Father Figure

"I don't know what to do, Vero," I admitted in frustration. "He came home at almost two am this morning."

"Well, I t'ink you don't have too many options..." she told me softly.

I closed my eyes tightly. "I know... It's just... It's hard to accept. What would you do if your fiance was doing the same thing?" I asked.

She was silent for a few moments. "Well, I t'ink I would ask Marc about it. I would ask him to just be forward about it, tell me t'e trut'. T'en if he was, I would probably end it. I don't t'ink I would be okay wit' continuing it if he wasn't fait'ful to me," she answered. "If he did it once, what would keep him from doing it again?"

I stayed quiet as I processed what she said. "I think tonight I will bring it up. I think he said they'd be back by about seven," I mumbled, glancing at the clock. It was just turning six.

"Good! I'm here for you," she told me. "If you and t'e boys need somewhere else to stay for awhile, my home is open to you."

I smiled a little. "Thank you so much, Vero. I'll be sure to let you know how things go."

"Alright. Call me at any time. I'm off tomorrow so don't worry about waking me up late," she insisted.

We said our goodbyes before hanging up. I'd become really close to her in the last several weeks. She was such a kind and sweet person that it was hard not to let myself get close to her. She genuinely cared about people, including my boys. Kris was more infatuated with her than anything else.

The moment she left, he was asking when he'd get to see "Miss Vero" again. He talked about her nonstop all morning and was still babbling about her to his brother (whom were ignoring him) when they left for the rink. It was adorable to say the least.

As for Joe, I didn't know what to think, really. We'd been together for so long that something like this felt like it had blind sided me. It was so sudden, too.

But the more I thought about it, maybe we had been headed down this road. We hadn't acted like a normal couple since we moved in September. We had been fighting a lot, too. He seemed less interested in what was going on at home. He didn't even know I'd applied for a job at a nerby hospital and been called for an interview.

The coming home late paired with the lipstick and messy clothes all lead to the same conclusion.

If he admitted to cheating, I knew for a fact we wouldn't stay together. I would not be with someone who could comfortably cheat on me and admit it to my face. For all I knew, he was the kind of person that would do it over and over again. I would move out, find a small place for me and my sons, and go from there.

But if he didn't admit to it, I don't know how I would handle it. I don't know if I could handle knowing he was most likely lying to me.

As I worked on dinner, Joe returned with my sons. The door burst open and suddenly the quiet house was filled with energy and life. The boys all ran into the kitchen where I was standing.

"Mom! Look! Look what Joe bought us!" Beau screamed out.

I turned away from the cutting board to see my sons. Each of them were dressed in you Sidney Crosby jerseys. They grinned up at me, proudly showing off their jerseys. I gaped at Joe. "You bought them all jerseys?" I asked softly in disbelief.

He shrugged and smiled. "Yeah. They were all pretty excited," he told me.

I looked back at my sons. "Did you tell him thank you?" I asked.

They nodded their heads. "Mama! Geno got two goals tonight!" Gab exclaimed excitedly.

"Really? That's super cool," I repsonded.

Kris clung to my leg suddenly. "Fleury got a shutout!" he yelled up at me. He looked ready to burst.

I laughed. "That's so cool!" I told him.

The boys all took off to their room to continue their celebration. Joe leaned against the counter, watching me cook. "How was your night?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Good. I got some stuff cleaned up and talked to Vero," I answered.

There was a long, heavy silence between us. "Can I ask you something?" I blurted out.

"Yeah," he told me. He walked to the cupboard to pull out a glass. I dropped the cucumber I'd just sliced up into the bowl.

I set down my knife and turned to face him. "Something's been up with you lately," I started off. My gut twisted in my stomach.

He stopped and turned to face me. I could see the anger starting to bubble in his eyes. "Excuse me?" he asked. He set his glass down on the counter.

I let out a deep breath, trying to calm my stomach. "I mean, you come home late, your clothes weren't put together like they normally are-"

"Maybe I got stressed and because I was sitting in my office for hours it lost it's crisp look?" he snapped angrily.

I scoffed. "And the lipstick you had on your lips?" I countered.

He was silent. And there it was. I had my answer in his actions. "I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered and shook his head.

I rolled my eyes as I placed my hand on my hip. "Really? Because yesterday you came home with red lipstick on your lips," I stated.

He let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh whatever. What, are you jealous or something?" he asked.

I shook my head in disbelief. "What? Jealous of who?" I snapped softly, making sure the boys didn't hear me.

He threw his arms up. "I don't know!" he yelled out.

I glared at him. "Lower your voice. The boys are upstairs," I pointed out. He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to argue that it didn't matter. "No, you will lower your voice. You will not yell like that with my kids under the same roof," I warned him coldly.

He shook his head. "Whatever. If you're going to be like this after I just took your three fucking bastards to a hockey game and bought them fucking jerseys! Authentic jerseys! You know how much those are?" he asked.

My fingers pinched the bridge of my nose. "I didn't ask you to buy them anything. I didn't ask you to take them to that game," I pointed out.

He fumbled for some way to show his frustration. "I still did it, though. Then I come home and you're bitching at me over nothing!"

"Nothing? You mean you cheating is nothing?" I blurted out.

"Yeah! And you know what, I don't regret it! You're a fucking bitch that is so self centered you can't even thank me for doing something nice," he snapped at me.

And just like that, I fell silent. I turned back to the counter, my heart pounding. He just admitted to it like it was no big deal, like nothing of the last two years mattered. I dropped the dishes into the sink and began rinsing them so I could stick them in the dishwasher.

"So now you're going to ignore me?" he asked in disbelief.

I dropped the knife down into the dishwasher. "Well, yes. If you can't be faithful, then we're over," I told him simply. I didn't want to face him.

This only created so much more stress to put on my shoulders. Now not only was I living in a new city where I knew almost no one, I had to be sure I got the job I was working for and find a new place to live.

"What are you even... That's it? You're just ending our relationship like that?" he asked.

I turned around to look at him finally. My hands shook slightly by my side. "I didn't do this. You did this. You're the one that all but screamed you cheated on me to the world," I pointed out.

He scoffed and shook his head. "Good. You know what, I'm glad it's over. Now I don't have to put up with you," he muttered.

Joe left the room after that. I listened carefully until I heard the front door slam shut and a car outside rev to life. I dug my cellphone out of my pocket and dialed Vero's number. "Allo?"

"Je l'ai fait," I whispered out.