Ethereal {WLW}

Chapter Sixty-Two: What Happens Next?

Cami's POV:

It's been a few months since Rhea's birthday and I've come home. It was hard to be back in town, with many eyes on me and the awkwardness centered around my name.

Things have been good, but they've also been bad.

Graham quickly started to get bullied for his mom being a 'lezzie' and he started getting into fights at school, which caused me to pull both boys from the schools.

I also quit my job because I felt like I was bordering getting fired. I didn't have the cliental anymore, at least not like I used to after Ethan's smear campaign, so I saved myself the embarrassment and left on my own accord. It worked out in some sense because I was able find a remote job temporarily and be home with the boys to homeschool them, instead of facing public ridicule.

The general public hasn't been terrible, but it's been awkward. The worst people I've encountered were within the bitch brigade and their connections. I've tried to drown it all out though and focus on my family, which is thriving.

Savannah is still happily with Riley, Beck is doing great in therapy, Graham recently turned 14, my mom started her traveling with Danica, and Rhea and I are stronger than ever. Despite only seeing each other every other weekend, things have remained strong between the two of us, so much so that she's completely taken over the house hunting process.

Rhea's been traveling a lot between Massachusetts and Maine to tour houses and I trust her judgement. She knows what to look for in a house and what feels like home to our family, so I trust her in taking over this process and making a decision that she seems best, but we both agreed that we wouldn't be moving until summer.

We still have to finish out the court process and with Graham still in school and Beck's birthday coming up, I didn't want to throw in a moving process in the middle of all that. Regardless of if Graham is online or not for schooling, moving is a lot of work and I need him to focus on the big tasks at hand. I also want Beck to be able to celebrate his birthday with the friends he has here, rather than in a new place where he knows no one. I want them to have this last little bit of normality before we completely start new, but the good news is, they're both excited.

Graham can't wait to go to a place where no one knows him, which I was surprised by. I think he just wants a new start where people can view him as the person he is, rather than a shadow of his father. Beck also has voiced he's excited and can't wait to live with Rhea again. I don't think he fully understands what's going on, but I hope the fact that Rhea is in the picture means things will actually go well for him with this move.

Speaking of the divorce, Ethan did sign the acknowledgement of service papers, which started the divorce process. I was surprised he actually gave in and signed, but when it came to negotiating settlements... he was back to being his typical self.

We went into mediation, but we couldn't agree to anything. He doesn't want to give me the house and he doesn't want me to have full custody of the kids. It was a complete shit show and he acted like a child the entire time, earning many looks of shock by our mediator and my attorney.

So here we are, it's officially March and Victoria and I's heels click against the court house's floor as we return back from a slight recess while they reach a verdict. We brought forward all the information we could; proof of his cheating, the domestic violence, and abandonment of his family. Ethan did try to skew things to go his way by bringing up my affair and the fact that I left for a little over a week after Christmas, but his points were quickly squashed when my attorney showed proof that he is still currently cheating and he left for even longer.

We quickly approach my group of people; Rhea, Naomi, Savannah, Sienna, Riley, my mom and Danica, who came back home for this. Ryan took the boys for the day and I was grateful for it because I didn't want them here today. The divorce is hard enough as it is and I didn't want them to feel like they were placed in the middle of this all.