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Chapter 19

David headed into his office, locked away his paperwork, and put his briefcase in its place before he headed into the main bedroom to take a hot shower to relax, though he knew it would ultimately fail.

Once he had dried himself off, he pulled on a fresh pair of briefs, sweatpants, and a ratty old college shirt. He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at himself in the fogged-up mirror.

“Damn,” he muttered under his breath. He wiped the fog away and really looked at himself. There were heavy stress lines showing on his face and he looked way older than he really was. “I can’t keep doing this anymore.”

He pushed away from the sink, hung up his towel, opened the windows to let the air in the room dry out, and walked out of the bathroom.

David knew he should head to bed, but he had promised his boys a conversation, and so he peeked into Shane’s room, found it empty, and so he entered Evan’s room, where he found his boys curled against each other on Evan’s Alaskan King bed, because the lad was growing so fast, a California King wasn’t big enough anymore.

He settled on the edge of the mattress and watched his two teenagers for a moment without saying a word.

To his surprise, Shane was the one who spoke up.

“Did you talk to Mom?” he asked softly.

David leaned back on his arms, closed his eyes, and just breathed for a moment.

“I did, and I don’t think Yuna is going to get what the problem is without a hell lot of therapy, and we all know your mother isn’t the greatest fan of baring her heart and soul to anyone,” David said.

The blanket behind him rustled, and then Evan spoke up.

“So, this is it? We just ignore what she’s been doing and go on?” he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, but when David turned his head to look at him, he saw him clench his jaw.

David shook his head.

“No,” he admitted. “I’ve repeatedly tried to talk to her about what she’s been doing, but she never listened. She always did what she thought was best, no matter what anyone else said. No matter what I said.”

For another moment, silence reigned. Neither man said anything for what felt like a long-ass time.

“I can’t do this anymore, boys,” David said. “I love your mother, but right now, I don’t like her much anymore. She isn’t willing to cooperate with us.”

Shane reached for Evan’s hand and clung to it, something he had often done as a child, but not so much now that they were about to be drafted soon. He looked at his father, his eyes wet and his lips trembling.

“Are you going to divorce?” he asked.

Evan gave his hand a squeeze.

“Whatever you do, Dad, know that we support you,” he said softly.

“I don’t know if I will divorce her … it depends on how she will react to the official separation paperwork that will arrive tomorrow,” he admitted. “We need to talk about what to do about your money she spent.”

Evan bit his lip.

“I know she says she bought this house for us, but it wasn’t what we wanted, and we communicated that clearly, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, Dad. It’s documented, and the distance between home and … well … work … it isn’t ideal for any of us. Instead of like twenty minutes to the rink, it’s more like two hours … we don’t get enough sleep … and while the house is nice to look at … it just isn’t what we need right now,” the youngest in the room.

“She was always big about consequences for us,” Shane muttered.

“I’ll take you see my lawyer tomorrow and he will tell you about your options,” David said softly.

“Will you share the bed with her today?” Evan asked.

“I don’t know if I can,” David admitted. “She’ll just try to talk me into not doing what she likely figured out I’ll be doing, which will mean, I get even less sleep.”

“You can take my bed, Dad. I’ll share with Evan anyway,” he admitted.

While neither teen would admit it out loud, they both found immense comfort in sharing space. They both had made friends at school, but given that they most often spent their time at the rink before and after school, they still spent most of the day together.

David just smiled.

“Alright. I’ll take you up on that. In the morning, I will call your coach to let him know that we’ve got an urgent appointment that can’t be postponed, but I still want you to get ready at your usual time, okay?” he said.

Both boys nodded and watched their father use the balcony they shared to make his way into Shane’s room. The soft click of the lock on the door next to Evan’s room made them look at each other.

They played a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to figure out who would go and lock Evan’s door.

Shane lost, ruffled Evan’s hair, and slipped out of the bed to lock the door too, to prevent their mother from just barging in the way she was wont to do.

It was also something they both hated, because while she was entitled to her privacy, no one else was allowed to keep the doors to their rooms permanently closed or tell her they didn’t want her to come in.

It was driving them mad. They were teenagers, and they didn’t even have the private time and space to have a fucking wank on their bed, and even their showers were timed for efficiencies’ sake.

As the lock clicked shut, Shane reached out and shut the light down too. He stumbled across the room in the dark and crawled into bed with his brother, ready for some snuggles.

Evan wrapped his arms around Shane, and soon enough, they both had fallen asleep.