Chapter 5

When I crawled out of bed Sunday morning I felt like I had never been there. Colleen was still sleeping soundly. I didn't bother making my bed. I dressed and left. I needed coffee and a decent breakfast to get me moving.

Sundays were short days, 12:00 to 5:00 PM, so I knew I would be done by 6:00 PM. I really didn't want to face Colleen when I went home because I wasn't convinced of how I wanted to handle what had happened. I didn't understand it at all and, although I thought I had a good idea, I didn't want to move in the wrong direction and make things worse. I had to know more before I decided what I wanted to do.

Sunday may have been a short day at the shop, but by the time I locked up it seemed like it had lasted an eternity. When I arrived home I found a note from Colleen saying that she had gone shopping and would pick up the children on her way home. I was pleased that she had considered it important to inform me of her intentions. I was also relieved that there was no immediate need for confrontation. While I waited, I went to the kitchen and found some leftovers from the party to warm up for dinner.

As I sat there eating and drinking a beer, I began to wonder if Colleen had really gone shopping, or could she be meeting Bill somewhere? Suddenly it came to me that I was facing a whole new realm of conscious thought. It had never occurred to me before that Colleen would be capable of such a thing because she was so dogmatic about her code of morality. After last night, however, I had my doubts that she could refuse someone like Bill. I wondered how far she might have gone with Bill had I not been there last night. Furthermore, if he was able to accomplish all he seemingly had in one evening, I wondered what he might be able to accomplish with her if he were given more time.

Just before 7:30 PM the garage door went up and I heard the car pull in. Our two children, Jill and Jack, came running into the house and jumped into my arms. We all hugged and they immediately launched into a conversation about their weekend. I listened intently, but I kept an eye on the door. I wanted to observe Colleen's face as she entered.

When she finally came in, she looked very down. I expected her to be carrying bags of groceries since she said she was going shopping. All she was carrying was a small bag from Walgreen's(r). I watched as she walked by without looking at me and went to the stairs. She stopped momentarily to tell the children to get their pajamas on and get ready for bed. She also reminded them that tomorrow would be a school day.

Bedtime for the children was 8:30 PM on school nights. She had to get them up at 6:30 AM so she could get them and herself ready for school each day. After they wound down a bit, I told Jill and Jack to obey mother and do as she said. Then I informed them that I would come up and read them a story before they went to sleep. They literally shouted with glee as they jumped off my lap and ran up the stairs.

I followed them a few minutes later and walked down the hallway to their rooms. The door to our bedroom was closed and I didn't bother to open it on the way by. I just went into the children's room and prepared to read the story of their choice. After I finished the story, I tucked them in and we said our goodnights. They didn't even ask about their mother, so I said, "I'll send Mother in to give you your kisses." Jill spoke up first. "Mother isn't feeling well. She told us that on the way home and she asked us not to make too much noise because of her headache. If she is too sick to kiss us, it's okay. We'll get one tomorrow."