry Garner, a guy where she works. He's planning to divorce his wife, she was planning to divorce me, and they're hooking up," I said. "What? That's crazy, Oliver. How do you know this?" "I caught them together yesterday," I said. "Besides, she told me." "Are you sure you didn't misunderstand?" he asked. Tobi spoke up. "Hi, Grandpa. I've been listening. Dad has you on speaker. There is no misunderstanding. I was there when she told him. I'm sorry, Grandpa. I love you." She sobbed and he heard it. When he spoke again, his voice was cracking. "Don't cry, love-bug. Please. Just be strong, okay? I love you, too, and so does Grandma. I'll try and talk some sense into your mom. Oliver, you still there?" "Yes, I'm sorry, Bob. Don't worry about Tobi. You are her grandparents, and nothing is ever going to change that. I know you love Rachael, and you'll do what you have to do. I respect you more than I have words to tell you. I hope you won't hate me when this is done." "That's never going to happen," he said. "I'll find out what's going on. Call me if you need anything." It went better than I feared. Shit happens, you do the best you can. There is no need to detail what went on in the divorce process. Most people know plenty of people who have been through it. It was long, painful and it never got any better. Rachael was apparently delusional. She had imagined she would get custody of Tobi. That didn't happen. Ms. Baxter was as good as advertised. I got full custody, based on Tobi's desire to live with me, and after hearing Tobi in a private meeting, the judge ruled that Rachael had unrestricted visitation, but not any that would involve Tobi being alone with her and Jerry Garner. That became a non-issue, in any case. His wife divorced him, but it seemed that the whole "soul-mate" thing had been a little overblown, at least on his part. Two weeks after my discovering their affair, he was on to a new conquest. All those grandiose plans evaporated like fog on a sunny day. It took seven months for the divorce to become final. Rachael changed her mind. I was surprised at our second court appearance when she asked the judge to order counseling. Nothing I or Ms. Baxter could say seemed to have any bearing, and the judge ordered it. We were supposed to have eight to ten sessions. We got some weird old hippie dude. We were asked to state our goals in the first session. Rachael's was long and convoluted. It seemed like she thought that I should realize that seeking her happiness was the primary focus of the universe and that I should understand that she had not meant any harm, only happiness. Mine was much simpler. "What are your goals in these sessions, Mr. Barimen?" he asked. "My goal is to get them over with," I said. Our spirit-guide frowned. "Mr. Barimen, do you really have no interest in working on your issues that brought your marriage to this point?" "I'm sorry, Mr. Rodman, but it wasn't my issues that brought my marriage to this point. And I really do have no interest in working on them. I am quite happy with my issues, and fully intend to die with them." Rachael was quite as horrified as Mr. Guru, and did not hesitate to plunge in boldly. "Oliver, how do you expect to get back to where we were if you aren't willing to at least discuss this?" "I don't," I said. "Let me make it clear to you both. I give zero fucks about 'getting back to where we were,' or 'working on issues.' I'm here because of a court order. I will do what it takes to satisfy that court order, then we'll go back to court and get divorced. That's my plan." "Are you aware that if I go back to the judge and report that you refused to cooperate, you could be cited for contempt?" Mr. Path-guide said. "I'm not aware of that," I said. "Do you mean if you go back to the judge and lie? These sessions are being recorded. I'm sure my attorney would be happy to subpoena the recordings and expose your perjury. I'm here, I'm doing whatever you say to do. You asked me my goals; I told you what they are. See, I'm cooperating." He flushed. "I'm sure the judge expected you to try to work out the issues between you," he said. "I'm not responsible for the judge's expectations," I told him. "I'm only responsible for mine." He tried to make it difficult. He gave me homework that included spending considerable time with Rachael, and she worked diligently to wear me down. "Oliver, what will it take for you to drop the divorce and work this out?" she asked. "An act of God," I told her. She waited for me to explain that, but I said nothing. "What do you mean, 'an act of God'?" she finally asked. "Well, if you have a way to turn back time and un-fuck dear old Jerry, that would work," I said. "Otherwise, I've never heard of anyone other than God with that power. Have you developed powers you haven't told me about, Rachael? Well, other than the power to attract other men with your feminine charms." We slogged on, dreary exercise after mindless mantra, and finally they were over. We went back to court and the judge asked if we had made any progress. "Your honor, there is no possibility that my client is going to remain married to his wife," Elizabeth Baxter said. "We would like to see this divorce granted as expeditiously as possible. My client and his daughter have been dragged through this process long enough." Evidently, the judge agreed, because ten days later, the decree came in the mail. Tobi saw her mother quite a bit, since she loved her grandparents and spent a lot of time with them. Rachael occasionally planned something that Tobi would consent to do with her, but it was never the same. She hung with her friends, and one, in particular, seemed to be at the top of her list. She was a tiny little blonde thing named Sabrina. It seemed like she practically lived with us. She was cute as a month-old kitten, and as sweet as honey. I was happy to have her, and they began to include me in some of their activities. One of the things they loved was water-skiing. We had a boat, and when summer vacation started, most Saturdays would find us at one of the nearby lakes. On a Monday, they asked me if we could go to the lake for the weekend, take our RV and stay until Sunday evening. Since my social calendar wasn't exactly jammed, I thought it was a great plan. Tobi and Sabrina spent the week planning, and we packed everything they wanted on Thursday. Friday afternoon, a new red Jeep Cherokee pulled up in our driveway and Sabrina jumped out. A nearly identical female jumped out of the driver's side, and Tobi went and threw herself on this unknown female in a robust hug. She and Sabrina led the unknown and clearly nervous one to me. "Dad," Tobi said, "This is Julie. She's Sabs' mom, and I know you haven't met her yet." Julie extended her hand. "Hello, Oliver. The girls have told me so much about you. Thank you so much for inviting me to go with you this weekend. To tell you the truth, I've been a little jealous that they spend so much time with you, instead of me." She smiled up at me mischievously, and I instantly realized why her daughter was such a charming little minx. I looked over at Tobi and she gave me a fierce glare. My knees trembled and I knew when to cave. The trembling intensified when I looked as Sabs and she gave me one raised eyebrow. "It's going to be a blast," I told Julie, recovering the power of speech. "We always have a great time." She was no dummy. She looked from me to the girls, then back at me. "Oh, my God," she said. "You didn't know, did you? Girls!" She didn't have time to say another word. She was buried in an avalanche of hugs, kisses and pleas. "Please, Mom, don't worry about it. We're going to have so much fun," from Sabrina. "It's okay, Julie, Dad is going to love you as much as I do, and he's a great guy," from Tobi. "Look how he just went along." She disentangled herself and looked them over. "You two go sit on the porch and I'm going to talk to Oliver," she said. They showed some reluctance and she said, "Now!" They took her seriously and scurried away. "I'm so sorry, Oliver. I had no idea," she said. "I'm going to take Sabs and leave. She's going to be grounded for a month. God, this is embarrassing." She looked so little and embarrassed that I stepped forward and hugged her. She stiffened, at first, but then relaxed. "Yes, it is embarrassing," I said. "They are very naughty, but you and I both know there is no harm in them. Let me guess, you aren't married?" She looked up at me and laughed. God, she was cute! "No, I'm not. Do you think that's what this is about?" "I'm almost certain," I said. "Here's the deal. You're packed, you've cleared your weekend, it's going to be gorgeous at the lake, I'm not a bad guy, which you know from being around Tobi, let's play along. It will be fun. We might tweak them a little. Whadaya say?" She stepped back, looked over at the girl's expectant faces and said, "Yeah, let's go." I gave them the thumbs-up, and they leaped to their feet, rushing over to join us. I heard Tobi come out with an exuberant "Yeet!" I stopped them and took one under each arm. "Girls, that wasn't very nice," I said. Sabs looked up at me and cackled in her best Skeletor voice, "I am NOT nice." That broke us all up and I couldn't go on. They were just too cute and too innocent. "We know what you're trying to do," I told them. "Stop, I mean it. You can't just go around trying to arrange other people's lives." "Yes, but I love Jules, and I didn't know how to get you to meet her," Tobi protested. "Well, you could have just told me," I said. She looked a little sad. "It's okay, Kitten, just don't do it again," I said. She brightened up immediately. Sabs tugged on my arm. "Let's go. I can't wait. This is going to be sick nasty, Oliver, you'll see." Julie laughed. "I believe that's supposed to be the ultimate in really cool, Oliver. She's right, though. We're killing daylight." We grabbed two bags out of her Jeep and climbed in. We had the boat hitched, and after a stop for propane, we were on the way. It was half an hour to the lake, and Julie sat up front with me. The girls got some awful music playing through their blue-tooth connections, and we got acquainted. Julie had her own insurance company, it turned out, and also did financial planning. I took her in as I glanced over at her in conversation. God, she was cute! I thought Sabs would look just like her when she was Julie's age. She looked quite a bit younger than I was, but it turned out it was just three years. She was probably five feet nothing, had light blonde hair down to her lower back, and a nice tan going. She had huge brown eyes, high cheekbones and a perfect little heart-shaped face, including a widow's peak in a broad forehead. She was wearing jeans and a button-up top, but she was slender and willowy. I didn't want to perv on her, so I really didn't check her out until we got to the lake. We got a slip to park the boat, then the RV. They shooed me outside while they changed, and I got the water hooked up in the meanwhile. They came out when they were done changing, and I went in, slipped into trunks and a t-shirt, and we were ready. We took a cooler full of drinks, and we were off. We cruised out of the no-wake zone, and I opened it up. We ran a couple of miles down the lake, and they were ready to ski. Their long t-shirts came off and the girls were their usual awkward beauty. Julie was something else. There was nothing awkward about her. I said she was slender, but she was tiny. She was all woman. When she turned to watch the girls go over the back, I nearly lost my mind. Her bikini wasn't bleeding edge, but it was straining to cover an ass that was eye-popping. It was small, round, hard, and jutting out like a shelf. She turned and caught me staring. She just smiled and gave me a wink. She had tiny little titties, but anything else on her would have looked weird. They didn't look tiny on her, just like they were perfect. Everything about her was perfection in miniature. "Done?" she asked. Her smile took away the sting. Her teeth were perfect, too. I laughed. "For now. You know what you look like, Julie. I'm a man." She came up and sat where she could talk to me and keep an eye on the girls, too. We spent three hours skiing, and Julie turned out to be very good. She drove the boat while I had my turn, and she was good at that, too. I wasn't as good as either she or the girls, the physics was just against me, but I held my own. We got back to the park and they put on wraps. The RV had a perfectly good range, but the girls wanted to cook outside. We got out the camp stove, and I built a fire in the grill on the site. I grilled bratwursts while they cut up and fried potatoes and onions and opened cans of pork and beans. We had prepared and packed some meals at home, but this was our first night and camp cooking is always delicious. We sat at the picnic table the site provided and we were soon like we'd known each other all our lives. Julie became Jules, that's what the girls called her and she liked it, and she called me Ollie. The girls mentioned several times that Jules wasn't married, and I finally asked her why. "I mean, God, you're gorgeous, funny, smart, you've got your own business, why hasn't some man snapped you up?" She was quiet for a moment. "Well, the main reason is Sabrina," she finally said. "I was young and dumb, Ollie. I was a senior in college, and I thought I had the love of my life. I found out I was pregnant a week before graduation. I wasn't too unhappy. We had talked about getting married as soon as we graduated." "I guess that plan didn't work, since you're talking about it in the past tense," I said. "No, it didn't. Three days after I told Brad, I found out he'd been cheating on me for a month. I dumped him and never looked back. When Sabs was born, I didn't have time for a social life for a while, then I got caught up in building my business. By the time I could catch a breath and even think about dating, I realized I had this precious gift from God in my life, and I couldn't do anything without considering her."
"I understand," I said. "I feel the same way about Tobi. As long as I have her, she comes first. I can't tell you how important she is to me. She's all that kept me sane the last 18 months." She placed her tiny little hand on my arm. "I know," she said. "She tells Sabs and me everything. I'm so sorry, Ollie." "Yeah, life's a bitch, sometimes." We both kind of sighed. We looked up and saw two pairs of approving and loving eyes on us. They were in whispered conversation, sitting in camp chairs under the shade of the awning. "I love your daughter," I told her. "It seems like she's almost mine, all the time she spends with us." "She loves you, too," she said. "She told me the other day that you're like the father she never had." When I looked at her, those huge brown eyes had become liquid, and a tear fell down one little brown cheek. I brushed it away with the back of one finger. "She's a great girl," I said. "I think her mom is a very special lady to have raised a girl like that. She's a very brave one, too, doing that by herself." She smiled with those brimming eyes, stood, kissed my cheek and went to join the girls. We had a great weekend, and when she was pulling out to leave our house, I walked over and tapped on her window. "Jules, would you think about going out with me next Friday?" I asked. Sabs squealed with delight, and Jules smiled that flashing smile. "What time?" "Six?" I asked. "We'll have dinner and do something afterward, okay? Oh, can Tobi stay with Sabs while we're gone?" "Sounds great, and of course." She kissed my cheek and they were gone. Tobi was waiting for me in the entry. "Well?" she asked. "Did you ask her out? Did you kiss her?" I hugged her and smacked her bottom. "Yes, I did, and none of your business." She squealed, the same sound Sabs had made. "I knew it! She's perfect for you, Dad. I love her sooo much, and Sabs is like my sister." I shrugged. "What happens, happens, Tobi. You can't force that. Stop playing match-maker." She snuggled her face into my chest. "I know, Dad, but you were never going to do anything but just love me if I didn't do something. Not that I don't like being the only woman in your life." I laughed. "Well, you're always going to have a place in my heart no one else can touch. You're my baby, and that's never going to change." She purred and snuggled me for a minute, then went off to do Tobi things. Our first date went well. I took her to play racquetball. She was new to the sport, but she'd played tennis, and the stroke mechanics were much the same. Once she got used to the rules and hitting off the walls, she was good. Being a natural athlete sure didn't hurt. She was as fast as lightning, and she could change directions much quicker than I could. That was where being tiny played to her advantage. We were cooling down at a table outside the courts after we finished, drinking and resting. She grabbed her phone. "Let's Snap the kids," she said. We posed with our rackets and goggles and she took a Snap. They answered right away, and we had a good memory. We both showered and I took her out to eat. It was very good Italian, and we made pigs of ourselves. We were finishing our wine, Jules sitting beside me in the booth and we just leaned back, talking quietly and relaxing. It felt natural for me to put my arm around her, so I did. She scooted over against me and smiled up at me. I thought again how cute she was, and I realized she was always going to be cute. This was something that wasn't going to change as she aged. She leaned over to me when we pulled up at her house and looked up at me, expectantly. I could tell she wanted me to kiss her, so I did. I wanted to kiss her, even more than she probably wanted to be kissed. It was a long one, and a delicious one. Her lips were plush and soft, and she tasted like wine and cherry ChapStick. As we drew apart, I noticed the drapes move. "I think we have an audience," I mentioned. She giggled, sounding very much like her daughter, or maybe her daughter sounded like her. "I'm not surprised. You know they're trying to hook us up, right?" "Do you mind?" I asked. She blushed. "No, I like everything I know about you, Ollie." "Me too," I said. "We better go in there before they tear down the drapes." We went out every Friday for four months. We were getting closer and closer, and I wanted to move our relationship along. I didn't want to push her, but some of our sessions were getting pretty steamy at the end. I also discovered that I liked having her for a friend almost as much as I liked having her for a girlfriend. We talked on the phone, constantly, she would Snap or text me funny little things or just a few words, several times a day, and I did the same. I would see something, or hear something, and know that Jules would get a laugh out of it, so I needed to share it with her. We were becoming very intimate, and I knew everything about her life, as she did mine. We started having dinner together, all of us, every Tuesday, and we would just hang out, play games, and I was almost as in love with Sabs as I was her mother. They were very alike, and if you knew one, you knew the other, almost as well. There were subtle and major differences, but they were both completely charming, and the differences just emphasized the similarities. Life was great, and the only cloud was the continued presence of Rachael. She was still part of Tobi's life, so, perforce, of mine. I wanted nothing to do with her, and the sight of her irritated me. She never failed to try to talk to me, every time she came to pick up Tobi, or I dropped her off at her grandparents. She was still living with them. She'd lost her job, along with Jerry, at the clinic, and she was working at another private one across town. If she irritated me too much, I'd ask her if she'd heard from him. That quickly put a damper on her attempts. "How long is it going to take for you to forgive me?" she asked on one such occasion. "Forgive you? For what?" I asked. "As far as I know, you don't believe you did anything wrong. Not one time have I heard, "I'm sorry, Oliver. I was wrong. I'm sorry I tried to make Tobi believe you were a liar; I'm sorry I tried to take her away from you, tried to rape you in the divorce," and worst of all, I've not once heard "I'm sorry I cheated and fucked that dirt-bag behind your back." I didn't hear it then, either. She could take no responsibility for her actions. I didn't really know what forgiving her would entail. I was reconciled and at peace. I didn't forget, but I sure wasn't going to waste a minute being bitter about it. People have the right to do dumb shit. They have the right to divorce you, dump you, end their friendships with you and you just accept it and move on. People do shitty things every day. In the heat of the moment, I wanted to punish both the cheaters, but I quickly got beyond that. Their punishment was being who they were. They had to live with themselves. I fully intended to live with myself, and that meant putting the lying and cheating behind me and living my best life. Rachael was an unhappy woman, and I sincerely wished any bad luck in the world on dear old Jerry, but it wouldn't come at my hand. Let God, or the universe, punish them. I was out of that game. She became even more unhappy when she discovered that I was dating Jules. I had dropped Tobi off at her grandparents for the night, and she came out to the car and stopped me. "I hear you're dating one of Tobi's friend's mother," she said. I just looked at her. "Is it true?" she asked. "That's my business," I said. "The hell it is," she snapped. "I'm your wife; I have a right to know." "You have shit for rights," I told her. "You aren't my wife. You found your soul-mate, and it wasn't me, remember? Then this thing called a divorce happened. My business is no longer yours, and yours is none of mine. Fuck off, Rachael. Don't stick your nose in mine again." I was steaming when I left. Damn, the bitch just wouldn't leave it alone. I told Tobi what had happened. She was just as pissed off as I had been. That ended my dropping her off at her grandparents or Rachael picking her up at our house. Bob or Cindy, the grandparents, came to our house and got her from then on. That took away a major source of stress in my life. On our seven-month anniversary of the trip to the lake, I took Jules out. We went to a nice restaurant and out to a club. She didn't drink much, just a beer now and again, or one drink. She had two that night. I raised an eyebrow when she ordered the second. She laughed. "Yeah, I'm wild and crazy tonight, huh?" "You're perfect, just like you always are," I said. "Do you really think so, Ollie?" She cocked her head sideways in that way she had. "Because I think you're pretty perfect, too. If I'm so perfect, why haven't you invited me to spend the night?" I must have looked pretty startled, because she laughed. "Have you not even thought about it?" I found my presence of mind. "Um... yeah, Jules. I've thought about little else since that first day on the boat when I saw you in that bikini. When we started dating, I realized you were something different, something special, and I didn't want to pressure you or scare you off." "You won't scare me off," she said. "I told the girls not to wait up." "Really? Well, what are we doing here?" I asked. "Oh, my God, Jules, let's get out of this place. Do you want to spend the night with me?" She blushed as she took my hand and allowed me to pull her to her feet. "More than anything else in the world, right now." She practically melted herself into me as we made our way out, and she leaned over with her head on my shoulder and holding my arm all the way home. I let her out when we pulled into the garage, and she was pressed up against my side all the way to the bedroom. I turned her around at the foot of the bed and kissed her. It was one of the most incredible kisses I'd ever had, and it went on and on. When we stopped to breathe, she looked up at me and I drowned in the warm brown pools of her eyes. She put her arms around my neck and looked in my eyes. "Make love to me, Oliver," she said. "I'm kind of afraid." "Don't be," I told her. "I love you, Julie Barnes. You know that, right?" "I thought you did," she murmured. "I needed to hear it. I love you, too, Oliver." I pulled her into my arms and slid the zipper of the little blue dress down. I did it slowly, brushing the backs of my fingers down her back, and she shivered as I felt goose-bumps rise. When I reached the little declivity at the small of her back, just above her butt, I stopped and stroked her there. She shivered again. Her skin was like satin, and I reached up and slid the dress off her shoulders, down over her breasts and over the swell of her hips. She wasn't wearing a bra. She didn't need one. Her breasts weren't large, but they were perfectly shaped and fit her form. Large breasts would have looked weird on her. They looked considerably larger than they were, because of her size and the way they stood firm and proud. She was golden-tan all over, and I could tell she tanned topless. I turned her around and sat on the bed, holding her at arm's length so I could look at her. I had been right; she was perfection in miniature. She had on little blue lacy panties and she was an adorable erotic doll. I pulled her to me and pressed my cheek into the firmness of her belly, cupping that fantastic ass in my hands. God, that was a sensation I'd been dreaming about. It was round, firm and smooth, as I ran my hands inside her panties. She giggled and flexed it under my hands, soft steel under my fingers. I stood and stripped, almost tearing the buttons off my shirt in an effort to get my skin against hers. When I was down to briefs, I picked her up like a baby. I'd have bet she didn't weigh a hundred pounds. I carried her around beside the bed with her arms around my neck and placed her gently on the bed. I climbed on and we entwined ourselves in passion. We fell asleep in each other's arms, and twice during the night we made love again, once when I initiated it and once when she did. I woke the next morning lying on my back with an angel sprawled half over me, her hair covering us and her cheek pillowed in the hollow of my shoulder. I just watched her sleep, playing idly with her hair until she opened her eyes. She snuggled in and moaned. "I belong here, Ollie." "I know," I said. "Would you like to wake up here every morning?" She opened her eyes and looked at me. "You mean... like live together?" "No, sweetheart. Well, yes, but I mean will you marry me, Julie Barnes?" She brought her little left hand up between our faces and wiggled her fingers. "Un-oh," she said. "Something seems to be missing." "Hold that thought," I said. I started to get out of bed. "I'll hold the thought," she said, "but I can't hold something else. I need to pee so bad!" I laughed and swatted her butt, making her squeal. "Go, then meet me back here." She scampered off, a little naked sprite, and I went down to my office, stopping to use the facilities myself. I got what I'd come for out of my safe, and when I got back, she was a little ball under the covers. I climbed in and took that left hand again. I looked in her eyes and saw only love there. "Julie, will you marry me?" I slipped the ring on her finger. It was too big, and we'd have to resize it, but it would do, for now. She held it up and looked at it. "It's beautiful," she said. "It looks old. Where did you get it? When did you get it?" "Remember I told you I was going to an auction?" I said. "It was about a month ago." "Yes, I remember. They were auctioning off an estate, right?" "Yep. What I didn't tell you was I saw this ring in the catalog, and I went with the intention of buying it and asking you to marry me. It was made in England about 1810, for the Duchess of Avon. It has a long history. Do you like it?" "I love it," she said. "It's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen." "Are you going to answer my question?" I asked. "What... Oh! Yes, Oliver. Yes, I'll marry you! Oh my God, yes!" I laughed and squeezed my fiancée in my arms. "We need to Snap the girls," she said.
