Chapter 11
October 4, 2006
At seven-forty the next morning, Rachel called Tracy. She had gotten the children up and dressed, and they were outdoors playing in the backyard.
"Rachel? What is it?" Tracy asked at the sound of Rachel’s voice.
"I think that you or Tim or maybe both of you, need to come over here this morning.", Rachel paused. "Kevin fired me last night, and I’ll be leaving a little after nine."
"What?!" Tracy cried. "Oh, Rachel. What happened? Was he drunk?"
"He’d been drinking, but he wasn’t drunk. He knew what he was doing."
Suddenly Tim came on the phone. "Rachel, honey. You can’t be serious. Tracy just said that you were leaving."
"I’m afraid I have to, Tim. He fired me."
"We’ll be there in ten minutes, Rachel. Just sit tight."
When they arrived, Rachel let them in. Tracy hugged her and they went into the living room. Tim followed, carrying the baby in his travel seat.
"Let me see that little man," Rachel smiled. She lifted the tiny bundle from the seat and rocked him in her arms. "He’s grown since last week", she whispered.
"Rachel", Tracy said, taking the baby back from her. "We’re not here for you to admire Parker. Tell us what happened."
Rachel sighed. "We got into an argument last night. Jemma and Aaron had birthday presents for him and they knew that yesterday was his birthday, not today. So they wanted him to have his gifts last
night. I got them ready for bed and sent them down to him. Basically, he told them he wasn’t interested and to go to bed."
"Oh, God no", Tracy whispered.
"What the hell is wrong with him?" Tim grumbled.
"Well, once I got them settled down, I went back to him-and I gave him a piece of my mind." Rachel sighed again. "I guess it’s really my fault. I told him that I was fed up with his attitude and self-pity. I
was trying to get through that alcohol fog and get him to see what he was losing. And he fired me."
"But did he really mean it, or was he just angry?" Tim asked.
"He told me to get out, and wrote me a check for my severance pay-overpaid me by at least a month." She grinned in spite of herself. "I think he meant it." She paused. "Anyway, it just got worse
from there. I told him I’d leave, but only after I’d had a chance to say good-bye to the kids. That I wasn’t going to sneak out of here the way he did, and that maybe it would do some good since he’d
have to stay here and really deal with them if I was gone."
"Oh, Lord no. You didn’t!" Tim said.
Tracy looked down at the baby in her lap and said quietly, "Good for you, Rachel." Tim stared at his wife. She looked up at him. "Kevin’s needed to hear that for over three years now. Ellen and Leighanne and Margaret and I have all talked about it, but everyone was so worried about hurting his feelings that we didn’t do anything. I’m as guilty as anyone else." She looked at Rachel. "What did he do?"
"He may have needed to hear it, but he didn’t like it. He got even angrier. And I’ve got the bruises to prove it", Rachel said wryly.
"He hit you?!?" Tim gasped.
"No. But he grabbed me. They’re pressure bruises. I don’t think he knew how hard he was holding on." She grinned. "Don’t worry about it. He may have a black eye by now."
"What?!?!" Tim exclaimed.
"I slapped him pretty hard. Just open handed, but it really connected." Rachel couldn’t bring herself to tell them what had prompted the slap. But suddenly, Tim was grinning too.
"You should’ve decked him", he smiled. "Maybe Jerry’s been right all along. We should have gotten tough with him." He thought for a minute. "You stay put Rachel. Don’t say anything to the kids yet. I’ll
straighten this out. He may panic and bail out of here, but at least the kids will have you."
"What are you going to do, Tim?" Tracy asked anxiously.
"Straighten his ass out", Tim said succinctly. "I hope he recognizes me. This is not my strong suite."
* * *
Kevin had heard the car pull into the drive. He had been awake since seven when Rachel had gotten the kids up and sent them outside to play. He heard her greet whomever it was at the door and soft voices murmuring. He couldn’t tell who it was. Everything seemed quiet. Maybe she hadn’t meant it when she’d said she was leaving at nine.
Last night had frightened him. Enough to stop him from drinking anything more. He hadn’t been that angry in a long time. And the overwhelming need to dominate her had been a shock. But the thing that
scared him the most was his sudden desire. And because of that he couldn’t face her. He knew he had hurt her. And definitely insulted her. Well, he’d just have to leave sooner than he had planned. Maybe
he could talk everyone out of this stupid birthday celebration and leave today. Maybe he could
The door burst open, and Tim glared down at him. "Get out of that bed!" he roared. "You make me sick!"
Chapter 12
Coming Home
Hosted Stories
Home