Choices the third of four in the Shattered Series, (Shattered, Forgiven, Choices, and The After,with)

Chapter 12

"Call her, please" Daniel pleaded with his wife, they had already visited with Phil and had seen Helen and the kids.

Elizabeth put the mug on the table, "she hates me, and so does her husband" she folded her hands, "what do I even say? I'm sorry I've been a bitch to you most of your life, I was a fool?" She stirred in a spoonful of sugar, "Daniel, I think I burned that bridge when I told them Adam's son wouldn't be included in our will"

Daniel stood behind her, "that was wrong what you said, but it was during the worst time of our lives, it's when we got in bed with that monster" he patted her shoulder "maybe if you talk to her, and I mean really talk with her, she'll understand"

"I don't know, honey. You didn't see the hurt in her eyes, I didn't even give Adam a chance" she sighed, "she threw a dirty diaper at me, she was furious"

Kim sat on the couch, she felt silly for crying, she heard Adam pull in the driveway and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, offering him a smile when he walked in "Annie settled in?"

"Yea" he could tell she had been crying, "where are the kids?" He asked when he found no trace of them.

"Phil took them to the park with Charlie" she sat crosslegged on the couch, "I hate it"

"What?" He sat next to her, "what do you hate?" He pulled her close to him.

"Annie not living here," she fought back tears, "what are we gonna do?"

He laughed, "don't laugh at me Adam"

"I'm sorry. She's not even twenty minutes away, I'm sure she'll be here a lot" he told her,  "its good she moved in with my dad, it will give them a chance to form a stronger relationship"

"She's my best friend Adam, she's my tv buddy" she hated that she was gone, "who else am I going to talk to?"

Adam put his hand up "you can talk to me you know"

"I can't talk about you to you" she smiled, "I know I'm being silly"

He hugged her "no, I get it. She was here when I was at work, she helps with the kids when I can't" he smiled, "and just so I'm clear on this, what do you say about me to my sister?"

She swatted at him, "you know we are alone right? Do you really want to spend it talking about the conversations I have with your sister?" She crawled into his lap, "we can if that's what you want, but I had other things in mind" she leaned in and kissed him.

"No, I'm good" he laughed.

He stepped off the plane and felt as if he was finally home, it had been a long time and he felt the ghosts from his past indiscretions were dead and buried, literally.

"Hey Mr.Ruzek, is Annie here?" Trey asked.

"Please, call me Bob, and yes she's in her room. Down the hall second door on the right". He stepped aside so Trey could enter the house, "how are you Trey?"

"I'm good thanks, life's gotten back to normal" he laughed "well as close to normal as it can get"

Trey knocked on the open door, "sick of living with my aunt and uncle?" He asked her, "let me help" he told her as he watched her struggle to put an empty box on the floor, "how much longer are you on crutches?"

"Not sure, I go back to the doctor Friday. After everything that happened with Zeke, I decided I needed to get to know my dad" she explained "don't worry I plan on visiting Kim a lot, I already miss her and the kids"

"You going back to school next semester?" He asked as he stacked the empty boxes in the hallway, "I hope so, I am and it'll be weird without you"

"I am, I'm ready to get past what happened, you know? I'm hoping getting back in to a routine will help" she plopped on the bed, "are you okay, I mean really okay?"