Fool Me Twice . . . .

A few things changed with us as new parents. Mia quitting her job at the advertising firm was one of the changes. She was a full time mom. She still found time to work out and soon her post pregnancy body was as firm and taut as it had ever been.

About a year after Michael was born I came home to a candlelight dinner. Mia informed me that Michael was down for the night. I began to wonder what the occasion was.

"I have a surprise for you." She announced with a smile on her face.

The surprise was that Mia was pregnant again. We had discussed it, and both of us agreed we wanted another child. I just didn't know it was going to happen this quickly.

"I guess we better start looking for a house," I announced.

We had talked about it but we'd been too busy to do anything. The townhouse we were renting had three bedrooms, so we were not cramped for space. Still we wanted our own home and decided to start looking once the new baby was born.

A few months later we got more news. Mia was pregnant with twins! All of a sudden the discussion between having 2 or 3 children had been solved for us. The size of our future home now would need to accommodate 5.

Mia gave birth to twin girls. We named them Cleo and Claire. I know, a little cutesy, but that's what we wanted and that is who our two precious girls became.

We found a big rambling two story house a little out of town and bought it. It would be hard to call it our dream house, but it worked for our immediate needs. For the next couple of years our life was good. Stressful with the three children but also quite rewarding full of happiness and domesticity.

My job was going well. I began to broker some more untraditional building materials, and even when the normal markets were slow I had alternative products to sell. Financially we were doing fine.

We found a woman who would come in three days a week for a few hours and this allowed Mia to run errands, grocery shop, and go to the gym. The kids loved Estrellita and she became a part of our household.

"Guess what," Mia asked one evening after I got off work.

"My ten year high school reunion is this coming summer!" She told me, waving around the hard copy invitation..

She went on to say that she really wanted to go. We could stay with her Mom and her Grandma in the city. We would bring the kids and make a mini vacation out of the event. Her Mom and Grandma would get to spend time with the kids while we went to the various reunion functions.

I agreed, but deep inside I was far less 'excited' about the reunion. I'd met some of her friends and they were all quite nice but I figured Blake Langley would be there. Not only did the fact that he'd fucked my wife, well girlfriend then, those years ago, bother me, but from what l knew the guy he had an oversized ego..

As it turned out there was an event-schedule for the reunion. A casual get together at a neighborhood bar on Friday night. Saturday was the formal reunion at the Davenport Hotel downtown, and then if that wasn't enough there was a family picnic on Sunday at Laurelwood Park.

Soon enough we drove the two hours to Mia's moms house in the city where we would stay over the weekend. The next day was the gathering at Marshfield's Pub. Immediately after we got there Mia rushed over to a cluster of girls, including Lisa and a few others I recognized. These were her good friends from high school. I drifted to the outside perimeter of the crowd.

I saw Langley, with Taylor White, Mitch Markham and some other guys. Even at the reunion the high school cliques were reforming. I sipped a beer and calmly watched the social interactions.

From across the room I could hear Langley talking. He was one of those guys who naturally talked loudly. I wasn't even near him and I heard most of what he was saying.

I did notice him and his crowd glancing toward the girls and lower their voices. I thought I heard them even mention Mia's name. I watched as they looked over at Mia and the girls. Langley whispered something to the group and then they all burst out in laughter.

I could pretty well imagine the nature of his comment.

I turned my attention away from the guys and suddenly I recognized someone I knew. It was Teresa Paris, my friend Tim's sister. I walked toward her.

"Teresa, hi," I began introducing myself, "Patrick Price. Your brother Tim's friend." I said.

She looked at me for a moment, and then smiled.

"Patrick, of course. I remember you," she said.

I was happy to see a familiar face at this event.

"Patrick," Teresa began, "this is my husband Ryan O'Malley."

We shook hands and smiled. Ryan was slim, wore glasses, conservatively dressed, and was pleasant looking. Not the frat boy look of Langley and that bunch. I learned that Ryan had gone to St Thomas and that he and Teresa now lived in the city in the Garlington neighborhood.

I told them that I was married to Mia. Mia Durant. Ryan told me he knew her in school. But I got the feeling he didn't hang out with the same group of people.

Like a social lifeline I clung to Teresa and Ryan pleasantly comparing college and post college experiences. I learned that Ryan was a civil engineer and Teresa taught high school health.

Eventually they left and I turned to check in with Mia and see how long we had to stay.

I saw that her cluster of friends had merged with Langley and the guys. I felt a pang of jealousy noticing Mia standing by Langley. I walked over, nudged in between Langley and Mia and asked her how she was doing.

I surprised her, but then she kissed me on the cheek. She re-introduced me to some of her friends and everyone seemed pleasant. Langley acted extra nice asking me about my kids, my job, and other superficial topics.

I have to admit he was charming. But there was something about him I just didn't trust.

Later as we drove home Mia talked about how much she missed her friends from high school. I told her about running into Teresa and her husband. I asked Mia where Bree was, Langley's beautiful wife?

"They're not together anymore." Was all she said.

The following evening was the more formal of the series of reunion events. Mia wore a low cut dress that showed some cleavage. She looked very good. I declared on the ride to the hotel that I'd be the designated driver.

At the event I sipped a light beer and Mia and all her friends had cocktails. I noticed Langley, White, Markham and the same gang of guys as last night all together drinking and laughing. I wandered over to that group.

We chatted and I gathered a little more information about them. Langley's family owned the local Toyota dealership in the city, and he was the general manager.. It turned out that Mitch Markham was the sales manager there and worked for Langley. Taylor White was a lawyer, and Langley Motors was one of his clients.

Langley and White lived in Garlington Heights near where Teresa and Ryan O'Malley lived.

Eventually I walked away after a surprisingly decent conversation with these guys. They all seemed like people that I would be friends with under different circumstances. Still, and I couldn't exactly determine why, I did not trust Blake Langley.

Most probably because I knew he fucked my wife those years ago. Try as I might I couldn't ever quite get that out of my head.

Later there was dancing. Mia and I danced several songs, I could tell she was on the edge of drinking too much.

She danced with a couple of the guys including Langley. Without being obvious I kept my eye on them while they danced. I saw no inappropriate actions.

Later, driving home, I reflected that maybe my wariness for Mia's guy-friends from high school was not warranted. For the most part they seemed like decent people and any negative feelings for them were misplaced. Yeah, Langley had an ego and bragged a bit. But was that so bad?

The following day was the picnic at the park. The weather was nice. I estimated about half the attendees had little kids, like us. Michael had just turned three and the twins, Claire and Cleo, were fourteen months old and trying to master the art of walking.

There were a lot of activities going on. A couple of the guys were throwing a football and someone was trying to organize a volleyball game. With three little kids my activities were focused on them.

Mia and I were trying to get the kids fed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when Langley, and Lisa walked over.

"Pat, we need a body for volleyball, are you in?" Langley asked.

I loved volleyball. I had played in a city league in Stanhope before Michael was born.

"Thanks man," I said to him, "I've got my hands full." Motioning to my kids.

Lisa chimed in and told me that she'd help Mia with the kids and for me to go play. I hesitated for just a moment and then joined the game.

I saw they had recruited Ryan O'Malley, and a few more people. About half the players knew how to play and the other half knew about as much as you picked up in gym class.

At first it was fun, but fairly quickly the guys on the other side, including Langley and Markham got competitive. Both those guys were over six foot and athletic. They started spiking. Clearly my team was losing, if any score was actually being kept.

At one point I saw someone set up Langley for another spike. As I said, I actually had played a fair amount of competitive volleyball. Just as he went to spike I jumped straight up close to my side of the net with my arms extended flat and vertical. I blocked the spike straight back and it ricocheted sharply off the side of Langley's head,

My team cheered the play and for a moment I saw an angry look flash across Langley's face. Just as quickly it was gone and a smile appeared on his face.

"Nice block Pat," he called to me.

After that the level of play from the other side increased. More spikes and mild trash talking continued. This was no longer a friendly, care-free game. It had gotten serious.

On one particular play Langley spiked it directly at Ryan O'Malley's face. It looked deliberate. Ryan's glasses flew off and I could see him put his hand to his face. It looked like it may have hurt.

I picked up his glasses and told the group I was done. They all urged me to continue but I ignored them as Ryan and I walked back to where Teresa was sitting. Ryan never made a negative comment or complained about the shot to his face, but it must have hurt.

At first with the kids all buckled up in the car Mia was in a good mood, happy talking about her friends as we drove away from the city and home to Stanhope. About halfway home, she became quiet. withdrawn.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, "you doing okay?"

She didn't answer me at first, quietly staring out the window. By now I knew the correct strategy. Stay silent and wait for her to answer. Finally she replied.

"I miss my friends." She said, "I also miss my Mom and my Grandma." She added.

She went on to talk about how much her Mom and Grandma loved spending time with the kids, and what a help that was to her.

"I always imagined my children growing up around my family and friends," she told me. "Stanhope's okay but I miss the city."

I thought for a few minutes. I really didn't need to be geographically near my office. Our periodic sales meetings I could easily drive to. Even Tim Paris had left Stanhope and was living in a suburb outside the city. There really wasn't much keeping us in Stanhope.

I began to consider the possibility of moving.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Our house in Stanhope sold quickly and we'd made a substantial profit. We ended up buying a house in the nice Garlington neighborhood, around the corner from Teresa and Ryan O'Malley. We became friends with them, but they were more my friends than Mia's.

We were also not too far from her Mom and Grandma. That was convenient too. Mia saw her friends frequently but full time motherhood to three young children occupied a lot of all our time.

I was very pleased to see how great a mother Mia was. When I think back to those early days with her fun loving and partying lifestyle, I could come to no other conclusion than that she had definitely matured. Occasionally the craziness emerged, but not very often.

Life was good for us in the city. It made no difference whatsoever for my business where I lived. The house we bought was good sized, four bedrooms and three baths. It had an unfinished basement and I framed in an office for myself down there.

Over the next year we settled into our home and our lifestyle in the city. I loved spending time with the kids and Mia, as I've said, was a wonderful mother.

Socially we spent some time with her old St Thomas crowd. We also hung out with Ryan and Teresa O'Malley, and occasionally with my old college friend Tim Paris, Teresa's brother.

In summary at this point, our relationship was great, our kids were doing well, and financially we were more than solid. We liked our house and our neighborhood and we were fairly close to Mia's Mom's house.

What could go wrong?

We'd had a sales meeting in Stanhope on this particular Friday, I hung around the office for a while and arrived back home around dinner time.

When I got home it was the usual happy chaos of wrangling the kids into high chairs, bibs, etc preparing for the onslaught of spilled beverages, dropped utensils, and food smeared across the kitchen counter.

"I've got something exciting to tell you." Mia smiled and told me.

"What?" I asked.

"Later." She told me.

Finally after all the kids were fed, bathed, pajamas on, tucked in and stories read. I walked back downstairs and saw Mia looking at her IPad in the dining room.

"So what's going on?" I asked.

"Oh, Patrick," she began, "I have this fantastic opportunity. I've talked to my Mom and I think it will work."

I stayed silent letting the conversation take it's natural course. Eventually I knew all the important points would emerge.

"I was at the park with the kids and met Lisa there with her girls." She started. "We stopped by her house and Mitch was home for lunch. He was in a bad mood."

She went on to say that Mitch's job as head of sales and marketing at Langley Motors was stressful and overwhelming. He said that he needed a part time marketing assistant. Someone to work 20 hours or so each week.

At that point she stopped her story and looked at me, smiling.

I was a bit confused at first. What does Mitch Markham's marketing assistant have to do with.... and then I got it.

"You?" I asked, and she nodded, still smiling.

"How in hell are you going to work 20 hours a week?" I exclaimed.

She then explained this elaborate plan with her mother coming here Tuesdays and Thursdays, and that Mitch said the time was flexible and if necessary she could work from home.

I didn't like this plan for several reasons. We didn't need the money, and if anything this was going to create more stress for me.

I calmly protested. I tried to shoot some holes in her plan, but she had thought it through and had answers. I protested that we didn't need the money.

"Patrick, it's not about the money. I've got a college degree and I want to use it. I love the kids but there are times I want to communicate with other adults."

"I really want this." She added.

"I mean, I still have to interview," she told me, "but Mitch was already asking how soon could I start."

I thought about it. My biggest concerns were about the children. They were still young and as I've said, Mia's a great mother. My secondary concern was, selfishly, me. It was hard enough compartmentalizing my job while working from home. Now with her working and my mother in law here with the kids most of the time, I was imagining increased interruptions.

Eventually I gave in with the declaration, "let's give it a try".

As expected Mia got the job. The first few weeks were a bit of a challenge between understanding the automobile business and being separated from the children. Mia had been with them 24/7 for the most part their entire lives.

We eventually settled into a rhythm. Her Mom did a good job with the children on the days Mia worked and any concerns I had about my work productivity vanished.

Mia was in a better mood too once she understood her role within the business better. She was happier and more confident. The break from child care a few days a week was really having a more positive impact.

At first it was every few weeks. I barely paid attention. But all of a sudden, I realized, her 'part-time' job was resembling something closer to full time.

We began a discussion about this at one point, and it turned into an argument. Later she apologized and said she'd talk to Mitch about her hours.

A few weeks later we were invited to a party at Blake Langley's house in Garlington Heights. Blake was there with an attractive younger woman I'd not met before. Mitch and Taylor and a few others were there with their wives.

Blake, on his best hosting behavior, really poured on the charm to me. As I've said before he can really be fun to be around and I was getting the full treatment.

"Mia is doing a very nice job in her marketing position. Business is up and I have to say that Mia's great work has helped." He told me.

There were a total of about 20 people at the party. The weather was nice and we were all in the backyard around the pool. I nursed two light beers all evening, knowing I was going to drive the short distance home later.

I was talking to a group of guys about Stanhope's upcoming football season and lost track of time. It had gotten dark out and amidst the conversation I looked up to check where Mia was.

I scanned the backyard. I saw Lisa, Mia was normally near her. No Mia. Then, I thought, where's Langley. I glanced around. I didn't see him either. Was I over-reacting? For my own piece of mind I decided to look around.

Calmly but firmly I disengaged from the conversation about sports. I walked toward

The sliding doors that led into the house. No one in the kitchen. I walked down the hall to the bathroom. It looked occupied.

I went around the corner to the living room and saw the stairs heading to the second level. By this time I had gotten agitated. In my imagination I flashed back to that party years ago, and Langley and Mia coming down from upstairs.

I was just about to mount the stairs and I heard a voice from down the hall. It was Langley.

"Pat," he began, "looking for the bathroom?" He asked.

I saw movement behind him in the dark hallway. I immediately walked toward him. What were they doing alone together in a dark part of the house? Abruptly I realized the person with him was Olivia, his young girlfriend.

Suddenly I felt pretty stupid,

"Yes," I mustered up. "I was looking for the bathroom," I lied.

Langley looked at me oddly. I'd nearly made an ass of myself. He'd no doubt observed my odd behavior.

He guided me to the upstairs bathroom, still the charming host. After I'd used the bathroom sheepishly I re-joined the party and saw Mia with Lisa, Mitch and a small cluster of people. All seemed normal.

I kicked myself. Since we'd been married she'd never given me any reason to doubt her. That old memory of her and Langley kept re-playing in my brain. Just let it go, I told myself.

Later, driving the short distance home Mia was quiet. Typically she'd be upbeat and happy having spent time with her friends. She was different tonight.

And another thing. When I went to make love to her she firmly demurred. Normally after a few drinks Mia seems to love sex. That's what I expected. That did not happen tonight.

Two days later I received a message from Ryan O'Malley asking if I'd stop by one night this week.

I'd become good friends with Ryan and Teresa. Mia less so. Occasionally we'd socialize with them, but far more likely it was just Ryan and I or even Ryan, Teresa and I hanging out together.