This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locations are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, dead or alive are a figment of my imagination and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s mind's eye and are not to be interpreted as real.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author.

One

Alexis couldn’t have been happier. The days with her family seemed to fly by. Time didn’t stand still the way it had pre-Cory. Time flew by. Not only was Kinley growing like dandelions in the spring, Riki was, too. Her legs shot up a foot over the winter.

With Kinley almost a year old and Riki fast approaching five, Alexis was busy. She cut back on work, working four days a week instead of her usual six. Sam kept both girls and that made it a lot easier to leave. She missed them like crazy, but she couldn’t give it up entirely.

Once again, Alexis was praying for warm weather, although she would admit, this one wasn’t as bad as past winters. She had a lot more to keep her busy, she didn’t mind the indoors as much. Riki learned to tie her shoes, Kinley started crawling and was close to walking. She pulled herself up on everything, which in turn meant she fell a lot too. Riki learned her ABC’s and how to write her name. Cory taught her to dial 911 and the town cop was at their door three times. Kinley had four teeth, and Riki got her first serious boo, boo, three stitches right above her eyebrow. That’s what happens when you use bottom drawers for steps. It didn’t go in her favor.

April wasn’t as warm as Alexis would have liked, but that particular spring was turning out to be beautiful, early summer. There were still cold days, but plenty of seventies too. And even the cooler days weren’t so bad, summer was still around the corner.

Just because Alexis was in love with her family and her life, didn’t mean it was always chocolate and roses, they had their issues like any other couple.

That particular day Alexis should have stayed in bed. The day started out a nightmare and so far it hadn’t gotten any better, and time was running out. The best plan was to go to bed and try again the next day. That didn’t really work with two little girls though. Alexis was sitting on the porch steps while Riki tried to catch a butterfly and fussy Kinley took a small nap. Cory exited his car, carrying the jacket he needed when he’d left.

“Hi, you having a party?”

“It’s two beers.”

Cory leaned in and kissed her sensing an irritable Alexis. “You’re grumpy. What’s wrong?”

“What’s right?”

“Daddy, look!”

“What does that even mean?” Cory smiled up at Riki and took a long drink of Alexis’s beer. His day wasn’t exactly peaches and cream either.

Riki called for his attention again. “Dad! Watch me.”

“I am, baby, good job,” he praised as she did an almost perfect cartwheel. Paige was teaching her to be a cheerleader at an early age. She and Emily were constantly chanting cheers that Paige taught them.

“You watching her? I’m going to wake Kinley. It’s almost time to eat.”

“I can wake Kinley.”

“I’ve got it.”

Alexis disappeared inside the house with her beer. Of course Cory couldn’t let it go, he had to follow. “Come, Riki. Let’s eat.”

“Lexis, Kinley has dog food in her mouth again,” Riki tattled.

Alexis turned from her food preparation to Cory. The raised eyebrows were the only words needed. Cory stuck his finger in her mouth and tossed the nugget in the trash. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Nothing, Cory. Will you get Riki’s plate?”

Supper was strained and they both could feel the tension. Cory watched Alexis, but she didn’t look back. She engaged in talk about Paige buying Riki pom poms for her birthday and tried like hell to ignore Cory. She definitely didn’t want to end her already screwed up day arguing with him. That was exactly what was going to happen if he didn’t let it go and let her deal with it on her own. She didn’t always need to talk about it. Sometimes she just needed that minute to unwind, but Cory couldn’t seem to get that through his thick skull.

“Can I have more bread?” Riki asked.

Cory was the one to deny her more cheesy garlic bread. “No, you have to eat more than bread.” Alexis glanced at him that time. Sometimes he made things way more complicated than they had to be. “What, Lex? Did you want her to only eat bread?”

Alexis cut a small piece and placed it on her plate. “That’s it, no more bread until you eat your spaghetti.”

“Oh, well okay, just ask Lexis from now on Riki.”

Luckily, Riki missed the sarcasm. “Okay,” she replied while dipping her bread into the red sauce.

Alexis moved around the kitchen with an attitude. “Where were you today?”

“Where was I? What kind of question is that? I was at work, what do you mean?” Cory asked. “Why can’t you just tell me why you’re pissed at me and stop acting like a bratty teenager?”

“You can’t say piss, Daddy.”

“I can say it, you can’t say it.”

“Can I say it when I’m five?”

“No, when you’re thirty. Alexis?”

“I was supposed to do Maranda Stevenson’s senior pictures today, remember? You were getting the girls at five today.”

“Damn, I’m sorry, I forgot. I got busy at work. Couldn’t Sam keep them long enough for you to do that?”

“No, she had other plans already, and that’s not the point.”

“What’s the point? I got busy at work and forgot.”

“Because your job is more important than mine,” Alexis stated and stood to clear the table. Kinley yelled to be taken out of her chair as soon as she saw her mom stand. “Forget it, go bathe the girls.”

“You couldn’t reschedule that?”

“I said forget it, go bathe the girls.”

“I’ll clean up if you want to go bathe the girls.”

Alexis dropped a frying pan to the stainless steel sink and glared at him. Oh my God. She was going to rip his head off. In the nicest, nastiest tone she could muster, Alexis spoke through gritted teeth. “I don’t want to bathe the girls, I want you to go do that. That’s why I’ve said it three times now.”

“Lexis is grumpy,” Riki offered with an apologetic tone to her dad.

“Yes, she is. Let’s go play in the tub.”

Good. That’s what she wanted. Alexis let Cory take the girls off while she cleaned up the mess. Thank God for Mr. Dog. He helped. Kinley seemed to get more on the floor than in her mouth.

Alexis was on the porch steps when Riki came out with wet hair and pajamas. Cory reached Kinley over her shoulder and Alexis wrapped her in her arms and kissed her fine, wet hair. Cory sat beside her and picked up her open bottle of beer and took a drink. He put his arm around her and she kissed him on the cheek.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you. It’s just been one of those days,” she apologized.

“You’re forgiven. Do you want to go soak in the bath and I’ll put the girls down?”

“That sounds like a great idea,” she admitted.

“No, Lexis is reading the pigtail girl book.”

“Oh, I really wanted to read that. Can I read it to you tonight?” Cory asked with too much excitement. Riki didn’t have the heart to tell him no. Alexis laughed and handed him Kinley.

“Well, okay, you can, but you have to read Kinley’s first. It’s a baby book.”

“Perfect, let’s go.”

The hot bubble bath didn’t seem as important as the twelve pack of beer Alexis picked up on her way home. A quick shower sufficed just the same. After a quick shower and a speedy razor to her legs, Alexis set out for her destination. She stopped and peeked in the crack of the door, almost going in to kiss the girls. She decided against that when she saw Kinley on her side nearly asleep while Cory rubbed her back and read to Riki. If Kinley saw her, she would be wide awake. She’d kiss them once they were asleep.

“You getting drunk tonight?” Cory questioned twenty minutes later. Alexis slid over on the step and he joined her on the porch.

“I think I might already be just a little drunk.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, there’s nothing to talk about really. It’s just been one of those days. Everything that could go wrong, did. Oh, and I had a flat this morning, too.”

“Did you get it fixed?”

“Yes, I put the donut on it and got it to town. Lenny fixed it for me and brought it over to my studio when he was done.”

“You changed the tire?”

“Yes, I can do that. My dad made sure of it.” Normally Alexis would have joked about him being a city boy and not knowing how to do the things she knew, but not that day. She wasn’t feeling anything but annoyed and agitated.

“I can’t.”

Alexis laughed and bumped his shoulder. “I don’t doubt that, city boy.”

“What else happened?” Cory knew Alexis enough to know she didn’t drink four beers in an hour with the girls and act like this over a flat tire.

“The studio camera quit working and I had to go all the way to Bradford first thing this morning and spend over three thousand dollars on a new one.”

“Ouch, it can’t be fixed?”

“Yes. I’ll send it off tomorrow, but I couldn’t wait for it. Bernie needed it in the studio and I had to have mine for all the senior pictures right now.”

“What else?”

“I had to cancel an appointment because you didn’t get the girls.”

“Why couldn’t Sam keep them?”

“I didn’t ask. It’s their anniversary. Sometimes I feel like you think your job is more important than mine.”

“Sometimes I think that too.” Cory assured her. He was a doctor after all. The expression on his face once again showed Alexis the superiority he thought he owned.

“Well, it’s not. Just because you have a fancy piece of paper that says you’re a doctor, doesn’t mean it should take precedence over mine.”

“Today it was. It wasn’t intentional and I didn’t call because a lot was going on.”

“I had things going on, too.”

“I lost a patient today, Alexis. Fifty-seven-year-old male, gone on my watch.”

Alexis shook her head, not at him, at herself. “Shit, Cory. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, babe. Just know that I would never deliberately keep you from an appointment.”

“I know, and I am sorry.”

“Anything else happen?”

“Bernie informed me today that Mitch will be at my parents next month for Paige’s graduation party.”

“The Mitch? Why?”

“They invited him.”

“Does that bother you?”

“No, I guess not. He’s always been friends with the family, and you know my dad, when I told him I didn’t want him there he told me I needed to learn to forgive. I’m over it. I only wish him the best in life, I guess.”

“I’m okay with it, I mean his family will be with him, right?”

“I guess they got a divorce. He might have his son.”

Cory audibly chugged Alexis’s beer. “Now I don’t know if I like it.”

“You didn’t care when you thought he was bringing his wife, but if he’s not, you do?”

“I wouldn’t care if you would marry me.”

Alexis rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Great, let’s do this again. I’m going to get another beer, do you want one?”

Walking away was better than staying. She needed the minute to reel in the temper that was jumping at the bits to come out. Every single time. This argument had nothing to do with Mitch at all. It didn’t matter what they argued about, it was always brought up.

Sitting so close to Cory wasn’t the best idea anymore. Alexis kept a little more distance when she joined him back on the steps and handed him a beer.

Cory opened his beer and gave it back to Alexis. He took the one she was straining to open for himself. “Lex, our daughter is going to be one next month. Are you ever planning on marrying me, or are we just going to play house forever?”

“Playhouse? Is that what you think this is?”

“What would you call it? You’re willing to have my baby, live in the same house, wake up with me every morning, and have sex with me, but you won’t make it official. Hell, maybe that’s what it’s all about.”

Both of Alexis’s eyebrows bowed toward the bridge of her nose. “What?”

“Convenient Sex.”

“You’re an ass. Yes, that’s all it is, just sex, because you’re the only man on the planet that I can do that with. Oh, wait a minute. I see what this is all about. You need me to marry you because you feel threatened by Mitch moving back here. Is that it, Cory? You think if I marry you, I won’t go running back to Mitch?”

“Wait. He’s moving back here? You didn’t say that, you said he was coming to Paige’s graduation party.”

Alexis felt the air she breathed change in a split second. Taking it deep into her lungs, she tried to keep calm.

“Yes, Bernie said he was taking the coaching job at the high school in the fall. Coach Benet is retiring. That’s all I know.”

“And he’s getting a divorce?”

“They’ve been divorced for almost a year now.”

“Did you know this?”

“What?”

“That they were divorced?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Why?”

“How long have you known that?”

Alexis didn’t even try to hide the irritation. “I don’t know, Cory. Like a year. Why the hell does it even matter?”

BOOK: This Too Shall Pass