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Nine – November 8 – Kevin

If I had thought sleeping was bad before, the night of my horse race victory was the worst yet. Every time I closed my eyes I saw her wearing that white dress, the bouncing of the horse lifting her behind up to reveal the most delectable…

Ugh.

I was still up as the sun rose the next morning. Gray clouds hung heavy in the sky; I had a feeling we were going to see the first few snowflakes of the season sometime by the end of the day. I got up and opened the back door; I stared out at the vast nothingness of the empty field. A cold blast of air flew into the house; the temperature had plummeted.

I closed the door, thankful that I had won the race. The last thing I needed was to keep bumping into Addy Selinski everywhere I went. Her claim that she would remain invisible meant that I could finally do what I had come here for: to work on a plan to get Kristin back in my life. I didn’t need any distractions when I needed to be focusing on the only woman I needed in my life.

I sat down at the kitchen table and began to scribble notes about Kristin’s likes and dislikes. I listed important dates: the date we first met, the day I proposed, our wedding date, and Mason’s birthday. I knew that somewhere in the vast information that I had accumulated about her that I would find some spark of an idea to get back to the loving couple we used to be.

As I sat scribbling out romantic getaways and special things I could do, I didn’t notice Mason get up. Therefore, I was even more surprised when I heard him calling me in a panic.

“DADDY! DAAAADDDDY!”

His voice was coming in the direction of the bathroom. I quickly tossed down my pen and ran in. Water was gushing over the toilet at a rapid pace.

“What did you do buddy?” I asked, looking around for the plunger.

“I gave puppy a bath,” Mason said.

“Puppy?”

I stared down at the bowl. At the u-bend I could just make out a ratty ear.

Ever since Mason was a year old, he had dragged around a brown puppy named, aptly, ‘Puppy’. Lately, Kristin and I had convinced him that he could go places without taking puppy. This time I feared that the place puppy had gone was going to make him permanently kenneled. More importantly, there wasn’t a plunger in sight and the water was still gushing over the rim of the seat. I carried Mason into the kitchen and sat him down on a chair. After a little detective work, I found the shut off valve for the water. It stopped the flood, but I still had a clogged toilet, a waterlogged floor, and no plunger. I glanced over at Mason; he was looking at me with sad eyes.

“I’m sowwy,” he said, sucking his fingers. He always did that when he knew he was in trouble. I sighed softly.

“It was a mistake,” I said softly. “Let’s go get dressed. Daddy needs to go find a hardware store.”

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Twenty minutes later I had Mason in a cart and we were wheeling through a small Ace Hardware. It was the last store on Main Street. I had an auger, a plunger, shop towels, a mop, and a wrench. And more importantly, I had managed to get through the whole shop without running into Addy.

I paid for my supplies and we headed home. As Mason ate some Corn Flakes, I tackled the bathroom. As I had feared, puppy had been under the water too long to salvage. I stowed it into a black trash bag and prayed that Mason might forget about it. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy. I mopped the bathroom and dried it completely with shop towels. After a shower for myself and a few test flushes of the toilet, everything was back to normal.

By the afternoon, Mason was getting restless. I couldn’t really blame him. A three year old could last only so long in a cabin with the same old toys without going bonkers. The temperature from morning to afternoon had dropped another fifteen degrees. After layering him up as much as possible while still allowing him the ability to walk, I took him to the playground that was adjacent to the church.

I pushed him on the swing, helped him down the slide, and across the monkey bars. The whole time I couldn’t help but look around. I knew that somewhere along the line, paranoia must have sank in; I kept thinking that I saw a flash of brown hair or the sound of boots, but each time it was just a squirrel or a loose shutter on the church. Addy was nowhere around.

Mason and I stopped for an early dinner at the town’s one small diner. A few people came up and introduced themselves. The place was crowded; but there was no Addy. Mason was playing with the pickles he had pulled off his hamburger. He looked up at me.

“Hey daddy, we didn’t see Addy or Santa today,” he said. I thought he sounded disappointed.

“Well, we were really busy today,” I told him. He nodded.

“Yeah, we were beezy,” he nodded.

After dinner, we returned to the cabin. As I was building a fire, Mason finally asked where the TV was. When I told him there wasn’t one, he looked horrified. I finally had to climb back into the car and get his portable DVD player. He fell asleep while watching Finding Nemo. I slid off the couch, crawling next to the burning embers. I poked the flames with a stick, thinking about one of the first trips Kristin and I had ever taken together. I didn’t think I had ever seen anyone so beautiful before in my life.

As I sat thinking about that moment, the weirdest thing happened. A crazy vision of Addy sitting across from me came to mind. I saw her smile and laugh, her long legs stretched out in front of her, almost touching mine. I shook my head; the vision disappeared.

I ran a hand down my face. Part of me felt I was going crazy; the more rational part attributed my vision to lack of sleep. I smothered the fire and carried Mason to bed. I sprawled out on the couch, threw a heavy blanket over me and willed myself to go to sleep.

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I woke up the next morning eye to eye with Mason. He was shining a flashlight in my nose.

"What are you doing?" I said with a yawn.

"I'm playing doctor," Mason said happily.

I lay still while he tested my reflexes with a plastic wrench (I jerked my knee for good measure) and checked my throat with a Popsicle stick. As I watched him, I couldn't help but think of Dr. Selinski. And when I thought of Dr. Selinski I couldn't help but think of...

Addy.

Even with a good night's sleep I felt like I was losing it. As Mason did examinations on all of his stuffed animals, I went out onto the porch and turned on my cell phone for the first time in days. I had five voicemails from my mother. With a sigh, I dialed the house, praying I would get the answering machine. She picked up on the first ring.

"Thank God. You're alive. Where are you?"

"I just needed to get awhile for a little while. Mason and I are having some guy time," I said lightly.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for three days," mom said.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'm just trying to figure out a way to work things out between Kristin and myself without any interference," I tried to explain. I heard a soft sigh.

"That's what I've been trying to call you about, sweetheart," she said gently. "Three days ago I received a divorce summons at the house. They tried at your house several times, then they went to the closest family member."

I felt my mouth grow dry. The last time I had seen her, October 30, she had threatened me with the dreaded "D" word. Still I thought I'd have time. I hadn't even figured out a plan yet...

"You have thirty days to respond," my mom said worriedly.

"I'll talk to her," I said lightly.

"I don't think it's going to be as simple as that."

"Why?"

"She's asking for full custody of Mason."