Page 63 of Take Two

“You know what? Forget it. Carry on because you’re right. I don’t give a damn.” I leave her standing there and return to the table to get more dishes. She follows and does the same, but I can see her cheeks have reddened. Once the table is clear, I start to rinse the dishes.

I smile when I hear what my mom says next. “Those are just a few of her baby pictures that I keep on my phone. When you come over, I’ll show you more. She was practically glued to my hip for the first six years of her life. Wouldn’t let me out of her sight for a second.”

“Well, that didn’t last,” Dad snorts. “Why don’t you talk about that?”

“Dad,” I warn.

“Shut up, Miles,” Mom hisses. “Why are you here? Don’t you have an empty house to go home to?”

“Yeah, I do have ahouse,” he says. “More than one in fact.” Mom purses her lips but she doesn’t say anymore.

“I see Lettie in both of you,” Charlie says quickly, and that thankfully stops another fight because Mom tells him another story.

“I’m sorry,” Terri whispers. “I’m just dealing with a lot. I’ve officially filed for a divorce. I think Spence was served today.”

I turn off the water and face her. Her eyes are red, and I fear she’s seconds away from bursting into tears. Until this moment, I never believed she was going to divorce Spence. I figured she’d go back to him, and things would go back to status quo. “I can’t pretend I don’t know about the affairs anymore.” She reachesfor my hands and squeezes them. “I have no one to blame but myself, but I can’t be disrespected like that for the rest of my life. You know how I’ve wanted to have a baby?”

“Don’t you dare blame yourself for his cheating, but go on,” I say. “And no. I had no idea you wanted to have a baby.” We see each other maybe four times a year, and whenever Mom brings her up, I change the subject.

“Well, for the past three years, that’s what I wanted. About eighteen months ago, he finally agreed. It was after he had gone for a weeklong business trip. I fooled myself into thinking that we had turned a corner and that a baby would fix our broken marriage.” I open my mouth to refute everything she just said. “We tried and tried. Nothing happened.” I wait to hear more because from the tremor of her voice, and the tears brimming in her eyes, I know this story is beyond trying for a baby. “After six months of trying with no results, I got checked out. My doctor said I was healthy and there was no reason I shouldn’t get pregnant. Three more months passed and nothing. Then it occurred to me that Spence had no reaction to our lack of success. He wasn’t sad. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t bothered at all. I got suspicious. Let me tell you, the feds have nothing on a woman looking for information on her husband. It took me two weeks to find out he had a vasectomy. He had it done the week when he was supposed to be traveling for work. I confronted him, and do you know what he did? He laughed in my face and walked away. That was it.”

She swipes a few tears, and I feel anger brewing inside of me. For once, that anger is not at her, but at Spence. On one hand, I’m happy she didn’t have a child with that narcissist, but I’m angry that he did that to her.

“I’m sorry, Terri,” is all I can think of to say. “You’re doing the right thing by getting out. He tried to gaslight you. And maybe it’s not the worst thing not to have a baby with that jerk.”

She sniffles and gives me a sad smile. “He did, right? For a while, I thought I was overreacting.” I open my mouth to refute that, but she speaks first. “I know better now. God, I hate him so much. I’ve been staying at the house for the past few weeks, and he called me yesterday to ask when I was coming home, and he was getting sick of my temper tantrum. He never apologized or explained about the vasectomy or the emotional toll that took on me. Do you know how it feels to want a baby but can’t get pregnant?” When I shake my head no, she says, “It’s hell. It’s torture. And now he expects me to act as if nothing happened. He’s alienated me from my friends. No one will speak to me anymore. He came between you and me.” I arch an eyebrow at her. “I’m more responsible than he is. I own that. I do. When I tell you my life is falling apart, you have no idea. You know what else he did? I haven’t told Mom, but—”

Her words get cut off when I hear uncontrollable laughter from the table. My mom has her hand covering her cheeks while she tries to get herself under control. Even Dad is laughing.

“Lettie,” Dad says, chuckling at my nickname, “make some coffee and bring the dessert. I’m thinking I’ll just let Charlie cook on Saturday. You guys come over around noon and we’ll spend the day together.”

Whatever Terri was going to say gets forgotten. While I brew the coffee, she goes to the fridge and puts the dessert cups Charlie made on a tray. I leave the kitchen and join everyone at the table.

My family gushes over the butterscotch pudding and the Crème Brûlée he made. Terri doesn’t drink wineanymore, but she has one of each dessert and declares she can’t choose which one she likes more.

Chapter 34

Charlie

“I can do that,” I whisper to Lettie as she loads the dishwasher.

“I’m almost done. Why don’t you make some more coffee? They don’t look like they’re in a hurry to leave.”

Terri just put on music, and even Lettie’s parents seem to be getting along for the moment. There’s not a scrap of food left, and eventhough I made extra dessert, there’s none left other than the one Wanda is saving to take home for her husband.

Before I can start making cappuccinos for everyone, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pull it out, and sigh.

“Helicopter brother again?” Lettie asks. “Isn’t that the third time tonight?”

“It’s Mama,” I clarify, “but I’ll bet anythang Colt told her to call me. And this one is a FaceTime call.” I hit accept otherwise the calls will only continue. “Hey,” is all I say. As soon as I speak, Colt comes on the screen and stands behind her just like I knew he would.

“How’s everythang, Son?” she asks, and I suddenly feel like a sixteen-year-old boy meeting my girlfriend’s family for the first time.

“Great. Say hi.” I move the phone in front of Violet, and she waves. Mama waves as if she didn’t just see Violet yesterday. Colt does the same. A few seconds later, Vickie shows up with Johnny in her arms. She hands him to Colt, and she waves too.

“Unco Tarley,” Johnny says. “Come back.”

“Now, Charlie, you make sure you mind your manners,” Mama says. Violet giggles, and I frown at my mom. Colt tries to hide his smirk behind Johnny’s head, but I see it.

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