Impatiently I look at my watch, it’s only been 6 minutes since I called for a cab, but seems longer. I’m happy to finally be getting home after five weeks in Boston. I reach up and loosen my tie, then unbutton the top button of my shirt, finally relaxing. It’s another five minutes before the cab arrives. He puts my bags in the trunk before letting me in the back seat. I get comfortable knowing it’s another 25 minutes to home. Looking at my watch again, and see it will be half past one before I get home.

I close my eyes as the cab heads south to the suburbs where my wife and I have lived for the last seventeen years. We bought the property four years after we were married, when our son was two and our daughter had just turned one. We thought it would be a better environment for them to grow up outside of the city.

As the cab pulled up the drive toward the semi-detached three car garage, I notice my car is now parked outside where we have a few parking spaces for guests. I get out of the cab and pay after he’s unloaded my bags. While the cab drives away I pull my bags to the side door and step inside. To the left is the main house, and to the right is a door to the garage. I step to the garage door and open it, curious why my car has been moved outside while I was away. Turning the light on I see Chuck’s Lexus is parked in my spot, next to him is my wife’s, Katherine’s car, and then my daughter Brianna’s car is at the far end. I pause, take a deep breath, turn off the light and close the door. I walk into the house pulling both bags and pause when I see a note on the kitchen island, that reads:

Welcome home Stephen, Millie
had to go check on her mom so
Chuck is staying the weekend.
See you in the morning.
Love you!

I felt my heart sink, and put the note down before walking to the refrigerator to grab a beer. I lean against the counter and take a sip, thinking this isn’t what I expected to come home to. I was hoping for a labour day family weekend complete with cookout, but now who knows what will happen.

I didn’t see my son’s car outside. He always comes home for holidays, so I’m sure he’ll be here tomorrow. David is always looking for reasons to come home from college to stock up on groceries and do laundry. I smile thinking first year college students don’t want to waste a Friday night at home.

Tugging my suitcases along, I walk down the hall to the guest room, open the door and step inside. As soon as I flip the light on I hear a voice say...

“Hey!”

Spinning around I see Meghan, Chuck and Millie’s daughter, half asleep, begin to sit up in bed. I quickly say...

“I’m sorry Meghan, I didn’t know you were here.”

Meghan responds...

“Hi Mr Reynolds, my dad and I are staying while my mom is at my grandmother’s, and I’m sleeping here, ok?”

I smile and reply...

“That’s fine sweetheart, go back to sleep, I’ll sleep in David’s room tonight.”

I turn off the light and close the door behind me, then walk down the hall to David’s room.

Settling into David’s room I go straight to bed, it’s been a long day, and night, and I’m exhausted. I toss and turn for a while thinking things over. I had just spoken with Katherine not 6 hours ago and she hadn’t mentioned Chuck and Meghan at all. I wish she would have texted me so I would have known. With Meghan in the guest room, and David most likely coming home tomorrow I’ll have to figure out a place to sleep the next few days. I wondered how Millie’s mother is since I haven’t seen her in years.

Suddenly it dawned on me that Labour Day weekend is also Katherine and Chuck’s anniversary. That explains why he’s here with Millie away. This would be their eighteenth anniversary, and me being away for the last five weeks I had forgotten all about it. I make a mental note to remember when I wake up tomorrow.

I dozed off sometime around 2 AM...

Zzzzz

The sunlight was coming through the curtains by the time I wake up. I glanced at the clock to see it’s after 8 AM. I smell coffee coming from the kitchen and drag myself out of bed. I sat on the edge of the bed to wake up thinking how glad I am to be home. I threw on a robe and grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste from my toiletry bag, then headed down to the shared hall bathroom. After brushing my teeth, I walked down the hall towards the kitchen where I smell the coffee and hear voices.

As I came around the corner I saw Chuck sitting at the kitchen table, and my wife standing at the counter mixing something in a small bowl. They both look at me as I walked toward Katherine and gave her a peck on the cheek. She turned and gave me a hug saying...

“Welcome home, you must have gotten in late, we didn’t hear you come in.”

I responded...

“Yeah, it was almost two.”

I heard Chuck pipe in...

“Grab a cup of coffee and come sit down, I’m surprised you’re up this early.”

I grab the coffee pot and pour a cup, then turn toward the table saying...

“I could use more sleep, it’s been a tough few months.”

As I pull out a chair and sat down, I hear Chuck shuffling the newspaper, and say...

“Here, take some of the paper and catch up.”

He scoots the business section my way, then starts reading aloud about a new restaurant in the city opening today, and says we should try it soon.

I sipped my coffee and caught up on a few stock prices. I heard Katherine approaching the table, saying...

“Here you go sweetie, just the way you like it.”

I watch her put a plate with an omelette in front of Chuck. She bent over to give him a kiss on the lips, and he reached up, holding her ass, then patted it affectionately. As they broke the kiss, Chuck said...

“Thanks sweetie, you make the best omelette. Hey Stephie, would you like an omelette?”

Katherine is halfway across the kitchen before I have a chance to look at Chuck, then over to Katherine, and speak up, saying...

“Well I don’t know, do you mind, uh, Sweetie!”

There’s a moment of silence before my wife turns and gave me the evil eye, then say...

“Well, I’m not sure, it depends, Stephie!”

As my wife and I have a short stare down, I hear a tapping and glance over to see Chuck’s arm stretched out toward me, tapping his fingertips on the table. When he sees me look his way, he points a finger at me and says...

“Stephie!”

I quickly look away, pick up my coffee cup, and go back to reading the paper.

A door opened and closed and we looked to see who’s coming down the hall. Brianna walks into the kitchen still wearing her pyjamas, saying...

“Good morning.”

She stepped to her mother giving her a hug, then came to me saying...

“Welcome home daddy, it’s good to see you.”

She hugged me and kissed my cheek. I held her a moment, happy to see her after five weeks. She broke away and steps over to Chuck and kissed his cheek, saying...

“Good morning dad.”

Chuck replied...

“Morning Bre.”

As Breanna walked back down the hallway, Katherine stepped over to me and put a plate down. I look to see hard scrambled eggs and a piece of toast. I look up at her and smiled, saying...

“Thank you hun.”

As she walked back to the kitchen counter, she replied...

“You’re welcome Stephie.”

After finishing a few things in the kitchen, Katherine came over and took a seat across the table from me, next to Chuck. She’s having a fried egg on toast, my favourite, and a cup of tea. She’s always drank tea, I think it’s something all Europeans do, whereas here in the US we lean more toward coffee. I’ve always liked that about my wife, she has her habits and preferences, and could care less what others do.

I watch her eat and notice how delicate she is, but I know the other side when provoked. I try not to provoke her, but at times like this I know I test her limits. Like now, she’s enjoying her breakfast and tea and has her hand over Chuck’s as he rests it on the table and reads the sports page. I know she’s not doing it to provoke me, no, she’s just being herself. I know they have a bond that started before I met either of them. I seldom think back to those times in college when they were a couple. Life is funny and takes strange turns, but often comes back around. When they broke up and he went off to get his doctorate, they never expected to see each other again. I never thought Katherine and I would get together and marry, but we did, and couldn’t have been happier. Likewise, we didn’t expect when Chuck and another friend Millie went on to pursue their doctorates they would have hooked up. They are quite different, but both being from upper class, I suppose it made sense. It’s amazing how four years can change everything.

As we continue our breakfast I remember back when Katherine and I were sitting on the back porch of the home we purchased near town, years ago. We had moved there with our two kids just a month before. The lady who lived next door kept to herself, and the family on the other side were seldom around. We were enjoying morning coffee when the neighbour lady walked out on her deck, she looked over and waved, so we waved back. A few steps behind her stepped Millie, we had to look closely because it had been a few years, Katherine looked at me and said...

“Isn’t that Millie from State? I haven’t seen her in years.”

I nodded, saying...

“I think so.”

She hadn’t seen us yet, and stood next to our neighbour looking over the rail. As we discussed if it could be her, a man walked out the door and over to them, putting his arm around Millie. Katherine and I looked at each other and both knew exactly who he was, Chuck.

Katherine and Chuck had dated for four years through college before he left to pursue his doctorate, and they had broken up when he left. Katherine and I tried to figure out exactly what they were doing next door. It wasn’t long before he looked our way, and we could tell he knew who we were, or at least who Katherine is. He waved, and we waved back. I knew Katherine’s mind was racing, because I had to shake her arm to get her attention after seeing him there.

By that night we had all reacquainted and found out our neighbour was Millie’s mother, and they were moving in with her. I also could tell beyond any doubt that Katherine and Chuck still had feelings for each other. After they moved in and for a while they tried to keep their feelings under control. Even with them having a toddler, and us having a 3-year-old, and a one-year-old, I sensed something was going on between them.

It was Millie who walked into my office months later and dropped the bombshell. She asked me out for coffee, and sensing she really needed to talk I agreed. In a quaint little cafe, she let me know that Chuck and my wife had been having an affair that probably started within days of them moving in with her mom. She said she had already confronted Chuck a week ago, and he hadn’t denied it. She told me she had always known he’d never stopped loving Katherine, but they assumed they’d never see Katherine again. Millie confessed she had told him she wouldn’t do anything drastic for the sake of their daughter, and Chuck had promised to break it off. But a week later she knows he hadn’t, and has proof they’re still meeting up. Millie and I consoled each other and decided to see if Chuck would break it off, but Millie warned me that she feared they wouldn’t.

Millie and I met for lunch each day that week, and I never let on to Katherine that I knew. I could tell something was different, and sensed she was drifting away. Like Millie, I was thinking of the kids, because from the first time I saw the look in her eye when he stepped onto that deck, I knew the fire was still there in my wife for her ex-boyfriend.

Weeks passed before Millie and I confronted both of them one evening. That’s when we found out they had an apartment for meeting up and didn’t plan to stop. The next several months was rough, and at times they didn’t come home for days at a time. Millie and I finally after six months of negotiating with them concluded they would always be running off together, and for us, being home with the kids was better than apart. Millie and I were the ones who had to compromise and accept it would continue between them.

Now 18 years later, our kids have grown up together like siblings, even after I bought this home and we moved away, it changed nothing other than less convenient for Chuck and Kat.

I finally snapped out of my thoughts and back to the present.

We were enjoying our coffee when Meghan came into the kitchen. She gave me a hug saying...

“Good to see you Mr Reynolds.”

I followed up with...

“I hope you were able to get back to sleep last night!”

I listened to her explaining how I had walked in on her when I didn’t know she was here. She sat down and began to talk about school and what’s going on in her life. Shortly after, I excused myself to get cleaned up for the day.

An hour later I felt much better and walked to the family room where I heard the television tuned to a football game. I step in to see who’s playing and saw Brianna and Meghan sitting on one couch, and Chuck at the end of another couch with Katherine curled up against him. His arm is holding her tightly to his side with her head resting on his shoulder watching the game. When Brianna saw me she got up, saying...

“Dad come here.”

We walked to the kitchen with Meghan following close behind. Then both girls asked me if I remembered it’s Katherine’s and Chuck’s anniversary. I admitted that I had forgotten, but remembered after getting home. The girls wanted to talk about a nice dinner out for everyone and insisted I get them a gift since this is a special day for them. I spoke up saying...

“I know it’s a big day, and we usually have a cookout, but I haven’t gotten anything in advance because I was out of town. I’ll take everyone out to dinner, how’s that sound?”

Brianna looked surprised and said...

“Stephie!”

I must have looked shocked, and both girls looked at me as if I had just committed a crime, then I spoke up saying...

“What? Brianna, it’s dad, father or Stephen, but it’s not Stephie to you!”

Which she replied saying...

“Not when it comes to this, when it involves Chuck and mom it’s always been Stephie, and you know it, dad!”

Then Meghan spoke up saying...

“Look Mr Reynolds, we’ve always known everything, we grew up knowing everything. It’s not like we’re children any more, and don’t see the truth for what it is.”

I’m dumbfounded, not believing the girls are harassing me like this. I finally say...