Mandy was undergoing another growth spurt. The chubby legs of a toddler were giving way to the more slender limbs of young girlhood. She was in grade school now. He had worked with Mandy over the winter and early spring, patiently teaching her to read material far beyond a normal six year-old’s comprehension. She spent many an hour on his lap sounding out words and joyfully hugging her father when she found she understood what the pages were saying to her.
Todd had little concept of what they were doing but he joined in his sister and father’s little celebrations, enjoying the warmth of his sibling and Dad’s embrace. There came the day when he was standing at his father’s shoulder as Kyle sat on the couch while Mandy went through a new reader. Todd began pointing out words he recognized and the trio’s bonding intensified.
Peggy watched resentfully, but she was unwilling to become closer with her husband in order to renew an intimacy with her babies. She grew more distant, less willing to compromise, and even more secure in the knowledge she would have a reckoning with Kyle’s infidelity someday, someway.
********
Inexplicably, fifteen months after the party where he and Ann inadvertently had a brief encounter, Peggy’s attitude thawed by several magnitudes. The sex picked up, though there was markedly less making love than before, it was better than what he’d been getting. Baby steps, he told himself. Be happy with what you get and work for even more warmth and loving.
A few weeks later, Peggy let him know the training she’d been scheduled for last year was “on” again. She’d be going to Orlando…by herself, she added almost negligently…to get the training that would prepare her for a pay increase and a better job eventually. It would be for a week toward the end of July, she said. She was all innocence and enthusiasm. She worked hard to project the impression that this was a good thing…nothing for him to be concerned about. Kyle knew it was the end.
“How long have you know?” he asked suspiciously. Peggy pulled back. Her attitude became marginally colder.
“The announcement came down from the personnel office two days ago,” she said. She watched his eyes, trying to determine how he would react to the news. What she told him was not a lie. The paperwork had indeed been sent to her when she said. She’d been working with the folks who scheduled the training for a month though. It had been no surprise to her.
“And you’re going at the end of next month?” Kyle asked. Peggy nodded.
“Well…sounds like the powers that be have given you plenty of notice this time,” he concluded.
He didn’t ask why she’d waited two days to tell him. It might have been because of the way he’d stopped her previous trip. She could still be sensitive about that. Maybe…
The spark deep in her hooded eyes told him it was something else though. Kyle watched her skip happily up the stairs. She was going to start getting ready now; she was planning the wardrobe she’d take with her. She was so excited. Kyle shook his head wearily. He hadn’t asked Peggy about the delay in letting him know because he didn’t care anymore.