to someone but kept my mouth shut.
Friday, I took off early and picked Julie up at the airport. She was ready to see me, and I took her home to our kids. When we got home the kids were all over Julie. When things calmed down she went through the mail and found a letter from the state of Texas. She read it to me. The adoptions were complete; Julie was now the legal mother of all my children. We celebrated by going out and getting a special cake. Everyone, including Franky, was happy.
Two days later, she told me about her movie opening in Hollywood. She asked me to go.
I shook my head. “I can’t, honey; I can’t miss anymore work. You go and have fun.”
She hugged me, but with much less enthusiasm. I should have been paying attention.
The next week and a half went by smoothly. We spent most of our time together, unpacking boxes, setting up the house and meeting our neighbors. A famous sportscaster and his wife came to visit us. We spent close to four hours with them. Fortunately we had gin and tonic; that was what he drank. Julie and the man’s wife both drank white wine. I drank bourbon and Coke.
We were walking down our street when we met our next neighbor, Mitch Winslow. He was about forty and was a retired basketball player. He wasn’t married and seemed to really take up with Julie. I wouldn’t say that he flirted with her, but she was starry-eyed afterward.
Julie left on Sunday afternoon to go for her movie opening.
Jacky arrived Sunday night. She had bad news. Larry knew about us. She didn’t say how or why, but I knew that I was in desperate trouble.
I asked Jacky, “What are we going to do?”
She responded, “I can only stay tonight; tomorrow morning I have to go back to the studio and do damage control.”
I asked, “What is damage control?”
She lowered her head. “I have to convince Larry and Julie that nothing is going on.”
I asked another stupid question. “How are you going to do that?”
She made a face. “I don’t know. Maybe I can convince Larry to not tell Julie. So far he has told no one.”
I was not through yet. “How can I help?”
She lay in my lap. “Brandon, just hold me.”
I held her and stayed with her until midnight. She wound up coming to my house and sitting in the car until I took the babysitter home. We spent the night together, and the next morning I took the kids to school and daycare, then I took Jacky to the airport.
The last thing she said to me was, “Don’t worry, Brandon; everything is going to be all right.”
Her definition of “all right” and mine must have differed. Things didn’t go all right; when she got back to San Diego, she and Larry had a nasty fight and he slapped her hard. Jacky called the police, and Larry went to jail for an overnight visit.
When Jacky was alone she called me. “I am sorry, Brandon. Julie knows!”
My world seemed to slowly crumble after that.
Julie called me. “Brandon, is it true? Are you seeing Jacky?”
I was totally unprepared for that question. I said, “Honey, I have seen Jacky, but just as a friend. There is nothing going on between us.”
She said, “Brandon, Ralph had you followed. There are photos of you with Jacky. Why don’t you tell me the truth and we can try to work through it?”
I began to sob. “Honest, Julie, there is nothing going on between me and Jacky.”
She sighed out loud. “I am sorry that you can’t be honest, Brandon. You can stay in the house with the kids. I want Franky though. You can have Johnny and Rachael, okay?”
I realized that this was the end. “Honey, I promise you, I didn’t do anything wrong.” I was starting to sound like Marilyn, and it scared me more. I added, “Why don’t you come home and we can talk about this?”
She said, “No, Brandon, I am moving on. I hope you are happy with her. Just so you know, this isn’t her first fling. She will dump you when you need her the most.”
Julie hung up and I was left holding my phone.
I waited an hour, then I called Jacky. “Well, it’s over. I will be getting a divorce. What about you and Larry?”
She burst my bubble. “Larry and I are going to try and work it out; I will call you back soon.” She hung up on me too.
Two days later, Julie showed up without warning. She packed Franky’s bag and she left within an hour. She said very little to me or my kids.
When Julie left, Rachael asked me, “What is going on, Dad?”
I told her some of the truth. “Your mother is moving to California. She is taking Franky with her. I am sorry; we are back to just the three of us!”
She said, “But Dad, why would Mom do that? That is so mean.”
I was very careful with my answer. “Honey, it is just something between me and your mom. It isn’t her fault.”
Rachael was smarter than I gave her credit for. “Dad, did you do something wrong?”
I smiled rather tensely. “No, your mom and I just don’t get along anymore.”
Rachael asked, “Did Julie do something wrong?”
I shook my head. “Honey, no one did anything wrong. We just don’t get along.”
Rachael let it go, thank goodness, and I went into my study and planned on going back to my job. My leave of absence was over, and how was I going to pay for this monstrosity that I now lived in with my two kids?
Julie was right about one thing: Jacky dumped me and left me high and dry. She wouldn’t even answer my calls anymore.
When I got my divorce papers, I was at work. A server placed them in my hands and said, “You have been served!”
Three weeks went by. I was at work when I got a very unusual phone call. It was Ralph.
“Brandon, I thought you might want to know that Julie spent the night with Larry Lawrence. If you want photos I will send them to you. They have been seeing each other for some time now.”
I didn’t want to see any photos, so I hung up on Ralph.
I called Jacky again, and this time she answered my call. Right away, she said, “I know, Brandon; she is seeing him. May I come see you?”
I was stunned. I could see the arguably best-looking woman in the world if I wanted to, but I said, “No, Jacky, I just wanted you to know!”
That night I called Sharon.
I was rather meek. “How are you, Sharon?”
She was overjoyed. “Brandon, I am so happy! I am getting married.”
I talked to her for twenty minutes. She told me all about her fiancé and her wedding plans. I wished her well and went back to my depression.
For the last month, I had heard nothing from Julie. I had contacted Washington to be my attorney again. I put up a sizable retainer. He offered little chance of me getting much of Julie’s money. It seems that she had been paid very little; most was being held by the studio and couldn’t be touched by myself, nor my attorney.
We had our first hearing May twelfth. Julie was there with Franky and he didn’t seem to remember me. My two kids ran to Julie, but she was rather standoffish. I tried to talk to Julie and she just walked off from me. It was like she was a zombie. No one seemed very happy—not that a divorce is a time for happiness for anyone.
When the Judge entered the chamber, everyone sat down and was quiet except for Johnny. I was holding him and he was squirming and making unusual noises. Everyone looked at me, including the Judge.
The Judge began the proceeding. “Mrs. Thompson, I see here that you adopted Mr. Thompson’s two children less than a year ago. Was this under duress?”
Julie’s lawyer, a Mr. Snodgrass, stood up. “Your honor, my client does not wish to burden this court. She only wishes an amicable split.”
The Judge pointed his finger at Mr. Snodgrass. “Sir, answer my question!”
Snodgrass said, “No, your honor, there was no duress in this marriage.”
The Judge looked at Washington, my attorney. “Sir, what do you have
to say?” For some reason, he seemed angry.
Washington stood up. “Your honor, my client agrees with opposing counsel. We just want an end to this marriage.”
I looked at Julie. She was crying.
The Judge held up both hands in surrender. “Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, you have to give me something to work with here. You can’t just end a marriage for convenience. You, Mrs. Thompson, adopted two small children; now you want to abandon them. Neither of you admits any guilt nor wants compensation. What went wrong in this marriage?”
For the first time, there was dead silence in the courtroom. Not even Johnny made a sound.
The judge went on, “Was there negligence or abuse by either partner? What happened?”
Julie stood up. Her back was straight and she was fighting back tears. “Your honor, may I speak?”
The Judge nodded. “Mrs. Thompson, I wish you would.”
“Your honor, it is all my fault. I married my husband believing that my life would go one way, when in fact it was going another way. It is me that left the marriage, and I deeply regret ever leading my husband on.”
Mr. Snodgrass pulled Julie back down into her seat.
He stood up. “Your honor, this is a time of emotional stress for my client and she doesn’t know what she is saying.”
The Judge erupted, “Counsel, Mrs. Thompson is the only one in this courtroom making any sense to me.”
I stood up. “Your honor, with all due respect to you and my wife, I would like to correct her statement. The break-up of our marriage was due entirely to us not supporting each other nor spending time with each other. We went our separate ways and did not include each other in our own daily activities. The marriage