At home things were calming down a bit. The kids were impatient for Christmas to arrive, of course, but as I said there wasn't as much of a Christmas spirit as other years.
Josh's mouth sores prevented him from enjoying much food, but other than that he was in pretty good spirits and up and about. He took a short nap every day, but apart from that he was just fine. You could hardly tell anything was wrong.
It was just barely a week until Christmas and I'd done absolutely no Christmas shopping, plus now I had a car in my list to buy.
On Wednesday, December 19th, I sent Ryan to a friend's, Jamie to Delilah's house, Josh to his best friend Shane's house and Michael to Luke's (a neighbor's kid, just around Mike's age), and was prepared to leave the house and go shopping for all those things we desperately needed.
Then, when I was literally going out the door, the phone rang.
"Aw." I moaned, I'd managed to get myself ready and the kids busy and then the phone rings.
I let the machine get it, then I'd see if I wanted to talk or not. But when I heard the voice on the phone, I knew it was urgent.
"Nick!" said Sophia. She was crying. "Jonathan told me just today. He's leaving. He's been having an affair for more than six months now and I just don't know what to do..."
I grabbed the phone. "Sophia!" I said.
"Oh, Nick, you're home! I feel so bad telling you all this, but..."
"Yes, I heard and I'm so sorry." I said. "I was just leaving the house right now, but maybe you'd like to come along and we can talk?" I suggested.
"Would you?" she asked.
"Sure, I'd love to talk to you. And you sound like you're in need of a friend."
"Sure am." she admitted.
"Okay, well, just tell me your address and I'll pick you up in a few minutes."
She told me her address, and it happened to be very nearby- within walking distance, even.
"I'll be right there." I promised. "Hang in there."
I rushed to Sophia's. She stood in the front step with the baby in the car seat, and she looked lost.
I gave her a long hug and helped her fasten the car seat to the backseat of my car, and for the longest time neither of us said anything. It wasn't uncomfortable though. Neither of us felt the need to say anything.
Sophia had thankfully stopped crying, but she still looked really upset.
"I'd known this was coming." Sophia said when we were five minutes into the trip.
"I think you had mentioned it once or twice, yes." I softly agreed.
"But it seemed more final when he actually said it. Before, I'd known things weren't going well, but the wishful part of me told me that maybe it was just my imagination. After all, we've been married for nearly sixteen years."
I listened carefully.
"And he's already packed most of his things, and he says he wants all the kids and already has a really good lawyer to defend his case... except Julia."
"He doesn't want Julia?"
I could see Sophia shake her head from the corner of my eye.
"That's the worst part. The only reason he doesn't want Julia is because he doesn't like to change diapers!" Sophia started crying again. "Can you believe that? I mean, I'm glad he doesn't want my girl but he could at least have a good reason for not wanting her. What am I going to tell her about her father when she grows up? 'Your father was disgusted when changing diapers so he decided I could keep you'?"
I could feel the anger brewing inside me. How could this guy treat Sophia so badly? And why was he so cruel to his own daughter?
"Sophia." I said. "It may not seem a very comforting thing to say right now, but I'd like to pay for your lawyer. I know a really good lawyer, I've got plenty of money and I want to do it, okay? So please don't say no. I want to help you."
Through her tears, Sophia smiled a small smile. "Thanks, Nick."
"Anything for a friend."
Author's Chapter Notes:
Again, thanks to backstreet_fanatic for nominating this story. You made my day!
