Amethyst Purple Pt. 04

"I knew it was only for the trip home, like I told you the other night, I'm a big girl. I just hope I can find a boyfriend who's half as good as you in the sack. In fact, when I find someone I just might send him to you so you can give him some tips and advice." She grinned. "Maybe teach him something for me."

Ted grinned and wrapped her in his arms, drawing her close and kissing her deeply. "That may be something I can arrange." Then he stood back as she got in and closed the door to her car.

Ted watched her drive away then got into the rental and drove home to his wife and children.

Rome, GA

"Ted! I didn't hear the carport door!" Marti wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest.

He heard the slur in her speech and could smell the alcohol on her breath as he wrapped her in his own embrace.

"I'm in the rental, my car is still in long-term parking at the airport. I'm tired of driving so I decided to come on home and go swap them out tomorrow or maybe even on Monday."

"I'm so glad you're home, we've missed you."

"DADDY!" Six year old Matthew grabbed Ted around the waist from behind. "I'm glad your airplane didn't go to New York!"

"Me too, Matty, me too. Have you been a good boy for momma this week? You were the man of the house while I was gone, after all."

"Yes, Sir. I did whatever momma and Gracie told me to do. I helped watch my sisters, too! I gave them their bottles, and their binkies and gave them toys and put the blanket over them. But I didn't change their diapers. They stink, Gracie did that."

"Well, thank you for all your help. I'm proud of you all." Ted smiled.

When he looked up, Ted saw their 21 year old Au Pair walking into the kitchen where they were still standing, holding a bundled infant in each arm. Ted took three steps to close the distance between them and took custody of his twin daughters from Gracie's arms and held them both close. "Hey, girls, I missed y'all too."

After cooing to the infants for a moment, Ted turned his attention to the Au Pair. "Thank you, I appreciate the way you help us with the house and babies. You exceed our expectations daily." He thought she seemed strangely distant for some reason but had no idea what that reason could be.

Ted looked at Marti and noticed that she was staring off into the distance, disconnected from the reunion beside the kitchen counter. He turned back and met Gracie's eyes, she slowly shook her head slightly side to side before glancing away.

"Hey, Marti, if Gracie doesn't mind coming back in the morning and taking care of the kids for a couple hours, do you want to ride with me to the airport and get my car?" Glancing toward the Au Pair for confirmation that she was available but she gave no indication one way or another.

"We'll see." She muttered then walked out of the kitchen toward the master bedroom.

"I'll help you get the kids to bed but then I need to get back to my apartment before it gets too late."

"Thank you again, Gracie. I still can't express enough how much I appreciate what you do for us."

She took one of the bundles from Ted's arm and he followed her to the nursery where they took turns at the changing table with their charges and tucked them into their matching cribs then she ran bath water for Matthew. After Matthew was tucked into bed, Ted walked Gracie to the front door.

"When did she start drinking?"

"The day you left she opened a bottle of wine, she said she gets nervous when you're not home but she only had a couple glasses. It was after the crashes that she really started. When she didn't stick to wine. She's depressed, but she doesn't hold the babies, she doesn't check on them when they cry." She said, looking at her feet.

"I know this week has been stressful and I know you must have your own problems and didn't need to be saddled with ours but I'm grateful you were here to help. Thank you again. I can't promise much but I will see that you get a raise."

"I don't know, Mr. Kilgore, I'm not sure I can keep sitting for you and Mrs. Kilgore much longer. I need to spend more time on my classes next semester and... I just don't know." She said, still not meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry for whatever happened this week, we'll all hate to see you go. If there's anything that will make things better and change your mind, I'll do my best to see that it happens. If you'll let me try."

"Goodnight, Mr. Kilgore." Then she disappeared out into the night.

Ted carried his luggage from the kitchen to his bedroom where he found Marti already in bed. When he finished in the bathroom and slid in beside her, wrapping his arm over her torso and kissed her on the side of her jaw she rolled away.

"Not tonight, Babe, I'm tired and I know you're tired too after driving all the way across the country. Maybe if you give me just a little more time?"

"A little more time? Doll, it's been five months, how much more time do you need?"

"Dammit Ted, it's my body and I don't feel like having sex. I have the right to decide not to have sex if I want to."

Taken aback, Ted just stared at her for several seconds. "Yes, you most certainly have that right and far be it from me to try to force you to do something you don't want to do but when you're married and you make that decision you aren't only making it for yourself. You're making that decision for me too, and that isn't right."

"Look, just have sex with Gracie. She'll do it, I've seen the way she looks at you. She already has a crush on you." Marti slurred from beneath the arm she had draped across her face.

"Are you insane?! I can't just have sex with our babysitter!"

"Yes, you can. I already set it up, we talked about it this week and she's expecting you to proposition her."

"You set it up?"

"Yes, I set it up."

"Marti, I'm afraid the only thing you've done is lost our Au Pair."

"Don't be so dramatic, I haven't lost anything. She won't quit, she loves the kids and they love her." Marti said before rolling onto her side facing away from Ted.

Ted wasn't so sure, now he understood why Gracie's behavior was so strange. He'd just have to talk to her and reassure her that he had no expectations for her outside her helping with the children.

Sunday, September 16, 2001

Ted woke alone but he smelled the aroma of cooking bacon in the air so he swung his legs off the side of the bed and began his day with a shower and a shave. When he stepped into the kitchen, Marti was standing at the stove cooking breakfast, Matthew was sitting at the kitchen table, playing with his Game boy. Gracie sat across the table from Matthew, holding one of the twins and feeding her a bottle while the other infant was lying in the crib beside her apparently already sated.

He walked up behind Marti and wrapped his arms around her, bent down and kissed her on the side of the neck. She just pulled away from him, giggling.

"Not now, I'll burn the eggs." She admonished, still grinning.

"At least there's less tension in the air this morning" Ted thought to himself as he picked his daughter up from the crib.

"Are you going to ride to the airport with me to take the rental back and get my car?" Ted asked Marti as he cuddled his daughter.

"I really don't feel like facing the Atlanta traffic this morning. Why don't you let Gracie ride with you and keep you company?" Marti posed without turning away from the stove.

Ted glanced at the Au Pair but she was gazing at the infant in her arms. He noticed that her posture, relaxed only moments earlier, was suddenly stiff and rigid. The tension instantly returned to the Kilgore household.

"Can I go too, daddy?!" Matthew chimed in.

"Of course you can go, Buddy." Ted answered.

Marti then turned and shot Ted an exasperated look and he answered by simply shaking his head.

After the kitchen was cleaned from breakfast, Ted and Matthew changed out of their night clothes to make their trip to Atlanta's large airport where Ted's car was waiting.

"Gracie, Marti's right about something, I'd like for you to ride with me to get my car if you don't mind." Gracie visibly stiffened. "With Matthew and me, I mean." Ted corrected.

"I don't know, Mr. Kilgore, Marti might need help with the babies..."

"Gracie, I promise you have absolutely no reason to be afraid of what's bothering you, It's not going to happen. OK?" Ted assured the visibly shivering 21 year old.

She glanced up at his face and he nodded at her and smiled.

She seemed to relax slightly, her drawn expression softened and she nodded her head once and picked her purse up from the kitchen counter before following Ted and Matthew to the rental SUV.

No one said much of anything until they got to Cartersville where they merged onto I75 south. Ted had 96 Rock playing loud enough that Matthew, in the back seat, couldn't hear what he and Gracie discussed up front. Not that he had anything to worry about, Matthew was thoroughly engrossed in his Game boy and not paying attention to anything else around him.

"Gracie, I'm pretty sure I know what's troubling you and why you're considering resigning as our Au Pair. I sincerely apologize for what I'm afraid Marti might've suggested to you. I assure you that I, no, we hold no expectation from you other than helping with the kids and around the house to some degree. That is NOT to include any physical contact between you and either Marti or Me. Certainly nothing that will make you feel uncomfortable in any way, shape, form or fashion. I couldn't ask for anyone more perfectly matched for our family and I've never had any reason to be dissatisfied with any aspect of your service to us. As I've told you several times, I appreciate you more than you'll ever know. Now, having said all that if you still feel you need to move on I won't blame you in any way and I will be more than happy to write you a letter of recommendation and to serve as a very positive reference any time you need one."

Gracie continued looking straight ahead, out the windshield until Ted finished talking.

Glancing down at her hands, folded in her lap, she began speaking lowly. "It's not that I find the prospect unappealing, I don't..." Then she looked over at Ted and continued. "Actually I'm flattered but, and please don't laugh at me, but, I keep thinking of 'Babysitter Porn' and I just can't picture myself in that role."

Ted couldn't help it. He began laughing.

"I'm sorry, please, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing because I just got that image and you're right I can't see you in that role at all."

After a few seconds she joined him in the mirth and the tension that had followed them for the past thirty miles evaporated like morning mist in the sunshine.

"Now, can you start calling me 'Ted' again? Please?"

"OK, Ted." Gracie grinned, once again relaxed as she had been for the first five months she'd worked for the Kilgores, and she decided then that she'd keep working for them until she graduated.

"The Parker, Kilgore and Hughes Law Firm thrived in Rome and rapidly grew into one of the most respected and profitable firms in the state. The three partners agreed on the subject of what clients they chose to represent, and they were able to be discriminating. Ted was already approved to represent clients in the state of Tennessee but when he passed both the Georgia and Alabama Bar exams, he was able to represent clients in all three states. Some larger cases required Ted to travel as well since a daily commute to Birmingham, AL or Chattanooga, TN was not feasible.

First, a month at a time then over the next ten years, Ted and Marti's sex life improved somewhat although it never recovered to the point it had been even before the birth of Rachel and Riley, let alone to the level they enjoyed before Matthew was born. A year after the twins' birth Ted and Marti agreed that as severely as Postpartum affected her that they'd limit their family to the five of them and Marti had an elective tubal ligation. Ted resigned himself to the fact that the best he could hope for was the occasional sexual release about once every two weeks or so at best. There were a few stretches of time when more than a month would pass between sexual liaisons with his wife. Although he had to admit, when they did have sex it was as passionate as ever. Part of the reason for this was that Marti had begun traveling much more often than she ever had at the bank. Where she'd have two or three trips a year at the bank she was often gone at least three or four days out of nearly every month, sometimes a week or more. While she didn't have a lover on every trip now, she did indulge in illicit contact frequently. That now she didn't have to be concerned about pregnancy made it even easier for her to stray when away from home.

Despite the fact that Marti had drifted into a pattern of illicit relationships while on her trips, Ted's internal guilt over the two times he had cheated encouraged him to avoid any situation that could lead to his unfaithfulness. If he had known about Marti's away from home proclivities, he might've had a different outlook on the issue but what he didn't know had no effect on his activities. What he couldn't deny, however, was the truth that his once vibrant marriage was fading into a watercolor version of a dull, foggy seascape, devoid of definition. He still loved Marti but he recognized that he was much less emotional toward her as weeks evolved into months and years.

Marti was already feeling the effects of Postpartum Depression and her continuing increase in alcohol consumption certainly didn't help, but when Ted began to press her for sex more often, she began to feel that sex was the only thing he wanted from her. The resulting resentment she began to feel toward her husband only served to drive the wedge between them even deeper. The cycle continued and gained momentum over the ensuing years until Ted and Marti were little more than roommates who shared children and felt they had been slighted by the other. Ted began to spend most of his available time at the office or his home office unless he and the kids were on one of their adventures: camping, fishing, swimming bicycling or extracurricular activities they were active participants of and Marti spent much of her life with a glass of wine or vodka in her hand if she weren't away from home on a trip. While Ted's job benefited from his extra attention, Marti's depression and drinking resulted in a decrease in her effectiveness at her job and her work began to suffer as time wore on.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

5:44 pm (Local time)

Joplin, MO

"Miss! Don't go out there! Get under the counter with us! MISS!!!"

Marti fled the diner where she had been waiting on an order of home style meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and green beans when the glass began to rattle in the window frame beside her booth. Taking note of the greenish black wall of cloud covering the sky to the west, she got her rental car cranked and she sped left out of the parking lot, onto Main St like her very life stood in the balance, not realizing yet how true that sentiment truly was. When she reached the intersection of 20th St. less than a block south she looked out her passenger's side window and nearly froze in fear of the destruction and turmoil at the foot of the wall of cloud towering over her. She wasn't looking in the correct direction to see the advertising billboard hurtling toward her car as she sat in the crossroads in the middle of the small town. Marti never took another out of town business trip and she never knew another extramarital lover.

7:28 pm (Local time)

Rome, GA

"...Again, we have breaking news from Joplin Missouri where a massive tornado, possibly an EF4 or maybe even higher, with winds ranging from one hundred sixty-six to two hundred miles an hour has caused tremendous devastation. The tornado's path has been estimated at more than a mile wide and severe damage has been reported from schools and a hospital. The entire downtown area of Joplin has been decimated..."

Ted stared disbelievingly at the television screen in the corner of the dining room in the western-styled restaurant known for barbecued hot chicken wings, fear and dread filling his gut

Sixteen-year-old Matthew noticed his dad's sudden distraction and turned to look at the screen.

"Joplin, isn't that where mom...." Suddenly realizing the potential of what he was witnessing on the newscast, the teenager spun his gaze back to his father, the color seemingly having drained from his face.

The twin ten-year-old girls were lost in their own conversation and missed the exchange between their father and older brother.

"Stay here with Rachel and Riley, I'll be back in a minute." Ted told his son before picking up his cell phone and walking to the front door.

"...We're sorry, the mobile customer you are trying to reach is not available at this time. Please try again."

"Damn!" Ted thought then punched the speed dial for Marti's phone again.

"...We're sorry, the mobile cus..." He pressed 'End' on his phone and went back inside the restaurant, hailing their waitress on his way back to the table.

"Ma'am, we need to-go boxes at our table over there, please. And will you go ahead and close out our ticket, we have an emergency and have to leave." Ted handed her his Visa card and continued on to their table."

"Is she OK, dad?" Matthew asked weakly.

"I don't know yet, she didn't answer."

"Here are your boxes, sir and your receipt. I hope everything turns out OK for y'all." The young waitress sympathized.

Ted signed the receipt while the kids packed their left-overs into their to go boxes. In the car, Ted tried again to raise Marti but only got the same message as before. He tried several more times as they rushed home but the message never changed.

"Hey, Ted, is everything alright?" The softly feminine voice answered after Ted called a second speed dial on his phone.

"Hey, Rosalyn, I need a huge favor. I need you to get me to Joplin, Missouri; plane ticket, rental car and somewhere to stay, maybe even for a couple days. And I need to be moving as soon as possible."

"Joplin, Missouri? Where the tornado just hit?"

"Yes, Marti got there this afternoon and she isn't answering her phone." Ted explained.

"You do know that with all that damage that cell phones as well as landlines and power are most likely not working, that could be why she isn't answering." Rosalyn added hopefully.

"I know, and I'm sure that's all it is but I still need to get there and see if I can find her or help somehow."

"I understand."

"OK, thanks. I need to get off here now and find someone to stay with the kids for a couple days."

"I don't have anything going on this week, I can come over and stay with them if you'd like?" She added, cautiously.

"I'd appreciate that more than I can express. That's something else I won't have to think about." Ted answered graciously.

"OK, you get packed and I'll get you registered. If you don't mind, how about texting me your address and I'll be on my way as soon as I can get your reservations and an overnight bag ready."

"Thank you." Ted said with a sigh then ended the call and placed the phone in the cup holder in the console of his car.

"Who was that, daddy?" Rachel asked, concern obvious in her voice.

"That was Miss Rosalyn, she's my Paralegal at my office." He answered.

"Like your Secretary?" Riley asked.

"Not really, we have Secretaries, too. She's a Paralegal, she's working on being a Lawyer like me. She helps me do research and put my cases together for trial and she helps me in the courtroom, too."

No one spoke the rest of the way home.

"Is momma going to be OK, daddy?" Riley asked, eyes red and her voice cracking around the edge as she fought to hold back tears.