Chapter 8

I awoke bright and early on Sunday morning. I figured the alarm clock would be the device to wake me up. I found that my nose worked better. I went into the kitchen to find my son Robbie making breakfast.

"Morning Robbie. That smells good. What are making?"

"Sausage gravy and biscuits with omelets. Erin is coming over for breakfast. I figured I better make enough for the whole family."

"Smart move."

"We're then going over to her house to watch the game with her folks."

"You like her don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Just be careful. Emotions can be a good thing, but they also can get you in quite a bit of trouble."

"Yeah Dad, I noticed. Are you still in the doghouse?"

"I may be there for a while."

"I have never seen Mom that mad before. I've seen her angry, but not like this."

"She'll live. I just hope she lets me live as well."

"Good luck. At least for a while, I think you'll need it."

"Thanks."

I went to the bathroom and took care of business. Came back out and found Robbie and Erin just staring at each other eating. I remember what it was like to be that young. It seemed like forever ago now. I sat down at the counter and ate my breakfast. I certainly didn't want to interrupt the lovebirds.

At 10:00, Mike and I headed on our way to the airport. We talked baseball on the way there. Mike loved baseball. I had coached his team last year and he has loved it ever since. Like me, he had grown to love the Yankees.

We had arrived a bit early. That was good since her plane was also a bit early. We met her at the security checkpoint 10 minutes before the plane was supposed to land. After getting hugs, we went to get her luggage. I took a moment to look at her in baggage claim and saw something different about her. She had that radiant look back about her, but there was something else. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. We gathered her bags and were on our way.

"So, how was your Thanksgiving?"

"It was so nice to go home. I can't believe how much I missed my own bed. How was yours?"

"I certainly have had better."

I noticed that she took a look at me. She seemed to realize what I meant by looking at my mannerisms.

"You finally told her didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. She is definitely not happy."

"I figured when she invited me that she didn't know yet. When did you tell her?"

"The night I dropped you off. It was the first night in a long time that she was home and I didn't have homework to worry about."

"How'd she take it?"

"Well, She broke my alarm clock, my cordless razor and I'm sleeping in the guest bedroom. All in all, pretty good I guess."

"I didn't know you had a guest room."

"I had to put it back together. The sofa was not comfortable enough for me."

"Ok. She wants to kill me doesn't she?"

"I'm not sure at this point. I would be ready for anything."

"Thanks for the warning."

We spent the rest of the drive talking to Mikey. He liked Julie. I found out that she had done some fun things with him over Mel's birthday and he's adored her ever since.

Before dinner, Melanie was very nice to Julie, almost too nice. It made me quite nervous. I felt that she had something planned. I noticed that the kids were all of a sudden leaving. I knew that Robbie was going to be at Erin's most of the day, but Becky and Mike disappeared as well.

"Mel, where's the kids?"

"They are spending the evening at Christy's. They have a movie that they all are going to watch together."

Now I knew I was in trouble. She got rid of the kids to make sure that they didn't see the fight. She was going to blow and I knew it.

We sat down to eat around 4. She had made one of my favorites, meatloaf. When we were all pretty much done, she finally started to get into what I expected.

"So how was your Thanksgiving Julie?"

"Pretty good. It was nice to go home. I didn't realize just how much I missed sleeping in my own bed. Those beds in the dorm are like sleeping on a wooden crate."

"Speaking of beds, did you enjoy taking my husband to bed?"

Julie didn't answer. She got that guilty look on her face and suddenly was paying much more attention to the rest of her food than what was needed.

"What's the matter, can't answer that one?"

"I'm sorry Mel. It was stupid of me."

"No, what was stupid was me trusting you. I let you into my home, allow you to stay in my daughters room, treat you like one of the family and this is how you pay me back, by you trying to steal my husband?"

"I wasn't trying to steal him. I only wanted to borrow him."

"Borrow him? You expect me to believe that you little troll?"

I could see that had the intended effect on Julie. She was almost ready to cry at that comment.

"Couldn't you find someone your own age? Why would you do something like this to a friend?"

"The others just wanted to separate me from my panties. Rob treated me like a person. He looked at my face, not my ass."

"Oh, so you chose Rob because he was a gentlemen. Boy, you really are a little troll aren't you? Is that all you thought of was yourself? What about me? What about our kids? Did you even think of them? I already know the answer, no you didn't. It wasn't your problem was it?"

Very meekly her reply came, "no."

Now she looked at me, "No it wasn't, it was yours Rob. How could you do something like this to me and your children?"

Now it was my turn for speechlessness. I knew what I would say if she pushed this too far. I didn't want to talk about that right here or now.

Melanie continued, "Julie, right now I feel like grabbing you around the neck and choking you, but I'm not going to. I don't need to spend time in jail."

You could see Julie's eyes bug out of her head as Mel said that. She was truly getting scared and I could understand it. I was not going to let Mel get physical like that. I didn't want to see her in jail either.

"So here's what's going to happen, you two have one more project to finish. After that project, neither of you will have anything to do with each other. No contact, no classes, no nothing. Do you two understand that?"

I answered,"Yes dear."

Julie's reply shocked me, "I can't do that."

Mel seemed to really get pissed now. She was not in the mood for a two-sided argument. Her eyes started to bug out, her nostrils flared as she came back with, "What do you mean you little troll?"

"It's not that easy Mel."

"It sure sounds easy to me. What's your problem that makes you so special?"

Her reply was real quiet, "I'm pregnant."

My jaw must have fallen to the floor, and my eyes as big a large dinner plates as Melanie asked on the top of her lungs, "You're what?"

Julie replied with more force this time, "I'm pregnant. Ok?"

The moment of silence was deafening. You certainly could have heard a pin drop at that moment. I was also glad that the kids were not home at that moment. I finally had to break the silence. I couldn't wait any longer.

"You're kidding right? I mean, this can't happen again!"