Chapter 9
Three days later, Calvin and Britney finally came home with Noah and Simon.
The moment they walked in, the boys started yelling upstairs, “Mom, I’m starving! Come make us something to eat!”
“Yeah, Britney needs some food too. She has to get her strength back.”
Calvin smiled helplessly at their antics. “Let Britney sit down first. She’s been lying in the hospital bed for so long. She’s probably still uncomfortable.”
Britney gave a shy nod, her arm tightening around Calvin’s shoulders. “I feel bad for asking Avery to cook
for me.”
Calvin shook his head, gently setting her down on the couch. ‘It’s nothing. She doesn’t have much to do at home anyway. If something happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”
Just as he finished, he glanced up and noticed the divorce certificate and a note sitting on the coffee
table.
He recognized Avery’s handwriting right away.
The smile froze on his lips, and his sudden change in expression caught everyone’s attention.
Noah muttered, “A divorce certificate? That has to be fake”
Simon nodded. “Yeah, it’s gotta be a joke. There’s no way Mom would actually divorce Dad.”
Both boys kept glancing nervously at the table, but as Calvin opened the certificate, the confidence
drained from his face.
He frowned in disbelief at the document. It was real. Avery had really left him.
He couldn’t even remember when he’d ever signed any divorce agreement.
He gripped the certificate tightly as a memory suddenly flashed through his mind. Avery had handed him some papers after he forced her to drop the charges.
At the time, he thought it was just another gift agreement and didn’t bother to look.
Now, he realized she might have decided to divorce him just because he stopped her from calling the
police.
Calvin slammed the table angrily. “Ridiculous! How could she joke about something like this? Go find Avery and bring her back!”
He was about to tell the butler to handle it when Britney stopped him.
“Let it go, Calvin. She probably just wants you to come looking for her. If you ignore her, Avery will
definitely come back on her own in a few days.”
Britney soothed Calvin and pulled the boys close. “Besides, you still have me here. If Avery wants to leave, just let her. I’ll take care of you all for now and be your mom for a while, okay?”
She smiled sweetly, and the boys immediately cheered.
“Yeah! Britney can be our mom!”
“Right, we don’t need that mean mom anymore. She left us, so we don’t want her either. As long as we have Britney, we’re happy!”
Looking at their eager faces, Calvin pushed down his unease.
“Thank you, Britney. It’s just for a little while. When Avery comes back, I’ll talk some sense into her.” Calvin forced a smile and leaned over to give Britney a quick kiss.
Britney blushed and got up to head for the kitchen, ready to cook. Noah and Simon trailed right after her,
eager to help.
Left alone in the living room, Calvin stared down at Avery’s familiar handwriting on the note and couldn’t help but clench it in his fist.
He told himself Avery was just acting out to get his attention. She’d done things like this before, so this time was probably just the same.
Even so, he couldn’t tear his eyes away until, finally, he tossed the divorce certificate and note in the trash
and forced himself not to look back.
Then, he got up and headed for the kitchen, where he heard his sons’ excited voices.
“Britney, you’re amazing!”
“Yeah, it’s the best feeling in the world to eat your food!”
Noah and Simon were already setting dishes out on the table.
Calvin saw it was just a simple meal, but with so little time and nothing else ready, he didn’t think much of
“Thanks, Britney,” he said, helping serve the food.
Calvin, who never used to lift a finger at home, was now willingly helping out just because of Britney.
The four of them gathered around the table like a real family, as if nothing had ever changed.
