- Romance
- Got to Choose
- Page 3
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She smiled and asked, "How can you tell them apart?"
I laughed and said, "After a while I noticed little things like which one has more hair, but I dress them differently. Johnnie gets patterns and Stevie gets solid colors.
That was hard because everyone that buys them outfits, buys two of the same thinking twins should dress alike. I don't agree with that, but I'm just the dad. Go ahead and take one and sit on the rocker."
She did and I picked up the other one and placed him in her other arm. She was holding both and rocking them gently.
I said, "Look they like you. They aren't even trying to wiggle away."
She smiled and then I noticed a tear trickle down. I reached out and wiped it with my thumb. She turned her head from me.
She looked up at me and said, "Jesse, may I please explain what happened with Alex?"
I sighed and said, "Sure, but let's put them to bed first."
She helped me put their jammies on and I let her read them a bedtime story. She seemed to love doing it.
While she was using the bathroom, I opened a bottle of wine for us and set it in the living room. She came in, saw it and smiled.
She sat down, took a big gulp and said, "I did end it with Alex prior to getting back together with you. The problem was that I did it like a coward and wrote him a letter. You felt like I chose him over you, but that's not true.
I found out at Christmas that it was returned to sender at my parent's house. I took that as a sign that I should do it in person. The problem was that he never came home on breaks. He was working and took summer courses.
I spoke with him once a month, and it didn't even feel like we were still a couple. You and I did. I loved you more and more each day. That Thanksgiving, when you saw us, was when I was going to put an end to it, but didn't want to do it in a cruel way. So yes we went out, but I swear to you I was ending it that night and after you left it did end."
I said, "Yeah, I'm sure it did."
She continued, "My family was pissed. They felt I lied to them too. My sister called me a slut, right in front of my father. My mother was heartbroken. She loved you too and thank you, by the way, or taking the job with my father. He thinks of you like the son he never had, and even more so today.
When you blocked my messages and cut me off I was a basket case. I barely finished school and ran away to New York.
Jesse, I've lived like a nun. I haven't had even lunch with a man hoping that you came back to me. When you got married I went home and got drunk and stayed that way for 3 days until my dad intervened. He was talking about putting me in a rehab facility, thinking that i needed to dry out."
She started crying and I pulled her into a hug saying, "I'm sorry, but you have to see it from my side. The way it looked with his arm around you and then you not denying you were still together. I felt like a place holder for him and it was me that would be dumped after graduation."
She sobbed, "I know, I'm so sorry. I blew it with the best man I ever had. Even when I did choose you, I still lost you."
I held her for another minute or so, when she got up and said, "I'm sorry, I have to go," and she ran out.
I called her house and spoke to her mom. I let her know what happened and to let me know that she got home ok.
I sat in the rocker and finished the wine. I couldn't shake my feelings for her. I knew that they were always there, but I would never have let that show when Kate was still here.
I couldn't date this soon after Kate's death could I? The boys will need a mother eventually and it felt so good to hold her. Did I believe the story about the letter and non-break up? I guess I did. I had Jessica's confirmation that he never came home.
A short while later Mr. Armstrong was at my door. I invited him in and offered him a drink. I said, "This is a surprise Sir, what can I do for you?"
He said, "First, I wanted to let you know that Sara made it home ok. Thank you, for being concerned with that. Second, I brought you something.
When you broke up with Sara, Jessica called her a slut. Sara, went to her room and got this." He handed me the letter that was marked return to sender.
He went on, "I kept that as a reminder to not jump to conclusions, and now I'm glad that I did. I want you to have it. If for no other reason than to put your own mind at ease that while stupid in some ways, her story is true in this regard."
"Thank you Sir," I said as he was standing up to leave.
"Jesse, don't rush into anything son. Try being friends and see how that works for you kids."
I nodded and said, "Thanks again. See you tomorrow."
I opened the letter and read it.
Dear Alex,
I'm sorry to be a coward and do this by letter, but I've met someone at school and I've fallen in love with him. We didn't think our long distance relationship would work and I'm sorry to say it fell apart faster than I thought.
I really love Jesse, and I'm afraid I've lost him by not having an exclusive relationship. I have to try though and as a result, we can't see each other anymore.
I wish you the best,
Sara
I thought, "God that's cold." I almost felt bad for the guy. But, I guess me showing up at that pizza joint was probably worse for him.
A week went by and I was still undecided on what to do. Jessica texted me that Sara was going back to New York the next day.
That was it. My shit or get off of the pot moment. I picked the kids up from daycare and drove to the Armstrong's house. With arms full of kids and diaper bags, I trounced up their steps and rang the bell.
Mrs. Armstrong answered and smiled grabbing a baby immediately. I asked "Is Sara home," and she smiled wider.
"She's in her room packing. Go on up, I'll watch these two." I set Stevie down and went upstairs.
I knocked on her door and she answered. "Jesse?" She called out in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"You left before I could tell you that I never stopped loving you. Kate could tell, and it was always in the back of her mind.
I may not be in the best place for a relationship right now, but I'm asking you to please not go back to New York. You haven't even applied nor interviewed for the mother job opening that I have, yet."
She grabbed me and pulled me into such a tight hug that it hurt.
"Jesse, I've waited this long, I can wait as long as it takes."
We kissed and she asked, "Where are the babies?"
"With your mom," I said. "She said she would watch them while we talked."
"Good," she said with a smirk. "Wanna watch a movie?" Then closed and locked the door.
- COMMENTS
Anonymous28 days agoI mean so she knew she hadn't actually broken up wirth her previous boyfriend. Like she said it just felt that way. Then she does that horror movie thing where she does a lunch date with her boyfriend to break it off where she allows him to sit there for quite some time without actually breaking it off and allows him to put his arm around her.
I mean she showed untrustworthy twice.
More than that if you consider her communications with him all the while Jesse is in the dark thinking the guy was complete history.
Anonymous5 months ago@anonymous, i think you missed the line where he said the boys were a year old… That is not immediatly jumping into a relationship.
Anonymous7 months agoI love your stories and your characters are amazing, but jumping into "watching a movie" so soon after his wife and the mother of his children died? Jesse is a bastard. Which is a real shame because from the mention of him in other stories I'd always liked him. Same with Sara, in other stories I loved her, but here I just don't. Clearly she learnt her lesson about dating multiple guys, abd then felt guilty about sending Alex a dear john letter, but why go out with him at all. He hadnt been home in 3 years and he shows up expecting a date like nothing had happened. Tell him no, break up with him and walk away. No need to sit down and have pizza with him. Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes. All in all A good story, but I hate hoe it completely destroys the perception of Jesse and Sara from other stories that they're good people.
olddave5111 months agoIron out the things that bother almost the Anonymous..... Yea right
One it is your story finish it your way
If you write a next part touch on some of them but you do have other stories that cover Jesse's and Sara's Lives
Anonymousover 1 year agoThe basic outline of a Romance is simple: Boy and girl meet. They fall in love. Something upsets the applecart. In the future the get together and live happily ever after.
Example: The youth groups of several church in a city like Detroit get together. Boy meets girl. They fall in love. Everyone is excited for them. Something happens. They separate. All are puzzled. The years go by. Two other from the group talk about it. They agree and one organizes and intervention. It works. After separating for 10 years. Now 30 ad 31, with good careers and great university experiences, they marry and it happily ever after.
I heard the story while in the 6th grade visiting after school with one of my best friends. His father offered to share a cute story. It was based in fact from an event less than 15 years previous to the current date.
It hooked me on Romance.
Bh76, any Romance connoisseur, would give you a five.
Personally I thank you for invoking memories from mover 65 years ago.
Unbeknownst to either my friend or me, His father told what I later discovered was the history of my parents courtship. My best mate at uni, turned out to be the son of one of my mother's best university friends.
It is a small world, and in many ways full of Romance.
HC
Anonymousover 1 year agoThr Father:
[He went on, "I kept that as a reminder to not jump to conclusions, and now I'm glad that I did. I want you to have it. If for no other reason than to put your own mind at ease that while stupid in some ways, her story is true in this regard."]
=== talking about the letter, pretty much sums it up, "stupid in some ways" but true nonetheless.
===and btw the letter was returned that first Christmas after they made up at Thanksgiving. It says it right in the text and the MC would later see the postmark date if he wanted to on the envelope.
Anonymousover 1 year agoHonestly I think people in the comments below must be reading a different story. Yes I too don't like how Kate was killed at childbirth to give an opening to Sara. Also I can see Sara not dating UNTIL he gets married. For the couple of years after that seems untenable. That is a 3+ year dry spell. Doesn't seem realistic. And there is absolutely nothing wrong if she did date after they broke up let alone after getting got married. But here is my issue. Sure she was a bitch in their freshmen year. They are after all kids for pity's sake. But and this is a big but, what did she do so wrong for rhe next three years? Yes she should have broke up with him over the phone once the letter was returned to sender. That seems odd but OK accept that she wants to do it in person. In reality she did not lie about anything except she should have come clean to Jesse and say "I have a problem that I need to fix, please trust me". However, she is still like 21 or 22. She thought she could end it with Alex without Jesse ever knowing how she was a coward with the letter and stupidly wanted to wait till he came back in person. There is no way they had any relationship other than phone pals given that he stayed away from home for 3 years. The MC knows that via the sister. If he had not ghosted her, he could have seen the letter also and everything would have clicked. But he, as often in this genre, drops the mike and walks off stage, and consequently Sara flees to New York. By then Kate had entered the scene. As an aside, one flaw I see is that her father chose to withhold the letter from Jesse despite having regular contact with him at work. That is some weird bullshit unless Sarah made him promise not to show him and that would make zero sense anyways. That with Jennifer's information and actually communicating even slightly with Sarah would have solved the issue years ago. The letter clearly shows WHEN she intended to break it off with Alex. It was after thr first year blow up. She was faithful for 3 years. In college nowadays that is like a decade or more. And she was NOT unfaithful that Thanksgiving and she did not lie to Jesse beyond ommiting that she was meeting with Alex to break up with him. So instead Jesse inflicts a ton of pain on both of them. Was Sarah stupid? Yes. Was she cowardly in not breaking up on one of her infrequent phone calls with Alex after the letter was returned. Yes, yes she was. Was she a cheating slut? Technically only her freshmen year when the two were not on thr same page about exclusivity and she was terrified she was falling in love with him. But she was NOT a slut afterwards. Poor judgment? Yeah. But she loved Jesse, was faithful for him during those 3 years, that fateful Thanksgiving, and beyond (stretching credibility). It is clear she had zero intention of doing anything with Alex and was breaking it off with him in person that night. Her mistake was not communicating to Jesse that she had to fix a problem she had let fester out of fear (both of hurting Alex in a cold fashion and blowback onto Jesse who might get pissed). She made a mistake as a college senior and got caught in a crazy situation. From there on it was the MC who drove the train over the cliff, not getting almost any information except from thr sister. Together the letter, the sister's phone call with him, and even some basic explanation with Sarah (if he chose to NOT be a dumbest for even a brief time and listen) were full proof that she did not lie about anything except stall on telling Alex (until he showed in person) and not tell Jesse that she wrote a letter, tried to break it off, and it got returned and she needed to fix it. Again an error in judgment for a young woman. Jesse then took over and lost 3 years with Sarah (gaining another love, who conveniently passed away, and two twin boys). Now to be fair, this could have been solved any number of ways rhat would have avoided disaster. For example, get a corrected address and resend another copy of the letter (keep the original) to Alex. Tell him over the phone (although that too is a dick move generally speaking) but screw Alex, he hasn't been back in 3 years (which is odd). Or send Jesse a photo of the letter with a picture of the envelope. Before he blocks her, he would not have deleted those. Oh wait, even when blocked, her sister or parents could have done that also. Or the father bring it to him to read at work. Wait! He actually did that just 3+ years later. Way to go Pops! And of course she could have said to the MC, "Hey I have a problem, I tried to break up with my ex, and the letter came back, and I need to fix this and he is back for the holidays. I fucked up and please trust me. I only love you". And what btw is up with the MC after dating her throughout college NOT proposing to her until Christmas their senior year? They saw each other throughout the summer. Maybe that is a nitpick. Anyways any one of these should fix the problem unless the MC is a moron, but then their would have been like part of the author's story missing. I would have excised Kate, and have them figure it out even if a few months later. Put in some other drama then if needed. Thr letter and Jennifer's testimony via Alex's sister would have had the same effect. So yeah I feel kind of bad for Sarah AFTER she was forgiven the first Thanksgiving. So yeah "conniving liar" or "cheating slut"? Read the freaking story!
