Tangled Web

Over the past month Amy and I had moved out of our apartment and into a home large enough to accommodate my growing family. I was working on the nursery; painting the walls and putting together two cribs, when my oldest son came into the room.

“Hey dad.” He says, sitting down on the floor next to me as I tried to remember how to put one of these things together.

I look at him, smiling. “Hey.” I reply, patting him on the back.

‘These look like Laney and Olivia’s cribs.”

He was right; they were my daughter’s cribs. “Yeah, Mila was nice enough to let us have them…” I say, my thoughts trailing off to my ex-wife. I still wasn’t sure what had come over her when she told me I could use the two cribs; especially after the dinner incident a month ago. Maybe it was her peace offering.

Dakota takes a deep breath, something was on his mind. “Dad…Can I talk to you about Laney and Olivia?”

I nod my head, wondering what in the world this could be about.

“This morning I took them to school for Mila and they were just talking away in the back seat and I heard Olivia ask if she would have to get a new daddy when her baby sisters were born.”

“That’s not good.”

“Laney said that Uncle Duane would be their new daddy now and Dylan would be their new brother.”

I took a deep breath. I had never considered the feelings of my six year old girls when I decided to get someone other than their mother pregnant. I thought they were really too young to understand; but I was wrong.

“Cobie and I were a little older when you and mom got divorced but I remember feeling that way too. Cobie would always ask me if you still loved us or if you would still take us to the beach.” He says with a laugh. “Do you ever regret leaving mom?”

“I didn’t leave your mom. She told me to get out…but that’s a story for another day.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t believe we’re getting married.” Mila says, a huge smile on her face as she looks down at the engagement ring I proposed to her with.

I don’t know what had come over me that day. I woke up, looked over at Mila sleeping next to me and knew right then that I was going to propose to her. I bought the ring that day and asked her that night. It was the best decision I had ever made …one that I should have made many years ago.

“Have you set a date yet?” I asked; reaching over to hold her hand.

“That’s something we have to do together.”

“You just tell me a day and time and I’ll be there. Don’t care where it is or how much it costs.” I say, squeezing her hand lightly.

"Those are dangerous words to say to a woman!" she says, giggling then leans in to kiss me on the cheek. "I’m not sure about the date...I want to see how things play out with Leland and Amy before I make any plans for our future."

"Wait a minute." I creased my eyebrows; our future? "What exactly do they have to do with us? Are you saying if he doesn’t marry her, you wont marry me?"

Another giggle and a roll of her eyes; "No silly. Nothing can stop me from marrying you; I just want her to be out of the spotlight long enough to let me step into it!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thanks for bringing the kids over Mila." I say, pulling her into a hug. It was the first time our bodies had touched in almost a year. I found my fingertips grazing the bottom of her hair; her long, beautiful hair. She smelled different than I had remembered; not fruity and girly like before...now she smelled sexy, like a woman; a woman who was off limits to me.

Thankfully Amy wasn’t home, otherwise there would be no touching my Ex-wife. I had somehow convinced Amy to leave the house while I had a family meeting with Mila and the kids about the upcoming birth of our new babies.

I felt Mila take a deep breath and I released her from my grasp. I knew it was probably uncomfortable for her; but I almost didn’t care. No matter what people tell you, you never stop loving your ex-wife; you just learned to adapt to a new woman. Sure, you'll find love again, but it wont be the same kind of love. This was the third time I had been in a 'new love' situation and if it didn’t kill me, there was no way I would do this again.

She looked up and smiled, her eyes bright and tucked her hair behind her ear; the sparkle of a very large diamond engagement ring catching the light as she did. She had always looked so young and innocent, it was probably what attracted me to her the most. But now she looked different. She had become a grown woman before my eyes, she was sexy and confident. Standing tall and never backing down from what she wanted in life.

"I don’t mind at all Leland, the girls have been asking a lot of questions lately so its probably good that we can sit down together and talk to them as parents."

She picked Kaiden up and sat down in the large chair with him, while both girls sat next to me on the couch. "Okay, girls I heard that you have some questions to ask mommy and daddy about the new babies." I say, glancing between both of them.

Laney nods and Olivia the most vocal of the two, speaks up. "Are you still going to be our daddy?"

"Of course I will, and you two will always be my little girls. And Kaiden, Cobie and Dakota will be my sons. That will never change, I promise."

"But what about the new babies, who is gonna be their daddy?"

I looked over at Mila, she was biting her bottom lip, waiting to her my answer.

"I will also be their daddy. Kinda like Cobie and Dakota have a different mommy than you do."

"Okay..." Laney says, not truly convinced that I was still going to be their daddy.

I ran a hand through my hair, I never thought I would be explaining the concept of blended families and half siblings to my kids. It was a huge part of my life growing up, I just never thought it would fall on me to have to be the one explaining the concept.

Olivia looks up at me, her big brown eyes beaming, "Is it kinda like our mommy is also Dylan’s mommy?"