A Happy Coincidence

Chapter 2

"I need to talk to you." I tell Tyler after the kids are bathed and in bed.

We're both showered.

"Alright." He says, shutting the TV off. "Let's talk."

I shut my book. I'm sitting in the little window seat tower thingy. It's my favorite spot in the whole house.

He's laying in bed, his arms behind his head, his ankles crossed. He's wearing a pair of black boxer briefs.

You'd think that him being thirty three, he'd be less hot, but no.

He's hot as shit. He will always be hot as shit to me.

I'm just sitting here at the end of the left side where I sleep. He's not under the blankets. I sit with my legs crossed, knowing fully that he's able to see my dark purple thong. We've been together for thirteen years. He's seen me more times than my Mom changed my diaper as a child.

I get up, walking over to the bed.

"First of all, Ethan has a girlfriend."

He nods. "Right, yeah, I'm going to talk to him tomorrow, explain that only grown ups are allowed to date." He says.

I look down at my hands.

He frowns.

"What is it, hun?"

Ever since our fight where I left a few years ago, we've been great.

The list worked. We never fight.

I cherish that. The media has even recognized us as excellent parents with a very successful marriage.

"Delaney was on meth." I say.

"Yeah, I know, Lucy was born with it, remember?"

"Yes." I say. "Remember when Blake would spend Monday through Friday in the city?"

"Yeah." He says.

"Delaney told me today that he was seeing girls there."

He raises his eyebrows.

He was sleeping around, and one night he received nudes and Delaney checked his phone and they texted about meeting, how they had fun."

"No, I don't believe that."

"Blake admitted to the entire thing. Delaney was four and a half months. She was at the park and some guy saw her upset and offered meth, and she accepted. It was a stupid mistake. She saw how well you treated me, and the drugs made her crazy. She tried to ruin our marriage, and in a few short months, she lost her kids, her best friend, her husband..." I trail off. "Tyler, Cameron doesn't even know how to swim."

"Carmen, this isn't our marriage to fix." He says. "It's not our life. They're not our children. Come back and tell me that Emily doesn't know how to swim. Then I'll be concerned. Besides, Cameron knew how to swim when Emily didn't. Back in Florida, remember?"

I frown.

"I just want to ask Blake. He's not teaching the kids. He got all the money, even the money Delaney earned. She looks good, baby. She looks healthy. I want to help her."

"No amount of lawyers could get her out of the hole she's dug herself." He says.

"Tyler, Blake gave her the shovel." I say. "Please."

"Hun, he tries."

"He dumps the kids on us almost every other day so he can go on dates. He doesn't check Cameron's school work. He doesn't tuck them in. He never bathes them."