About Leaving and a Comeback

With a deadpan face and without missing a beat, Robert replied, "To marry her as soon as I graduate, with your permission, sir."

Annette choked on her toast and looked wild eyed at Robert. Robert looked back at her and said, "If you say yes when I officially propose, of course."

Annette jumped up and ran into Robert's arms. She replied, "You're stuck with me. Forever."

Anne stood next to them. "Can I be the second woman in your arms? May I hug you as well, son-in-law?"

Robert opened his arms, Annette stepped aside and Anne filled her space when Robert's arms closed around her. Anne immediately became aware of his hot, hard body, smelling the remnants from Robert's night with her daughter. She let Robert go and gave her daughter a kiss on her cheek and softly, very softly, told her, "You did choose wisely in the end. He is quite a man and he feels fantastic." Anne winked at Annette.

As Anne did that, Gus embraced Robert and laughed, "Now I have a problem. Are you my son, or are you my son-in-law?"

Robert had no time to answer because the twins tumbled into the kitchen, back from their sleepover at their grandparents. They shouted in unison, "Robert, are you back? Are you staying here?"

Without getting too specific on the details, Anne explained what had occurred. After a lot of happy laughter, the complete family finally had breakfast that morning.

====

Part two

The present

Robert and Anne sat with Gus and Anne around the table with a single letter on it being the object of their discussion.

Robert had graduated in both of his studies, applied physics and math, and then he completed a master of education degree because he wanted to teach. Having recently completed it, he was now a part-time teacher with one day each week being dedicated to writing.

His writing had gone well; he published a science-fiction trilogy and a novel, with a television series being made from the trilogy and the publisher begging for more books.

At almost twenty-eight, Robert was a wealthy man, married for six years to the love of his life, Annette. They had two children, a boy, age five, called Jesse, and a girl, age three, named Aimee.

In front of him was a letter from his former high-school with an offer for a teaching position; it was an extremely generous offer. On receiving it, the first thing Robert did was search the internet as to why they made him an offer. The school had to let go of some teachers to avoid a scandal and his name popped up at the headhunt organization they'd delegated the search to.

Gus said, "Let's look at the pros and cons."

"Ok," Robert said. "Pro: Good salary, facilities, housing and surroundings, good schools for the children, and they offer Annette a job as school counselor. Small town. Con. It's where my former family lives and a long way from the people I love."

Annette gave him a hug. "Can I say something?" she asked.

Robert knew that when Annette asked him something this way he'd better listen. He smiled and replied, "I know better than to refuse that request...but I have a feeling."

Annette looked very serious when she started. "The twins are almost adults now and live in your old house. Mum and dad are talking about moving because the house is way too big now and they want to live somewhere more rural. Dad can work from home nowadays. Our house will be too small soon. I missed my period and I was regular as clockwork. So why don't you take that offer? We all move and mum and dad get to live near us. If everything pans out, we build a house in the same manner as we had here and mum and dad get to live in the little house? The only thing you must do, however difficult it may be, is almost literally step over your shadow. The shadow of your past that is."

====

A few months later

Rebecca and Eva, daughters of Ruth, Robert's oldest sibling, almost bounced into the living room. Rebecca shouted, "Mom, Granny! There is a new teacher for math and physics! He's called Robert Kendrick and he is cute! So different from that old pervert Mr. Jonson."

Ruth looked up from her work, "Is that so? Tell me, why do you think he is cute?"

"Aw mother. He has a beard, and he is not as old as the rest and he has a sexy voice and he explains things when you don't understand it immediately. Oh, and there's a letter for you."

Ruth opened the letter with hesitation. She'd come to distrust such letters from the school because they usually meant that the father of the girls had failed to pay for their education again. This time it was a different kind of letter. It read:

Dear Mrs. Hennings:

Please let me introduce myself, I am Robert Kendrick and I have the honor to teach Rebecca and Eva math and physics this year.

I would like to invite you for a 'meet & greet' in the school auditorium. It will be held on Friday at 3pm. Before we meet, I will give a short lecture such as I will give your children when attending my classes.

I sincerely hope to meet you Friday.

With regards,

Robert Kendrick.

Ruth thought, that's nice for a change and asked her girls, "Do I have to reply?"

Eva answered, "No. He told us that's not necessary," immediately followed by, "but you are coming, aren't you? Please? He really is cute."

"Of course, I'll come. I'd like to see what all the fuss is about."

====

Friday 3pm

From the side Robert looked into the auditorium to see about 100 people attending. His oldest sister sat at the side, but in front near where he was standing, were his two brothers, Lucas and Matthew. He didn't like that at all, but the invitation was to all parents of his pupils.

Annette, looking radiant with her baby bump just visible, walked in and took an empty chair. Robert heard Lucas tell his brother in a loud voice, "Look at that chick. What a stunner! I'd like to have that squirming underneath me any time!"

Matthew shouted at Annette, "Hey babe. If you want a real man. I'm available anytime!"

Annette ignored the two but Robert decided to take the bull by the horns. He walked onto the rostrum and waited for the people to be silent. When he had everyone's attention he started, "To the two gentlemen here in front, that was my wife you so disrespectfully commented on. I urge you to refrain from such comments. They are demeaning to my wife and to your wives as well."

The brothers weren't used to opposition and Lucas, aggravated, shouted, "What? You young pup! I'll show that floozy bitch what a real man can do after I've torn your head off."

Aahh, Robert thought. I almost have you where I want you. Outside that is. Remaining calm, he said, "I didn't catch your names, gentlemen. But are you aware that there is a code of conduct and that code applies to parents in this building as well? So, unless you want to be removed from the school grounds I, again, urge you to behave."

Lucas, always the one with the shortest temper, exploded. "What! I'll show you!" and he went for Robert, but the people from security had been following the whole discussion closely. Before Lucas even reached the podium, they were at his side and guided him out of the doors. Matthew was somewhat more level headed and kept his silence.

Half an hour later, Robert summed up his lesson and finished to loud applause from the parents, but now came the difficult part: shaking hands, especially his sister's and brother's. Luckily, they hadn't seen him in over ten years. During that time, he'd changed from a gangly youth with still a rather high-pitched voice into a mature man with a self-assured bearing, wide shoulders and a rich deep voice. Speech therapy had done wonders for him and it had helped him to no end in class.

Matthew was one of the first to come and meet him. His brother tried to crush his hands, but that didn't work as he expected. Robert's training paid off; when his brother started to squeeze, Robert just squeezed back and smiled when Matthew couldn't force his hand anymore. Robert finished with just a little more pressure, leading Matthew to wince and hastily retreat.

Annette came to his side and whispered, "What was that all about with these two?"

Robert whispered back, "Meet the family, my dear."

Annette was taken aback. To read, or talk about it with him was completely different from being subject to such treatment so Annette decided to stay close to Robert since he still had to meet his sister.

Ruth was one of the last to appear and have a chat. She timidly introduced herself and it was only when her daughters became the topic of the conversation that she became animated. Robert surmised that she didn't have it easy and that the study was a burden on her finances.

That gave him an idea.

====

That evening he tried to explain this idea to Annette and his in-laws. Part of the proceeds of his books would be invested in a fund which could be used to help people pay for the schooling of their children, if needed. The idea was received with silence at first, but after some reflection, Gus said, "What a wonderful idea. But how do you know when parents need help and if they want to be helped?"

Robert replied, "I don't know. It just came up when I spoke with my sister. I haven't had the time to work it out, but I surmise that we'll need someone to arrange that. However we do it, I want to remain anonymous and out of view. I write under my old name as a pseudonym so can we call it The Robert Hennings trust?"

Gus replied, "We'll think of something, but I think it's a very good idea. Now something more practical. The bank I work with informed me that it's quite possible that soon there will be a house for sale. I checked it out. It's on a hill, it's been neglected and needs serious renovation, or more, but the good news is there's enough land around it to build a kangaroo house, or two if we wanted."

"Have Nette have a look at it," said Robert. "If the location is right and we can afford it, just buy it. On the instigation of my financial adviser," he winked at Gus, "we do have a building fund. There is something else worth mentioning, I think. I met my sister and my brothers; funny though they didn't recognize me. I wonder, have I changed that much?"

That was the end of the discussion..They finished dinner and Robert took time to put Jesse and Aimee in bed. He told them a bedtime story, tucked them in and went downstairs. First thing he did was to pull out his laptop and write the story down. He had to do so because sometimes the children would ask for a story he had already forgotten again. Over time, he had written quite a collection.

It had been a tiring day so when finished, Robert spent the rest of the evening cuddling and making love to Annette and forgot about the house altogether.

____

Half a year later

Life went on Jesse and Aimee were now the big brother and sister of little Gus, and Annette was working as a school counselor. When both Robert and Annette had to work, Anne took care of the children, and Gus became the full-time agent and financial advisor of Robert and Annette. Anne and Gus doted on their grandchildren.

One evening during dinner, Gus mentioned that the house he talked about months ago was now up for sale. The owner had failed to pay the mortgage for an extended time and the bank wanted their money back. Annette was enthusiastic about the house, but Robert only listened half to the discussion. When they all three looked at him, he said, "If you like it so much and we can afford it, just buy it. If it's too dilapidated, we'll demolish it and build a new one. Maybe that's even better."

At work, Robert received a request for a teacher-parent talk from both his brothers. He mulled over that request; his nieces weren't doing very well at school and he felt that was primarily due to their attitude and work ethos.

He spoke with the administrator, explaining that he'd already had problems with the two men and had one of them removed from the premises. Now they wanted to talk?

The administrator immediately understood Robert's misgivings. He told Robert that it wasn't the first time there were problems with that family. The man arranged for a conference room normally used for counseling since it had cameras with sound and a one-way mirror for observation. For formality there was a notice above the door but Robert hoped his brothers were too cocky to notice it.

====

The next day Robert was waiting for his brother to arrive but they were late. Robert decided to give them five more minutes and after that they would need to make a new appointment.

When five minutes were up, Robert was gathering his things to leave but the door opened. Lucas sneered, "Look, it's the pup. This will be a very short conversation."

Matthew added with a smirk, "Just do as we tell you and nothing bad will happen."

Robert kept his cool and asked, "Gentlemen, is there a problem?

Lucas growled, "Not for long. You're gonna solve that."

"I can't solve anything if I don't know what is troubling you gentlemen. Please enlighten me."

Matthew snorted, "Now he's talking posh. The problem is that you are giving our daughters a D and a F for their work. That's not good. You give them an A."

Robert smiled, "I'll be glad to give them a B or an A for their work. If their work rates it."

Lucas shouted, "Are you telling me that my little girl is stupid!"

"No, she definitely isn't. If she puts more effort into her work, her grades will go up rapidly. She's a clever girl, but she needs to prioritize better. School first, fun later."

"We'll be the judge of that. You better give them higher grades or else!"

Robert raised an eyebrow as he looked at the two men. He was livid but knew he had to play along and be the professional teacher he was. "Or else? Or else what?"

"Or else we're going to show your little floozy what it is to be sandwiched between two real men at once, for instance. Or there might be accidents," Lucas explained with a nasty smirk on his face.

Robert had much difficulty keeping calm and with effort he told the men, "Gentlemen, I'll relay this conversation to the police as it's obvious that you're threatening me and I won't have it."

"Oh. Now we're afraid," taunted Lucas. "It's your word against ours, so be a good boy. A's is what we want to see. See to it, or else we'll make your muffin pregnant and I promise she will like it." Lucas laughed nastily.

Robert opened the door to see the security standing together with two police officers. He stepped aside and one officer told the men, "We can continue this discussion at the station, gentlemen. You're under arrest for threatening a teacher of this school."

The security officer told the police, "You'll have a copy of the DVD this afternoon."

Matthew shouted, "They recorded it. We didn't know, that is illegal!"

Robert pointed at the sign above the door and said, "If you weren't in such a hurry and weren't so late, you would've noticed this. Now if you tell your daughters to work harder, they will be alright at the end of the year. I'll help them as much as I can, but they have to do the work. Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do."

With that, he turned and walked away, ignoring the shouting and additional threats from his brothers, amazed that they still missed the fact that he was their brother.

An hour later Gus called. "Robert, we have the house; the bank accepted our bid. On top of that, they will arrange the building permit because the house is in such a bad state. We're going to do an inspection this afternoon. Can you come, too?"

"I don't have classes this afternoon, so I think I can manage. Text me the address, please. I'll meet you there at what time?"

"At 2 p.m."

"See you then."

Moments later Robert's phone pinged. He looked at the message and went very still. A few minutes later he looked again, but the address in the message remained the same. He'd read it correctly but still couldn't believe his eyes. He called Gus back.

"Gus, Robert here. Are you sure it's the right address? The one you texted me?"

"Let me check. Ahh, here it is. Yes. it's the right address. Why do you ask?"

"It's my parents' house."

"No kidding! It's sold, together with everything in it because they went broke. Now what?"

"I don't know yet, but let's get there as soon as possible and check it out. I'll leave immediately and meet you there. Take the girls with you please?"

"Will do. See you in half an hour."

====

Robert arrived at the house. It appeared neglected for a long time indeed, with paint peeling everywhere, and wood starting to rot in places. It was a sad sight to behold.

Soon after, Annette, Gus, and Anne arrived, too, with Annette commenting, "It's a beautiful spot, lots of ground for an extra house and a big garden for the children. But the house looks terrible."

Robert replied, "Let's have a look inside," and walked to the door. He had the strange feeling of deja vu, battling with the memory that he always went around and came in at the back. He used to do that to avoid the rest of the family, especially his brothers.

When the door opened, the dank stale air assaulted their noses, leading Anne to observe, "Pfff, we need to get some fresh air in. Can we open a window?"

Robert walked past his mother's little room into the kitchen and opened the kitchen door, allowing some air to circulate. As he walked through the house, he noticed that everything was still there, even his mother's photo albums. The pictures of which she was so fond were there in their little silver frames, even one of himself above her little sewing table, with a small vase with the remnants of a flower in it and a candle holder right next to it.

He noticed that the silver frame with his picture in it was blackened from tarnish except for one bright spot. It was as if someone touched it very regularly at that particular place, perhaps from picking it up. Robert teared up, but Annette was quickly at his side and she softly hugged him, asking, "These are mementos, shall we store them?"

Robert nodded and replied, "Yes. It looks like they moved out in a hurry. Is there a big clock in the family room? That's what my mother used to call it. That needs to be stored too. I think that we'll have to arrange for that soon. I don't trust my brothers, nor my father, to leave the house alone."

Anne and Gus were just entering the room as Anne looked in her bag and took out a stack of post-it notes. She smiled. "I came prepared. Put one of these on anything you want to go in storage. I'll have the movers in as soon as you are ready."

Robert kissed her on her cheek and said lovingly, "Where would I be without you three?"

Robert took the stack and started sticking them on things; when he was done, Gus asked Robert and Annette, "Do you know what you want to do with the rest?"

Robert looked at Annette who nodded slightly to him. He sighed and answered, "Yeah, tear it down with everything in it so I can live happily on the ruins of my youth."

Annette put her arm around him and he did the same with her as they gave a final look before he said, "Let's go, I need a run. The trail-run is next week."

Robert started to run because he didn't have the time for long walks. He especially liked trail running and he'd started running competitions about half a year before. He needed running to unwind, to clear his mind in addition to his normal workout regime, so he now hit the tracks every other day. The upcoming competition was organized by the school and Robert had built the route, together with a few students. He'd volunteered as assistant coach and wanted to lead by example.

That afternoon as he ran, he had much on his mind.

====

Next week at the start of the run

After Robert started the half marathon, Anne, with Jesse and Aimee, found herself standing near Ruth who was cheering for Rebecca and Eva about to get underway in their 5 miles race. A few minutes later as the runners cleared the start, Ruth caught sight of Jesse and started to weep softly.