Player Three

They sat beside me on the bench, snuggled up against me, their warm little bodies tight, pulling one of my arms over each of their shoulders. "Seriously, Dad," Olivia began. "What's up with Mom? Are you two having... problems, like in the bedroom?"

"Jesus, Liv..." I started, but Cat cut me off.

"Dad, we're 19. I know this is not something you're comfortable talking to us about. It's embarrassing to us, but it's kind of pertinent to the question here. We love you, Dad. You can talk to us."

I squeezed them. "I know, baby, still... I'm not aware of any problems like that. I don't have ED, or anything, okay? We... we may not be 19 anymore, but we... get after it. Your mom has never mentioned being dissatisfied. Well, until this whole "club" thing came up."

"Is she, like, going through menopause, or something?" Liv asked.

"She hasn't said anything to me, if she is," I said. "I know she still has periods. We're 47, so that could be an issue at some point, but I don't think that's it."

"Dad, I don't like telling you this," Cat said, "but Mom has always been a little wack, you know?"

I had to chuckle. "No, I don't know. What are you talking about?"

She looked a little uncomfortable. "Well, you know, like she's all into astrology. We've always been like, let her enjoy it. It isn't hurting anyone. She went on the vegan kick a couple of years ago, she's all into yoga."

"And her crystals," Liv interjected.

"Yeah," Cat said. "It's never been stuff that hurts anyone, so we just go with it. Until now, I guess, but she just gets on these kicks and goes with them, then she tries to get us on them, and you. I swear, Dad, sometimes it seems like we're the adults and she's the teenager."

Liv was looking thoughtful. "We've been talking about something in our psychology class called Focalization. It's like when you're so into something that you zero in on that and ignore everything else. You want to do something sketchy, but you only think about the positive things and none of the negative. I think that's kinda Mom's personality."

I was a little shocked. I had never thought about Patricia in those terms, but they were right. "Well, I guess I know what you mean," I said. "Now that you pointed it out, she is like that. She's so focused on how "hot" it would be to go to this club that she doesn't think about all the negatives."

"I think we should go home and talk to her," Cat said. "I mean, you're talking divorce, here, Dad. Maybe she'll see how this could affect all of us."

Liv took my face in both of her slender hands and turned me so she could look directly into my eyes. She gave me a soft kiss. "Dad, I want you to know that I think you have every right to be upset. This is some sleaze and the idea of you and Mom... well, it creeps me out. I've got your back, no matter what happens, but we do need to talk to Mom."

Cat took my face away from Liv and duplicated Liv's actions. "Same, Dad," she said. "We just need to do it."

I felt like the weight of the world had just lifted off my shoulders. I knew, right then, that I was going to be okay. I had my babies, and there was nothing that could feel better than that. I stood, pulled them to their feet and hugged them. I was crying.

"Catalina, Olivia, I don't know what I did to deserve to have you, but I thank God every day for you. I love you with all my heart, and that is never going to change. I just needed to say that. I'm so proud of you and I love you, so much."

Two pairs of huge tear-filled brown eyes looked up at me and they both buried their faces in my chest. "Love you, too, Dad," Liv said.

"Sooo much," Cat murmured.

We walked back to the Trackhawk, and Cat slid behind the wheel. We all sighed at the same time, and then we laughed. In spite of the building tension, I think we knew, all three of us, that we were going to be okay.

I had a knot in my stomach when we pulled into the garage, and I was thinking the girls must be feeling it, too. We gathered up their stuff and it was time.

Pat was sitting on the sofa watching something on TV when we came in. She got up and hugged the girls, asked them about their tennis match, and then said, "Daniel, I need to talk to you."

"Mom, we need to talk to you, all three of us," Cat told her.

Pat sent me a glare. "I really need to talk to your father, alone," she said.

"Not happening, Mom," Liv said. "Not right now, at least. Can we go sit down? Would anyone like a drink? I'm getting a soda."

Cat wanted a soda, too, and I asked for a bottle of water. Patricia had coffee, and we sat down, an uncomfortable silence filling the room until Olivia came back.

"So, what's this about?" Pat asked.

"We know, Mom," Liv said.

Pat gave me another of those glares. "Yes, we talked to Dad at lunch," Liv said, "but we already knew. We heard you on the phone, like three weeks ago, with that hoe, Pam."

"Do you really want your daughter calling my friends 'hoes'?" Pat asked me.

I shrugged. "If the shoe fits..."

"Okay, can we all try to be a little less... confrontational?" Cat said. "Let's just say we knew, Mom, and we know. Tell us what you're thinking."

"I can't believe you got them involved in this," Pat accused. "This has nothing to do with..."

Liv held up her hand. "Just stop, Mom. Listen to you. Do you imagine you and Dad can have problems and it doesn't affect us? He tried to tell us the same thing. It's bullshit. We depend on you. You're our parents, and everything you do affects us. Don't give us that. Just talk about what you're thinking."

Patricia was furious. Mostly at me, I think, but she wasn't happy with the girls, either. "I don't answer to you," she announced to the room. "I don't answer to any of you. This is going to happen, and there's not a damn thing any of you can do about it. This is the end of this conversation, and I don't want to hear another word from either of you girls about it. This is between Daniel and me. You two can go to your rooms."

"Are you nuts?" Cat was furious. "We're 19 years old. You don't send us to our 'rooms.' Livvy and I will move out this house and live in the dorms if you think you can talk to us like we're 10. We were trying to have a civil conversation. I guess you aren't interested."

Patricia stormed off upstairs and we heard the bedroom door slam. We just looked at each other for a minute. "I thought that went well," Olivia said.

That cracked me up, and the next thing I knew, my two munchkins were climbing into my chair with me, nearly turning me over backwards with their rush. I held them tightly.

"I didn't know it was that bad," Cat said. "What are you going to do, Dad?"

"Well, the "this is going to happen" thing sort of told me where I stand," I mentioned.

"Yeah. I'm so sorry, Dad." Olivia kissed my cheek. "I think she needs therapy."

"I suggested that," I told them. "She was pretty solidly opposed. I mentioned a marriage counselor, and she told me the problem was my 'possessiveness' and 'insecurity.' I don't know what to do. My babies have any suggestions?"

"Make an appointment with that marriage counselor," Cat said. "Just do it, tell her when and where. If she shows up, maybe you'll work it out."

"If she doesn't, you're sort of out of options," Liv said. "Well, except the nuclear one."

*****

I was playing a videogame with my buddy, John, the next day, procrastinating. I noticed a message from the game server: "Player three has entered the game." I was looking for John, sneaking up behind him to backstab him when my screen went red. What the fuck?

"You have been killed by player three," the screen said. I got a message from player three as he did a dance on my dead body.

"Dad, this is Cat. Stop playing and make that appointment!" I knew when to obey. I did just that. I made an appointment, told Patricia the details and I talked to a very supportive woman. I did it alone. Pat never showed up, and I went to three sessions over the next month: alone. Our house experienced arctic temperatures inside. Pat hardly spoke to any of us, and it was getting worse, not better.

A month later, she announced that she was going out, not to wait up, and she was gone. The girls were out, so I Snapped them and told them what happened. They came home three hours later, and it was plain they'd been crying.

I held them and the story came tumbling out. They had left the football game and driven to Jack and Pam's place. Pat's car was there, and they parked down the block. After a bit, a big red truck pulled up, some dude got out and went in. The four of them came out in about ten minutes and drove to the "Player's Lounge." They went inside, and two hours later, the girls left.

"We talked to the doorman," Cat said. "He wouldn't let us in, but we went around to the side and there were windows. Mom was sitting in a big chair with the guy, kissing him. People were dancing. She danced with the truck guy and several others. She always went back to him. His hands were all over her. After a while, they got up and went down a hall. We couldn't see. You know what happened, just the same as we do, Dad."

I sighed. "Yes, I suppose I do. I'm sorry, but I'm not hanging around. I'll file as soon as I can. I'm sorry, girls, but I'm leaving.

"Where?" Liv asked.

"I'll pack my shit and get a room at the Adams, I guess," I said.

"Oh, no," Liv objected. "You're not leaving us here with Slutzilla. We coming with, right, Cat?"

"Absolutely," Cat said. "You aren't going off to stay in some swag hotel without us."

"Really?" I asked. "You want to go with me?"

"Of course," Liv said. "We told you, Dad. We've got your back, all the way."

"Maybe we could go and look at a new place tomorrow," Cat suggested. "You aren't getting rid of us, Dad. We're staying with you. We need you, and I think you need us."

"What about your mother?" I asked.

"What about her?" Liv said. "She'll have what she wanted. We're with you."

I had never felt so humbled in my life. My babies were with me. The Adams was a 'swag' place, and would be a base we could use until we found something permanent. They packed clothes like we were going on a week's vacation, grabbed their books and school things, while I did the same, gathering my things for work. We loaded up the Trackhawk, the girls jumped into their cars to follow me and we began our adventure.

We got checked into the Adams, despite not having a reservation, and we got a two-bedroom suite with the bedrooms opening off a living area with a small kitchen. Both bedrooms had king-sized beds and they looked comfy. They had a great restaurant, which I knew we'd be frequenting, but I have always loved cooking for my girls, and I planned on doing that. I would stop off at the grocery store on the way back from work.

It must have been 2AM when I vaguely heard my phone alert. I wasn't about to wake up enough to answer any texts. I slept pretty well, surprisingly. Months of constant tension and drama had eaten up most of the emotion I had available. I had discovered that after a time, you aren't that upset anymore, just tired, drained and you only want it to end.

I had to be at the office at nine, Olivia had a class at eight, but Catalina didn't have her first class until ten. Liv was just leaving when I came out of my bedroom. The room had come with bad breakfast food, but they liked Pop-tarts, breakfast bars and junk like that, so she was munching on a Pop-tart while gathering up her things. She gave me a kiss, leaving crumbs on my cheek, and she was gone.

I made a cup of coffee and ate a granola bar while gathering up my work stuff. I heard Cat stirring around after a bit, her shower running, and as I was leaving, she came out, gave me a kiss and I was off to work.

Luckily, my work doesn't keep me that occupied. I was a free-lance troubleshooter for financial institutions, and I really only worked when there were problems. It could get hectic then, but most of the time I did other things and waited for my computer to alert me to traffic. I called my friend, Jeff, the attorney I kept on retainer for the business, and he referred me to a family law specialist who also worked with him. The earliest she, Angela Abbot, could see me was Wednesday, so I made an appointment, got directions about what I would need to bring to the appointment and felt like I could be somewhat prepared.

I got online and started looking at townhouses to lease. Ideally, it would be halfway between the girl's college and my office. I was only in my office about half the time, anyway. I could work anywhere, and although I had staff in the office, most of my work could be done elsewhere. I thought about apartments, at first, but I did like some privacy, I wanted us to be in a good neighborhood and a townhouse seemed to offer that without buying something.

I called the agent for two nice looking places and set up evening appointments so the girls could go. I knew, somehow, that they would want to be consultants in our venture. I got dozens of calls and texts from Patricia that day, and I answered none of them. The girls were back from school when I arrived back at our suite, and they told me she had been blowing up their phones, as well.

"Well, the only way to slow that down is to talk to her," I said. "I'll call her, put it on speaker, and we'll see what's up. Good?"

They agreed and I made the call, trepidation plaguing my fingers so that I could hardly hit the right numbers.

Pat answered at the first ring. "Where the hell are you and why haven't you been answering me!" she practically screamed. "Where are the girls, and why aren't they taking my calls?"

"Duh, Mom," Cat said. "We all know what you did. What did you expect? We'd all be waiting there with a bonfire in the front yard when you got back from your little sleaze fest so we could sway together and sing Kum ba yah?"

There was silence for a moment. "Olivia, are you there, too?" Pat asked.

"Yes, Mom. We're all here. Why have you been blowing up our phones?"

"I was worried about you," Pat said. "You were gone, and I didn't know where or what happened."

"Odd that you weren't concerned about any of us while you were at your little club rendezvous," I mentioned.

"I was... I was coming home and you all knew it," she said.

"Well, we aren't coming home," I said.

"Where are you? We need to talk, Daniel," she said.

"I think the time to talk was before you went out last night, Mom," Cat said. "Maybe like a couple of months ago when we tried to talk to you, remember? When you stomped off and told us you weren't interested?"

"So what are you going to do?" Pat asked. "You're all going to run off like a bunch of cowards?"

"When there's a bomb in your house, you don't stay there," I said. "You leave and call the bomb-disposal people."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. "What are 'bomb-disposal people?"

"I'm pretty sure that's called "attorneys"," Liv said.

We heard her intake of breath. "Don't do anything stupid, Daniel," Pat said. "Just come home and talk to me. Okay, I took it too far, but you were so... stubborn and I just..."

"I'll talk to you when I know more," I told her. "I'm not coming home. We all want you to stop with blowing up our phones. We all have your number. When we want to talk to you, we'll let you know."

"Girls, will you just come home?" Her voice cracked a little. "I need to see you, talk to you."

There was a whispered conference. "We'll meet you for lunch tomorrow," Liv said.

We heard a sigh. "Really? You'll meet me for lunch? It's come to that? Your father has turned you against me that much?"

"Listen, Mom," Catalina hissed. "If you say one more bad thing about Dad, try to make this his fault, in any way, you can forget about lunch, or us having anything to do with you, ever. We're the ones who told him what you were doing, not the other way around."

Pat was silent for a minute. "What time tomorrow, and where?" she asked.

They set it up, and I ended the call. All three of us sat in silence for a few minutes. "I'm hungry," Cat finally said. "You guys wanna go to dinner?"

We were all kind of moving in a fog during dinner, and it wasn't until we were in the elevator on the way back to our suite that Liv said, "I wanna go to the pool and sit in the hot tub. You guys down?"

We were, and in 30 minutes we were on our way to the pool. We played around for a while, both of them trying desperately to dunk me, then I swam some laps while they relaxed. They wanted to get in the hot tub, and we went around behind some plants and trees to the gate.

We were the only ones there for a while, then we looked up when we heard the gate open. Two women came in. They were obviously mother and daughter. They were both spectacular redheads, with freckles and big blue eyes. The daughter looked like she was around the girls' age, and Mom was hard to tell. She was kind of ageless, but must have been around my age, if you could judge from her daughter.

The girls were snuggled up against me in the tub, my arms over their shoulders, and there was plenty of room. They said hi, and climbed in. The girls and I just talked, leaving them to their own conversation. I said something funny, and the girls laughed, both of them kissing me on the cheek.

I looked across the tub, meeting the mother's eyes, they looked very mean and judgmental and she was sort of scowling. What the hell was up with that? I quickly looked away.

Cat kind of floated away, and introduced herself to the daughter. They started talking, and Liv got involved. I felt too awkward to talk to Mom, in light of the fierce look, so I just relaxed, leaned my head back and closed my eyes. I felt the girls float back beside me, and I put my arms around them again. I opened my eyes and the daughter was right in front of me.

"Dad, this is Audra," Liv said. "She's transferring to our school, but she's a sophomore."

I heard a snort from across the pool. Then Mom started giggling.

"Mom?" Audra questioned.

"Oh, my God! I'm so embarrassed," Mom said. She slid off the bench and over next to Cat, while Audra took up the seat by Liv.

"I'm Bach," she reached out a slender hand. I shook it.

"Musician, huh?" I said. I was really proud of that line.

That got another of those cute little snorts of laughter out of her, and the girls giggled insanely. "I wish," she said. "My mother was, and that's how I ended up that ridiculous name."

"Ah, Well, I'm Daniel, and these two scamps are Olivia and Catalina, my daughters," I said.

"So I gathered," she said. "I'm sorry to say I'm a horrible person, and I was sitting over there scandalized that a married man was over there with his arms around those two beautiful young women."

"Umm... how did you know I was married?" I asked.

"Duh, Dad, you sort of have on your wedding ring," Cat said.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I do. I had forgotten. Sadly, these are my daughters, and though I love them with all my heart, and would very much like to have my arms around two women who weren't, I'm making do with them until I can trade them in."

That got me another laugh. Liv and Cat leaned forward and nodded to each other. They each whispered to the girls on either side, and they all swapped places. I now had two gorgeous redheads in the place of the two gorgeous blondes.

"We're kind of like genies, Dad." Liv could hardly get it out between giggling. "You only get one wish, though."

"I am very impressed at your powers," I said.

"What brings you ladies to our humble abode?" I asked.

"We're moving here," Audra said. "Our apartment isn't ready yet, so we're staying here for two weeks."

"You obviously live here if your daughters go to school here," Bach said. "You just taking a staycation? Is your wife with you?"

"That's kind of a story," Cat said. "Maybe we'll save that for another day. And Mom's not here. Her and Dad are sort of... separated."