Chapter 2

"I don't look too bad for a 34-year-old mother," Jennifer said to herself as she looked in the mirror.

She saw a very attractive woman in the mirror, shoulder length blond hair, blue eyes and freckles across her nose. When Jennifer was young she hated those freckles but now... now they seemed cute. In fact, she thought that the freckles helped make her look much younger. She knew that she could easily pass for her early twenties. Jennifer was often asked for id in bars to prove that she was old enough to drink.

How times change she thought. When she was in her twenties, she would get furious when she was asked for age identification. Now she would display her driver's license with pride. Someday she thought she would try to pass herself off as a twenty-year-old to some young guy in a bar and see what happens.

As Jennifer continued to look at herself in the mirror she felt a wave of sadness come over her. She knew that on the outside she appeared to be a confident and aggressive businesswoman. While she put on a good show, in fact, she was not feeling very good about herself anymore. Her paradox was that while she wanted wild and nasty sex, she also wanted tenderness and love. She wasn't certain that she could have both.

Since the divorce she had often felt rejected, lonely, and sometimes depressed. Her friends told her that that was normal and she would get over it. They said she just needed a good man.

On that point, she could agree. It would be nice to have a man around the house again she thought. A man that could give her the incredible pleasure she so desperately wanted and be there in the morning when she awoke.

On the other hand, getting married again didn't seem that attractive to her. She was not sure that she wanted to get married again. However, she was young and she knew that might change. Who knows, maybe she would find a rich guy and start a whole new family she thought.

Jennifer had always wanted more children but Jack was against it. In fact, Jimmy was an accident. She wasn't even sure Jack would have married her had she not gotten pregnant.

At 16 years old, Jennifer had been young and head over heels in love with Jack. He was the college athlete, good looking and sophisticated, sweeping Jennifer off her feet. However, there was hell to pay when she got pregnant after the first time they made love in the back of his car. Both families went off the deep end, insisting that they get married. They would never hear of an abortion or adoption.

In truth, Jennifer would never agree to that either. She didn't want to be a teenaged mother but she wasn't about to shirk her responsibility for a human life. She didn't fault women that chose not to have a baby; abortion just wasn't in her makeup. Therefore, she accepted her parents decree. Their marriage was quietly arranged when she was three months pregnant and before she began to show.

Unfortunately, forced marriages seldom work out. She and Jack tried for 17 years but their views of the world were very different and with each passing year they grew further apart.

Jack wanted the high life, parties, travel, and career opportunity. She wanted more simple things, kids, a stable family life, and a loving husband.