“The sun will come out tomorrow.” Rachel sang loudly in the airport. Jackson was playing a game on his DS. We were waiting for my mom’s flight to arrive from Kentucky. I was excited about seeing my mom. She was going to be spending a month with us.

My mom walked towards us with her luggage. “Ashton, I’m so glad to see you. I’ve missed you.” She embraced me in a hug. My mom is just what I needed.

“Grandma!!!” The kids screamed. They were just as excited to see her. She gave them both hugs.

“Where’s Nick?”

“Daddy is living in a condo.” Rachel blurted out. I gave her a look and her eyes bugged out knowing she wasn’t supposed to tell.

“We’ll have to talk about that later Ashton.”

We made our way toward the Land Rover. My mother caught me up with all the hometown gossip. By the time we reached the house, I knew who got married and who was having kids. When I pulled in the driveway, I noticed Nick’s car parked by the garage. I wondered what he was doing at the house.

“Hello Mom. It’s great to see you.” He came out and got the luggage.

“It’s good to see you Nick. How are you?”

“Doing well. I’m trying to keep myself of out trouble.” He laughed.

“Is that even possible?” She laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

Nick took the luggage to the guest bedroom.

“What brings you to the house?”

“I was bored and wanted to see the kids. Can they stay with me tonight?”

“Yeah that would be fine. Just bring them home in the morning before church.”

“Thanks Ashton.”

-----------------------

The cool night air was refreshing. My mom and I were sitting on the deck sipping wine and catching up on life.

“Why is Nick living in a condo?” My mom asked quietly.

“He wanted to separate.” I answered vaguely. I really didn’t feel like talking about Nick.

“I thought things were going well with your marriage.”

“I did, too. That changed about two months ago. He fell out of love with me.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“How do I feel? That depends on the moment. At first I was heart broken. Then I was mad. Now, I’m just confused.”

“Have the two of you sat down and talked about it?”

“No, he clams up every time I try to talk to him. We used to communicate so well, but now we barely talk about us.” I sighed. I realized Nick and I forgot about us. We were so busy with life that we just forgot each other.

“What are you going to do about?” Ann sipped her wine. She hoped her daughter would fight to save her marriage.

“I don’t know.”

“Where’s the Ashton who fights for what’s important? Are you going to sit around and let Nick determine the future of your marriage? He’ll take the easy way out by divorcing you and finding another woman.”

“Do you think that badly of Nick? I don’t think he would move on that quickly. He has kids that he loves and adores.”

“I love Nick like a son, but he needs to have a woman around to make him feel complete. If you can’t do that, he’ll find someone else.” My mom told me softly. I knew she meant well. She didn’t want me to get hurt. She wanted to see me happy.

“Well, I guess I need to think about what I need to do. Jackson’s been taking it very hard.”

“He has a sensitive soul. He looks up to his dad and now he’s seeing that his dad isn’t perfect. Jackson is protective of you.”

“I’m amazed that he went to stay with Nick tonight. Every time he comes around Jackson refuses to do anything with him. I hope Jackson realizes how much his dad loves him.”

“He will. Have you talked to Kevin lately?”

“He called me yesterday. Kevin and Nia are coming to visit next week. I’m excited. It would be great if Tim and Jerald were able to visit.”

“I would love to see all my kids together. It might not be good for Nick if all three of your brothers were here.” My mom laughed.

“Kevin already knows. I made him promise to not kill Nick. Nick and I will work it out. Let’s talk about you. Tell me about that guy you went out with.”

“How do you know about that?” She laughed nervously.

 “Kevin. Never tell him anything. He has the biggest mouth when it comes to our family. I’m glad you’re keeping yourself busy and having fun.”

“His name is Don. He’s a teacher at the high school. He took me to dinner and we went dancing afterward.”

“Is Don’s last name Collins?”

“Yes. How did you know?” I started giggling. I couldn’t control myself.

“He was my geometry teacher in tenth grade.”