“Bryce, our proposal is to have you sign a non-disclosure agreement that you will not share what happened between you and Mr. Leroy earlier this month. In exchange, you will not pay the back child support you owe, nor will you be accountable for child support as long as Mr. Leroy and Mrs. Leroy are married. Also, Mr. Leroy will become a guardian for Hazel and Aspen and Mr. Canton will be able to request time with his children at the discretion of Mr. and Mrs. Leroy.”
Silence followed as Bryce absorbed the details.
“You have the right to seek your own representation if you don’t find these terms amenable.”
Bryce nodded. “Sounds fair to me. Let me meditate on it and make a decision by tomorrow?”
Our attorney chuckled as Mara snarled. “I’ll send the agreement for e-signature today and you can sign whenever you’re ready.”
Bryce signed off and we all stood to shake hands.
“I think this is going to go in your favor. Congratulations,” Mara’s attorney said. “And Mr. Leroy, no more stabbing.”
I put my hands up. “A clean life from now on.”
“Except on the ice,” Mara said with a laugh.
We walked out of the attorney’s office hand in hand, and got in our car for Mara to take me to the airport.
“Alright, baby. I’ll see you in Ohio.”
“See you next week,” Mara said, rising on her toes to kiss me.
“I’ll miss you,” I said, giving her a tight squeeze.
“It’ll just be like a road trip. But a bigger one for me and the kids.”
It worked out for Gabi to accompany Mara in flying the kids across the country over the school’s spring break.
Ohio’s not California, but it was a fresh start for us. A fresh setting and a fresh mindset.
No more lies.
Just Mara and me and our kids, ready to move on as our family of six, with more love than I’d ever known.
FIFTY-SIX
MARA
MARCH | OHIO
“Oh, there he goes.”
I stood next to Lacey Korowski, the captain’s wife in Ohio. She’d set us up with a babysitting duo to watch our kids so I could come to the game. This was Jack’s first home game in Ohio, and he was already settling in the way he does: getting into a fight.
“I can’t look,” I squeaked.
Lacey laughed. “I don’t think any of us can. We watch when it’s not our person, but if ours is involved, it’s waiting for it to be over.”
“I’ll just hold on for dear life and hope he’s intact when it’s over.”
Ohio seemed thrilled enough to have Jack on board, yelling for him to be the victor. “Ah, he can hold his own. He’s even laughing, if that helps. It’s over if you want to look.”
And like the jackass he is, Jack waved as he stepped into the penalty box with a towel on his lip. He flipped back his hair in there, and I just stared.
The things that made Jack happy weren’t the same things that made me happy, but that was okay. I took care of him, and he took care of me. And together, that made us unstoppable.
We had love. And we had exchanged rings and papers, so we were bound to each other. Whatever was ahead for us, we’d take it as it came.
