Avalon and Maddock

Chapter 3: Avalon

The next morning, when I slipped into our bedroom to get my clothes, I saw a note on my pillow.

Avalon, I love you. You and the boys are my world, and I'll spend the rest of my life proving it to you.

I crumpled up the paper and threw it away. Words that once meant so much were meaningless.

He stayed away, as I'd requested, but that didn't stop him from blowing up my phone with texts and voice mails begging me to talk so he could explain. I'd texted him once, the morning after he'd dropped his bombshell when I'd turned on my phone to 74 messages from him – which I deleted without reading – and told him he'd been gone from our lives for seven months while I had tried to talk with him. He needed to respect that I needed a few days to process what he'd known about for so long, so I'd asked him to give me until Friday.

During those days, I'd moved myself and the boys into a two-bedroom furnished condo that my father's real estate agency owned, taking only clothes, the boys' toys and the boys' photo albums. I wanted nothing from the house where I'd learned of my husband's dirty deeds. I'd figure out permanent living arrangements after the divorce. It hadn't taken long to box up the boy's belongings, and I moved their things during the day while they were at school. The first night I'd driven them to the condo, they'd followed me into our new home with enthusiasm at this adventure. The condo pool was even bigger than our pool at home and had a slide so that helped them accept their new home. That night, before bed, I'd sat the boys down on the couch and explained to them that Daddy and Mommy wouldn't be living together any longer, and sometimes they would go stay with Daddy at his new house, but most of the time they would be with Mommy. "You'll have two houses to live in," I'd said.

"And toys?" Christian had asked, focusing on the important stuff to a three-year-old.

"You'll have toys at both houses," I assured him, with a tickle to his tummy, and he giggled.

But it was four-year-old Landon who looked serious. "Will Daddy still be our daddy?"

I blinked back the tears quickly. "Oh, yes, Landon. Your Daddy loves you and Christian very much and he will always be your daddy, no matter where he lives."

Today, I was picking up the children early from day care and taking them away for a long weekend. As soon as I had the children in the car for our little trip, Maddock was going to be served with divorce papers.

The boys scrambled into the car, chattering excitedly about their trip to Pirate Play, a pirate-themed resort four hours away. I'd been postponing this trip, hoping Maddock would come with us, but the four times I'd brought it up, he'd been terse in his refusal, citing work that left no time for one day off, never mind three days. Apparently, knowing now what I did, it was more of him not wanting to be away from his girlfriend. The bitterness churned in my gut, making me feel stupid for having waited so patiently for seven long months, trying to lessen my husband's stress somewhat by not having any demands to put on him. And all the while, he'd been forging a relationship with another woman. It'd been difficult to put on a brave face for the boys since my fears had been realized, but I had and their little lives had been no different the last few days, aside from where they lived, since my world had been destroyed.

I drove them for an astounding two hours before they stopped for a potty break and lunch. Then as I hoped, they conked out for their naps and slept until I pulled up to the resort. As advised by my attorney, I'd turned off my phone so I didn't have to field any irate calls from Maddock.

And I knew he'd be infuriated at my fast action, at my unwillingness to hear any more of his infidelity, of his feelings for another woman, whatever his so-called reasons were. The only thing that mattered was he'd cheated; he'd given up his boys and his wife for some woman for so many months, not participating in family activities at all. He'd kissed another woman, became emotionally involved with her...and in the meantime, he'd left his family hanging, ignored and forgotten.