Chapter 14

Late in October, the downstairs apartment was finished. Before Terry exchanged living spaces with Julie and Glen, Betty and Alan sat down with him and Ellie and talked about sleeping arrangements. They were understandably concerned with the two young lovers living pretty much as husband and wife.

Fortunately, Ellie and Terry had talked about that subject, and they were all able to agree on when it was appropriate for the two to share a bed, and when it was not.

With Terry a year older and determined to go to college, there was a guarantee of at least one year of separation. For Ellie, though, there was none of the fear of the separation that had driven Julie. She had a loving family to fall back on, plus the confidence that they would somehow end up at the same school. She was definitely good enough to be in line for a swimming scholarship.

On the day that Julie and Glen moved downstairs to the newly-finished apartment, Betty organized a little 'house-warming' party. It was held on a night when Glen did not have to work, and Julie did not have evening duty.

Betty had put up a few streamers, and baked a caked. In a potentially dangerous move, she had called Theresa and invited her to attend. Theresa insisted she would bring a gift, and Betty decided to let it happen.

Theresa was in agony over what gift to bring, and she obviously could not go to Vince for advice. On the one hand was her desire to do everything she could to help the struggling couple. On the other hand, she was well aware of their reluctance to accept help from her. She hoped those feelings had softened, but she worried about offending them. Her solution was a large set of very high quality towels. It was a thoughtful, usable gift, and most people underestimated how expensive linens were.

At supper the night of the little party, Betty announced that dessert would be downstairs at seven to celebrate the move. Then, she quietly took Julie and Terry aside.

"I took a chance, and I hope you won't be angry with me. I invited your mother over for our little celebration." Both siblings looked very surprised, but neither made a negative gesture or comment. "And Julie, I took an even bigger chance - when she asked if she could bring a gift, I told her she could."

"Oooooh!" Julie exclaimed. "I... I... don't know..."

"I'm aware of how you feel, Honey," Betty told her, "but I really don't think she's trying to buy your love. This is the kind of situation where a mother would typically give a gift. It wouldn't really hurt you to let her enjoy a little bit of normal motherliness, would it?" Julie didn't say anything, just gave Betty a hug.

"How about you, Terry? Are you ready to be around her in a normal social situation?" Betty's sincerity made it tough for him to react negatively.

"I'll by all right," he assured her. "Besides, if I act up, I'll have to answer to Ellie." That made them all laugh.

Theresa seemed as nervous as the night she served dinner. In fact, everyone was tense as Betty escorted her downstairs. Ellie was the first to greet her, and she was towing Terry by the hand as she approached his mother.

Julie had warned Glen about the present, and he reluctantly agreed to accept it. Theresa's choice turned out to be perfect, and Julie had to put aside her reluctance when she saw the quality. She also could not miss the relief on her mother's face at her acceptance.

After everyone had enjoyed cake and had examined the guys' handiwork, the party was over. Theresa managed to get Julie and Terry together and told them "I have some serious things to tell the two of you. I know this is a party night and I don't want to spoil the mood. Is there some time soon I could talk to both of you?"

"Will it take long?" Surprisingly, it was Terry who asked.

"What I have to say won't take long," Theresa answered. "You may have some questions, but that's up to you."

"Then let's talk now," he said. "Oh, sorry, Julie! I shouldn't speak for you."

"No, I agree. Let's go in the bedroom."

There were two chairs in the bedroom, and Theresa pointedly sat on the bed, motioning them to the chairs. When they were seated, she smiled briefly at them, took a big breath, then told them "I am divorcing your father." While they were still too stunned to react, she went on "I have evidence of an affair with a co-worker."

"Mom, what..." Julie tried to ask.

"Wait, Honey. There's more. Let me say it all, and it may answer some of your questions. The other news is that I'm pregnant, and it's on purpose. I should say I'm almost positive I'm pregnant."

Both children gave audible gasps at that, but Theresa continued. "I want to have some more children, and I want to raise them right, without the terrible things we did to you two. I could forgive Vince for his affair, but he still does not think he did anything wrong in raising you. I would have had to divorce him even if I hadn't discovered the affair. With his attitude, there would be nothing but fighting over how to treat the children."

Both children sat silently for nearly a minute after she stopped talking. "I... I could have a brother or sister younger than my child!"

"And I'll have a child younger than my grandchild," Theresa said with a little chuckle.

"But you're not certain yet?" Terry was finally able to ask.

"Well, I missed my period, and EPT says so. The earliest the doctor can verify it is next week."

"Uh, more than I wanted to know, I guess," Terry said with a blush.

Julie was having great trouble digesting all of this. She hated what her home had been, but in some strange way, it was still the known, stable place in her past life. She just sat staring at her mother, unframeable questions racing across her expression.

"I won't in any way minimize what we did to you two," Theresa told them, "but you need to know that we have turned our own lives upside down, too."

Not ready to concede anything, Terry countered "But you said you got pregnant on purpose."

"Yes, I did. But it was not something I would do if I had not ruined things with you. You see, being a mother was always the most important thing to me. I was just too arrogant and stupid to know how badly I was messing it up." She had to stop to dab at some tears. "I need to prove to myself that I can be a good mother - that I can raise children who will love me back."

"Don't think I am doing this to punish myself," Theresa went on. "The thought of babies excites me, and I can't wait."

"But... you're going to have to raise it alone. And you said babies. Without Dad, how will... ?" Julie had come out of her confusion enough to ask.

"I don't have all those answers, Honey. I know it won't be easy, but I can do it. Money won't be a problem. Maybe I'll hire Vince for stud service for the next one." With that, she gave an all-out giggle.

"Oh, I didn't mention it, but your father knows nothing about the divorce or the pregnancy. He doesn't think I know about the affair. I would like to keep this secret until I tell him. That will be right after the doctor verifies that I'm pregnant. I'll understand if you want to talk about it with the Vosses."

The questions went on for a half-hour more. When they left the bedroom, Julie's and Terry's shock was apparent to their lovers.

Glen was not happy about the bombshell that Theresa had dropped on Julie. He had been planning on some energetic love-making to celebrate the new apartment. Ever since Theresa left, Julie had been distracted.

As it was getting late, he decided he would just have to do his best to compete with the impact of the news. Since their little getaway at the cabin, a daily rubdown with anti-stretch-mark creme had become a treasured intimate ritual. Usually, Julie would get home from work and prepare for bed quickly. That way, Glen could do his thing before he went to work, and she could fall asleep contented with the attention.

That night, he did not have to work, so he set up a more elaborate scenario. He showered quickly, drew her a bath, then undressed her, telling her that was the last she would see of her clothes until morning. She made the obligatory protests, but her face showed how pleased she was that her swelling body still held his interest. After she had soaked long enough to start feeling drowsy, he got her out, dried her, and brought her to a large towel spread on the bed.

The anti-stretch rubdowns had rather quickly evolved into an application of lotion over her whole body. For the areas that were not vulnerable to stretch marks, he used a regular body lotion.

As a rule, Glen would start with her feet as she lay on her back. He would raise each leg in the air as he worked the lotion in. At some point, he would spread her legs much wider than necessary and make sure she caught him leering at the sight of her exposed pussy. She would be obligated to raise an objection, but its impact would always be diminished by the wafting odor of her arousal. "That lucky kid of ours gets to crawl out of that gorgeous place," he quipped, pleased with the gooseflesh that instantly appeared on her skin.

Over halfway through her term, Julie could no longer lie fully on her stomach, so he had devised some interesting positions for doing her back. That night, he straddled her as she lay on her side. Since he wore only a towel, he lowered himself so his genitals rested on her hip as he rubbed. Not pretending to be aloof, she used her hand to make sure most of his cock was pointing too far upward to rest on her hip.

One of Glen's pleasures that was lost for a while was putting lotion on her bottom. Oh, he still put the lotion on, but it was not the same as when she lay on her stomach. When she laid that way, it thrust up in such an enticing way. He sometimes was so enthralled with it that she had to jar him from his reverie. "When you're done playing, I'd like lotion on some other spots, too," she had teased one night.

When putting creme on her breasts and belly, Glen never made any pretense of just fighting stretchmarks. He took a very long time, especially on the nipples, where the marks would never show. While doing her belly, he would plant kisses all over as he rubbed and say affectionate words to the baby.

The ultrasound to determine the baby's sex was a luxury expense they had decided to avoid. Thus, they played the time-honored guessing game, bombarded by advice about sure-fire clues from every mother she encountered.

Glen always ended the session by dramatically applying creme to her crotch. She always made some comment - "How many times have I told you I can't get stretch marks there?"

In a fairly standard comeback, he said "But that will have to stretch more than any place else." Since there was no time pressure that night, he went on "In fact, it's so tight there... here, let me show you what I mean."

Missionary position was becoming less common for them as she grew, but it seemed appropriate for the occasion. Tossing away his towel, he knelt in place and started working his way into her, keeping his torso upright enough so there was no pressure on her belly. All the while he kept up chatter about how tight the opening was, and how much it would have to stretch. Julie did not try to answer back, but just hissed, moaned, and whimpered out her pleasure.

The second trimester had been a good time for Julie. Any nausea had gone and her energy was high. Also high was her libido. If she had her way, she would get it from Glen both going to and coming from work. Most times, she took pity on his weariness, but there were very few days that they did not make love.

When both were satisfied, they visited the bathroom together to clean up, then got into bed. Whenever they could sleep together, they had always spooned, with his arm over her. Lately, he had begun resting his hand on her belly and caressing very lightly. Sometimes, he would hear her fall asleep and stop the caresses. Other times, he would stop because he fell asleep. Either way, it was one of the most thrilling events for Julie. The natural, instinctive way he did it told her that he truly loved her and the baby she carried. It was reassurance she very much needed.

After the incredible disclosures from Theresa, however, sleep was not imminent for Julie, and she started talking. For almost an hour, they discussed her parents, her feelings about them, and her relationship to her mother. In a tone of almost frustration, she told him "She keeps doing things that are so not her, I mean the way she was before. Tonight, it was hard to even think of her as the mother I ran away from."

"Is it getting harder to hate her?"

"You know, I always thought she was equal with Dad, and they were both at fault. I'm starting to wonder if maybe she wasn't kind of a victim just like I was. Maybe he sucked her into the fighting the way they did me."

"Hmmmm. Maybe. But what about all the other controlling things she did?"

"Yeah. You're right. He couldn't make her do that," she mused. "But WOW! My mother and me pregnant at the same time!"

Upstairs in Glen's old room, a similar conversation was going on. Even though it was a school night, Ellie had permission to sleep with Terry because of the upsetting news he had received.

For whatever reason, he had taken the news harder than had Julie. For the rest of the evening, he seemed to be in a fog. The strange relationship between him and his mother had been weighing on his mind more than he would admit.

In bed, they talked for quite a while. In the middle, Ellie took over and made love to him, but the talk continued afterward. She had been consistently urging him to make peace with his mother and forgive her. He, however, was still a long way from being able to do that. When she had first used nudity to get to see him, he had wondered who that woman was. Just like Julie, he could not relate her to the mother he had always known.

Tonight had totally disoriented him. He had heard Theresa say that she understood what she had done wrong. Every time they were together, she apologized multiple times. She had wanted to continue being naked, saying it showed how worthless she felt, and she hoped it would convince him of her sincerity. That was more than he could handle, despite how he felt about her.

Now, she was willingly discarding her old life, and it was very hard to doubt her previous statements any more. He had to fight back thoughts of her being courageous and principled. That was not the kind of person you could hate.

On Halloween day, Vince's boss called him into the office. He told him that his appointment to VP would be voted on at the next board meeting, and that he was a shoo-in. The product extensions that he and Lee had worked on so hard were proving to be extremely popular, and he was being rewarded.

At a high point such as that, a man wants a woman to share the joy with. Vince wanted to go and drag Lee to the suite and unleash his pent-up excitement. She, however, had refused to be with him since suspicion was raised about Theresa finding out.

Fortunately, he felt he could celebrate with Theresa once again. Since her sexual 'binge' back in September, the sex had been good, if not as frequent as he would like. The serenity that he had observed in her when he came back from the trip with Lee was still evident. Nothing had changed with the children, as far as he knew, but she seemed quite happy and content.

Her unwillingness to fight and her generally more placid demeanor were very disorienting to him. Yet, he had thought it through many times, and had decided he could live with the situation as it was. He wished for the old sex with his wife, or the short fling with Lee, but what he had should be enough for any man. Now, he would have more money, and an even more rewarding career.

Hardly a day went by without something reminding him of the kids and their departure. Theresa no longer brought up the subject, but there were many other reminders. He had often wondered if she was seeing them, besides the one time he knew about when she broke down. His pride, however, would not allow him to make that inquiry. He was the one who had said they needed to forget the children and go on with their lives. He had to stick with it.

Unbeknownst to Vince, Theresa had received verification of her pregnancy from the doctor that same day, and had gone immediately to the attorney's office, evidence in hand. The divorce papers were drawn up, waiting for her instructions as to delivery.

As resolute as she was about her new family, the actual breakup with Vince was something Theresa had been dreading. Many times, she had decided to just tell him about the baby and give him a chance to reform. Every time, though, he would do something that would convince her that reform could never happen. If he would show any sign of interest in the children: if he would even ask about them, she would probably forget the divorce.

When Vince called to ask her to dinner out, it caught her totally off-guard. She had spent hours working out just how she was going to give him the news. Over dinner at a nice restaurant was definitely not the right place.

The news Vince gave her at dinner really complicated Theresa's plan. It was rare for him to show so much excitement and enthusiasm about work. He generally approached everything about his job with cool professional detachment, even when telling her about it.

She did not want to inflict any more pain on him than was necessary, and throwing cold water on what was the high point of his career would certainly inflict pain. The board meeting on his appointment was in three days, so she decided to wait a week and a half before telling him. It would give him a little time to bask in the congratulations before she lowered the boom.

After coming home from the celebration dinner, they had the most energetic sex since the blow-up with Julie. In the middle of it, Theresa found herself wondering how she could be so calculating, entering into love-making as if nothing was wrong while knowing it was one of their last times.

In the afterglow, she decided to give Vince every possible chance to show some sign of interest in the children or regret for his part in driving them away. At every opportunity, she fed him bits of information about them, first of all revealing that she was seeing both of them regularly.

Vince had developed a particular blank look that he used whenever the subject of the children came up. That look, with a couple of exceptions, greeted every comment she made about them, with never a word of response.

One exception was when she told of going to the 'house-warming'. That drove Vince into an old-fashioned tirade, excoriating the children for moving out, the Vosses for 'harboring' them, and Theresa herself for 'fraternizing' with them. The tentative hopes she had held for him reforming were doused by that tantrum.

The last remaining sympathy was erased when she gently asked if he had thought any more about his part in driving the kids away. His response to that made the earlier tirade seem like a prayer. It was the old Vince frenzy in vintage style. The fact that she just sat and listened made no difference at all.

He did her a very large favor with his outbursts. He validated all of the reasons she was taking the drastic step and wiped out any hope that he might reform.

On the day she had decided to strike, Theresa had made herself up, dressed nicely, and prepared a cocktail for Vince's arrival. As soon as he came in the door, she handed him the drink and asked him to come into the living room. A little wary because of the unusual request, he nevertheless followed her.

Once he was seated and the drink was safely on the table, she just came right out and said it. "Vince, I'm divorcing you. The papers will be delivered to your office tomorrow."

"Whaaaa... what do you mean? Divorce? That's crazy! We've had a rough go, but divorce? I thought things were getting better!"

"Vince, the grounds are adultery."

"Adultery? But... !" He just sat and stared at her for the longest time. Then seeming to rouse himself he told her "That's over! It was only a few times, and it didn't mean anything."

"It meant I will get a much better settlement. That's something, don't you think?" She had vowed not to be biting and sarcastic, but she couldn't resist at that point.

"Do you mean you would throw away everything over one slip-up?" he demanded.

"You threw Terry away after one slip-up."

"But that was DRUGS!" he shouted.

"And this is ADULTERY," she countered evenly, but mimicked his tone.

"But... but it was just a few times, and it's stopped," he stammered, panic starting to rise.

"And Terry only took a few pills, and isn't using any more," she came back.

"Is this really about adultery, or is it back to that shit about driving the kids away?" he yelled, now worked almost to full cry. He was on his feet, gesturing wildly.

"Sit down and I will answer you," she told him. He stared at her, almost vibrating with fury, and seemed to dance from foot to foot for a few seconds. Then, he grabbed the drink and slammed it in one gulp before collapsing into the chair.

"Adultery is the official reason, but it's really about family. Vince, I'm pregnant. I am going to have more children and raise them without the mistakes we made before. I can't do that with you, so the only solution is divorce."

"Pregnant? At your age? Are you crazy? You want to go through all of that again? What... ?!" He was on his feet again, but he ran out of words and started pacing around the room. Just like with Julie's pregnancy, she could feel him struggling to get control of the situation. Just like then, it was not going to happen.

After a couple of minutes of pacing, he turned to her and said. "Don't do this, Theresa. I'll help you raise another child. It will be different this time."

"Oh, does that mean you're ready to go to counseling?" she asked. It was a spur of the moment question, something she had not planned on. She instantly upbraided herself for deviating from her strategy, but had to admit to herself that really breaking off with him was something she wished she could avoid. Was there a chance?

If someone had written a script for Vince to use to make things easier for Theresa, they could not have improved much on what happened. He obviously had the same old pathological dread of counseling, and took off on a tirade lasting several minutes. In the midst of it, she was able to muse that it was the last one she would ever sit through.

"It won't be any different, Vince," she told him when he wound down. "I've tried hard to get you to show that something has changed, but it hasn't. You would try to do the same things as before. I would try to stop you, and our lives would be Hell. Vince, we are barely coexisting now. With a child, it would be terrible around here. I would not let you do what we did before."

"Then get rid of the baby. Let's try to fix our marriage."

"Do you really think we could fix it without help?" she asked. He just stared at her, first in anger, then with a look of resignation.

"I need the baby, Vince. I have to prove I can raise happy children who love me. My life will be a failure if I don't. No, I'm going to have the baby, and one or two more, I hope."

"But if we divorce... how will you have more?"

"Other men have sperm, Vince. Or I could invite you back for stud service. You're good at it." Once again, she allowed some unplanned sarcasm to seep in.