Chapter 4 CH 3

"Larkin Anders? Mrs Green can see you now" the receptionist calls to me from her corner desk. As I step into the attorneys office I'm met with a middle aged woman with a bright smile and warm presence. She's dressed in a suit and her blonde hair is twisted up in a clip.

"Good morning, I'm Chloe Green" she says extending her hand "I wish we were meeting under different circumstances but I hope I can be some help." She shakes hands with me and gestures toward a chair in front of her desk. Sitting down it takes a moment to get comfortable with my pregnant belly.

"How far along are you?" She asks eyeing me.

"31 weeks" I say slightly shaking my head "this is the last place I thought I'd be right now".

"Im so sorry again that you're finding your self here, I looked over the information you left with the office yesterday and I see you've sighted infidelity on your partners part, can we talk about that? I'm guessing you've learned something if we've made it this far."

"Yesterday I found text messages between him and...and, my best friend" I say closing my eyes and taking a breath, when I open them I continue. "The texts go back as far as 4 months." I finish.

"Do you happen to have copies of those?"

"Yes I do"

"Perfect email those to me, I see there are two other children in the home as well. What are you seeking in custody?"

We continue talking and I show her the screen shots of their text and photos as I email them, we discuss the boys more and that I want to keep primary custody and share weekends. Next she asks about our income and any assets we may have jointly and separate. The income part is pretty easy, I don't have any. Eric and I met in college, I was an art major and he architecture. After graduation I was working small commissioned jobs for hire around town when he was offered his position at the firm. We were a newly married couple and planning on having kids. At the time it was a no brainer that I would stay home with the kids and his job would easily support us. I know i'll be ok because of my moms inheritance, something I need to ask her about.

"I have a trust that I haven't touched yet left to me by my late mother, Eric is aware of it, just not how much there is of it. I'm saving it for the kids college and then it would have gone to our retirement, I want to make sure Eric can't touch it. I'm not asking for any alimony, just what's fair in child support for the kids." I tell her.

"That shouldn't be a problem, trusts don't usually belong to any one person you can only grant access to it. Your mother was smart to leave your inheritance this way, she protected you from anybody being able to claim it. If he's never had access he won't unless you give it to him, he will be made aware of the balance it has as we continue in this however. I know this is hard but can you tell me a little about your friend...Hope was it?"

"She is...was my oldest and closest friend. Our moms were best friends, and after mine passed away her family really helped my dad and I."

I start to explain more about how long I've know her and everything that I went through with her. I share about her current divorce circumstances what she has been going through herself. I sort of snorted to myself when I realized she is involved in two separations now.

"So your closest friend who has struggled to conceive, lost a marriage over it, then moved in on your husband right as you're about to have baby?" She pieces together more to herself.

"Saying it out loud sounds even more ridiculous than I thought it would but yes, that sums it up."

"Ok, well I have more than enough to get the paperwork started." Mrs Green says collecting the paperwork for my case into a folder on her desk.

"What do I do now?" I asked her tentatively. I was halfway hoping so would have some magical advice about what to do with myself after I leave here.

"Now you focus on taking care of yourself and your kids. Learn to protect your peace early. Sadly. nine times out of ten things get messy and people get mean." She says walking me to her office door.

"I also think you should get ahead of the narrative here and be the one to share the news. Given the case will include a custody arrangement and your main support system is the family of the woman involved. I don't want you to end up on an island if we can help it, you're going to need support to get to the other side of things. Do you plan on staying in the same house while the proceedings go on? Or do you want to ask him to leave for the time?" She says as we reach the exit.

I hadn't even thought about who would leave, it would be easier to stay at the house with the boys but if he won't go will I? I guess we'll find out sooner then later once I tell them all I'm filing.

"I'm not honestly sure yet, I guess I would hope he would leave if I asked him to." I say shrugging. "Thank you Mrs Green, I'll have copies of the boys birth certificates emailed as soon as possible for the custody paperwork."

"Please call me Chloe." She says giving me a wink. That honestly makes me smile a little.

"Thank you Chloe."

Once seated back in my car I drink some water and call Chris. I have no idea how to 'get ahead of the narrative' as Chloe put it, but now that the paperwork was starting if I wanted to control how everyone found out I would have to be the one to do it.

"How are you feeling?" Chris asks when he answers.

"Better and worse honestly, she said I should be the one to announce the separation, with the kids involved it could potentially be messy."

"That makes sense, then you can prepare the boys as well so no-one else says something to them." Chris replied.

"I don't have the first clue how to start that conversation! I need to tell your parents first then him. How do I tell them that their daughter is sleeping with my husband? I'm not sure I even owe her a heads up."

"Nope I don't think you do either" Chris says to me. "If you can't think of what to say why don't you let Hope and Eric do the talking, just show them the texts like you did with me. Trust me it leaves nothing to the imagination about what's going on, and it answers the question of timing as well you can see exactly what they did for how long." He kinda has a point, it would make it way easier on me and it does pretty much answer any questions that may come up with this revelation.

"How about this" he continues "print out the screen shots and i'll drop them to my parents and tell them to call you after they've seen everything."

"Okay, I'm going to talk to him tonight, tell him I know. Could you drop it off to them tonight as well and tell them we'll talk tomorrow?"

"Of course, do you want me to plan to keep the boys here tonight?" He asks.

Thinking for a few minutes I say yes, then I can plan to talk to them out of the house in the morning, and whatever living arrangement we agree on I can share then. Pulling into my garage I hangup with Chris. Walking into the house I've shared happily with Eric for years it no longer holds the same warmth I've always felt here. Every smiling face staring back at me from our photos feels like a cruel joke. Who is that happy couple? I quickly walk around and take down all the photos of us together. Looking at my shaking hands I take my wedding rings off too, placing them on the coffee table. I don't want to keep them.

I pull out my phone to send all the screen shots to Chris so he can print them out, effectively lighting the fuse to a bomb that will blow up the comfortable life I had come to know.