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“She already has a job as well. We both need to be there in two weeks.”
“Two—” I sputter. “You’ve been planning this. How long?” I demand.
He grumbles something and says, “We’ve been trying to make it happen for six months.”
Six months?!
“Six months? Seriously. You couldn’t have called me and let me know? Sent a text? A postcard? A hint, anything?”Okay, maybe that was a touch dramatic.But well-deserved I think.
“I didn’t want to say anything until we were sure.”
“Right, why prepare the boys for you to be an absentee father when you can just ghost them?”
“I’m not ghosting them,” he yells in indignation. “I’ll still see them. I’ll have a long weekend every month where I can come up, get a suite, and take them for the weekend. I explained the situation to my new company, and they’re willing to cover travel costs for the first year. And then we’ll be happy to have them for a full month every summer. It won’t be like it is now, but I’ll still be a part of their lives.”
“Just not a daily part.”
“Are you really going to give me shit over this? Everything is set up. I just need you to sign off on the custody change.”
Custody change. Right. This means I’ll have full custody of the boys. Happiness swells in my stomach. It might not be right or fair, but it works out better for me. For the boys. They won’t have to spend as much time with someone who doesn’t value them like they deserve to be. I won’t have to regularly co-parent with Tad and try to undo all his toxic bullshit.
I clear my throat, a smile growing on my face. This is a blessing in disguise. It wasn’t a very good disguise, but, you know.
“I’ll sign off on it. Have the lawyer draw up the papers and…” I inhale deeply before saying this next part, mostly because I know it willthrillhim—which I hate—but it’s freedom for me too. “Have him take off the alimony. Child support can stay the same.”
“Seriously, drop the alimony?” he chokes out.
“Contrary to whatever you believe, I’m not after your money. I’m doing fine on my own, and, frankly, Luke and I will probably be getting married sooner than later, and it’ll drop off then, anyway. You might as well have them change everything right now.”
I hear his incredulous chuckle, and I want to reach through the phone and punch him. Then my hand drops to my stomach. Hateful thoughts are probably not healthy for the baby.
“Great. I’ll have him get to you when it’s done.”
“Okay. Are you going to tell the boys? Or do you want me to? Actually, maybe we should do it together.”
He sighs and I can hear his eye roll over the phone. “You know A.J., he doesn’t listen to a word. And Alex is so damn sensitive. It’ll be better if you do it.”
I nod my head. Shouldn’t have been expecting anything else.
“Fine. I’ll tell them when I get them back. But next weekend will be your last with them, right?”
“Full weekend, yeah. But I thought I’d take them Wednesday and Thursday night the following week so we could say goodbye.”
I’m genuinely surprised that he actually sounds sad. He only really wanted kids as a status piece. Something you’resupposedto do, that looked good, not something he chose because he actually wanted that. I came to that horrifying realization many times over our marriage. It was painful to realize how he’d lied to me early on in our relationship. I was just a part of the game.
“Okay. It’s a plan.”
“Thanks, Zoey.” I’m surprised at how genuine it sounds. “I’ll talk to the lawyer.”
“All right. Good luck with all the moving planning.”
“Yep. Bye.”
“Bye, Tad.”
I hang up and stare at my phone for a moment in complete disbelief. Then I grab it again, about to send Luke a text. But, no. I want to tell him this in person.
Instead, I set my phone to the side and plow through the rest of my edits.
