June 8th-17th, 2002
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This takes place about four years after the last one, which basically means this one is set in like nowadays time, like 2002, but not really in any specific month or whatever. But that does make Olivia 4-years-old.
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A four-year-old Olivia stood in the doorway of her father's den, her baby blanket in hand as he dangled to the floor. She stood, watching him sitting at the desk, and she waited. Waited to see if he would look up. He didn't look up, so she quietly crept into the room, going as slow as a sloth, one tiny foot slowly after the other. When Ron finally caught sight of the movement and heard her feet and blankie shuffling against the carpet, he looked up. She stopped and froze in her tracks.
"Is there something you need?" He asked, as if he was talking to a forty-year-old instead of his four-year-old daughter.
"Can you read me a bedtime story, Daddy?" Olivia said, and said it quietly because she had come to learn that Ron didn't like being interrupted with loud noises.
"Olivia, I'm busy right now." He said and looked at her for a few more seconds before he bent his head and began to continue his work. Olivia's eyes filled with tears and her little chin trembled as she simply stood there. She lifted her blankie up and buried her face in it, only showing her big, round eyes over the top. When Ron realized she wasn't leaving, he looked up at her again. And then he sighed. "Why are you crying?" She didn't answer him, but merely stood and watched him. He sighed once more, louder. "I can't believe my child is such a crybaby." He muttered under his breath and then stood up. "Julianna!" He yelled.
"What?" She called back a few seconds later.
"Come get Olivia." He said. Within seconds Julianna was in the doorway. By now she had learned that whenever Ron was calling at her with that tone of voice about their daughter, it was best to get Olivia out of the way. Or else Ron would start screaming and yelling at one of them, and her baby girl had already seen enough of that in her four short years of life. Julianna walked quickly to her daughter. "Would you please shut the door on your way out. And watch her more closely from now on." Ron said, as Julianna picked Olivia up.
"C'mon, pumpkin'." Julianna murmured softly and walked out the door. Olivia's little legs wrapped around Julianna's waist and her arms were hooked firmly around her neck, as the little girl cried softly into Julianna's shoulder and her own blankie.
"Jerk." Julianna muttered softly under her breath and rubbed her hand over Olivia's soft curly hair. She sat on the couch and pulled Olivia away from her a little bit. "Are you okay, monkey?" Olivia nodded, and Julianna used her thumbs to wipe the tears of her baby's cheeks. "Why were you in Daddy's study, sugar pie?" Julianna asked.
"I want a bedtime story." Olivia replied.
"And Daddy said no?" Julianna asked.
"He's busy he said." Olivia answered. Julianna nodded and leaned her forehead against Olivia's.
"Do you want me to read you a bedtime story?" She asked. Olivia nodded. "Okay." Julianna said with a sad smile, and placed a tiny kiss on the end of Olivia's nose. "Mama loves you, Ollie."
"Ollie loves Mama back." Olivia replied and they both smiled at each other, sharing their secrets.
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A few days later...
"Where's Daddy?" Olivia asked as they were eating dinner.
"He's out." Julianna said.
"Why?" Olivia asked. He's probably out fucking his blonde bimbo, Julianna though bitterly and silently.
"He had to work." Julianna lied and hated herself. No, she hated Ron for making her have to lie to their child.
"Oh." Olivia said and was silent for a moment. "Does Daddy not want us?" She finally asked quietly and looked up at her mother. Julianna froze. How was she supposed to answer to that? Should she lie and say that Ron did want them? Or should she merely tell her daughter the truth? But no, she knew she couldn't tell her four-year-old baby girl that her father didn't want them. Maybe I'll tell her when she is older, Julianna thought. When she can handle it better. But then, when is a good time to tell a child that her father doesn't really want her, doesn't really love her, or love them? Julianna sighed.
"Sometimes Daddy just gets tired." Julianna said, not really answering the question. Olivia pushed the chicken nuggets around on her plate and didn't say anything else. How does a four-year-old child already understand that her father is a man incapable of loving her? Olivia could read between Julianna's lies. And it made Julianna's heart ache horribly for her daughter. Children weren't supposed to know these things.
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Later that night...
Julianna lay in bed, wondering where Ron was. He rarely ever slept in their bed with her, but normally he was home by midnight. They hadn't had sex in, well, over a year. But that was only because he was getting his nighttime fun elsewhere.
Over a year ago when Julianna had realized he was cheating on her, she had stopped having sex with him. She never kissed him, or turned to him in the night like she had sometimes done. And he had stopped trying to get her to do these things, once he had realized she knew about his mistress. And the fact that she hadn't done anything about it, hadn't say anything to him, hadn't left him, made her realize how weak she truly was.
She had always prided in her strength, until she realized she didn't have any. She knew if she didn't have a child with Ron, she would have been long gone by now, but she had stayed because of Olivia. Not like Ron paid any attention to his daughter anyway. But Julianna had stayed and eventually, she had just given up and resigned to the fact that she was going to live a life with a man like him.
Even if it killed her.
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The Next Morning...
As Olivia and Julianna ate breakfast the next morning, Ron came waltzing through the door, acting as if he hadn't been out all night long. Julianna merely turned away, not even bothering to ask him where he had been. It was obvious to her where he had been and it was obvious to both of them that she knew and chose to ignore it. But Olivia didn't know she was supposed to ignore it.
"Where was you, Daddy?" She asked, full of innocence. Julianna tensed, not really wanting to hear the answer, even if she already knew what it was.
"I was with a friend." He said and made Julianna cringe. He wasn't even attempting to hide it, God damn him.
"Who?" Olivia asked.
"Is that any of your business?" Ron asked. Olivia didn't understand and continued on.
"Do I know your friend?" She asked.
"No." Ron replied curtly.
"Does Mama?" Olivia barreled on. Ron cleared his throat and didn't reply.
"Are you finished asking questions?" He asked. Julianna whirled around from her place at the sink.
"Do you mean to tell me that I know who she is?" Julianna asked, her voice hissing out slowly. She knew he was cheating, she knew it was a blonde because she had found various wisps of hair on Ron's shirts, and she knew that the woman preferred reddish-brown lipstick because she had found it on the collars of his shirts, but she had not known that it was someone she knew.
"I never said that." Ron said, growing slightly uncomfortable. Olivia watched them, wide-eyed.
"You never denied it!" Julianna said, waving the fork she had been holding in the air.
"No, I didn't." Ron said.
"Who?" Julianna asked.
"I'm not going to tell you." He said calmly.
"And just why the hell not?" Julianna asked.
"You don't need to know." Julianna stopped and remembered that their child was in the room. "Olivia, can you do Mama a favor?" Julianna asked. Olivia looked at her and nodded.
"Okay." She whispered.
"Why don't you go play in your room? I'll be up soon to play with you. Get out whatever toys or game you want, okay?"
"Okay." She answered and slowly got up from the chair. She made her way out of the room, keeping her eyes on her parents the entire time. Finally she left the room.
"You're always trying to protect her from me, aren't you?" Ron asked.
"Oh my God, Ron, are you blind? Are you stupid? You're about to tell me who exactly this lover of yours is, while our child is in the room. The last thing she needs it to be traumatized by this even more! But now that she is gone, you are free to tell me who exactly this person is that you are fucking." Julianna said, her voice cool as steel.
"Don't talk to me that way." He said.
"I'll talk to you whatever way I want to! You've long since lost all the respect I've ever had for you. Now, God damn you, tell me who she is." Julianna said, staring him straight in the face.
"You don't know her." He lied.
"The hell I don't!" She exclaimed. He sighed.
"It's Celine."
"Celine?"
"Balitran." He replied.
"George's ex-girlfriend?" Julianna exclaimed in shock. She wondered if George knew. She doubted it, or he probably would have told her.
"Yes." Ron replied.
"How the hell did you start...Nevermind, I don't want to know. I can't believe you." Julianna said.
"Why? What did I do? Can you blame me for having an ice queen for a partner. Did you really think I would stay satisfied with you?" Ron asked, as if she was something disgusting. And Julianna had thought he couldn't hurt her anymore.
"You know, Ron," Julianna said quietly, "I don't think it was me who fucked up majorly in this relationship. I may not have tried to make it work, but I am not the one who made you do all of this shit you like to blame me for. It's not my fault that you don't love me. It's not my fault, or Olivia's fault that you don't love her. You're the only one to be blamed for, for all of that shit, Ron, and don't even try to place it on me." She said, and turned to walk away.
"I'm through." He said.
"What?" Julianna asked and turned.
"I am through with you. I'm through with putting up with your bitterness. I'm through with having to deal with a daughter who, to be frank, means nothing to me. I can't take it anymore." He said. Julianna stood, frozen. She hadn't been expecting that. And she hated him, hated his guts, for saying what he did about his daughter, their daughter. If she knew words that would hurt him, she would have said them at the moment in time. But nothing could touch him anymore.
"Fine." She said.
"I want you two to move out." He said.
"What?" She cried out.
"You heard what I said." He said calmly, as if he was merely asking her to move a couch to a different place in the room.
"I paid for most of this house. I worked for it." She said.
"I worked also." He replied.
"But I made the money, I supported us! And you're asking us to move out."
"You can afford a new place, as you are so gladly stating right now."
"You're an asshole and I hope you rot in hell!" She hissed out.
"That's all well and good. I'll leave and spend the night elsewhere tonight and I will give you all day today and tomorrow to take anything you want out of the house, that is yours." He said.
"Fuck you." She burst out as he left, even knowing it was petty and pointless. When he left she managed to get herself to a chair and she sat down and dropped her head into her hands. "What am I going to do?" She moaned. She sat there for a few minutes. You're going to go upstairs and get your daughter, and then you're going to move out, she told herself and stood from the chair. Life would go on.
Julianna walked up the stairs and into her daughters room. She expected Olivia to have gotten out some toys, but instead her daughter was sitting on the bed, her blankie cuddled in her left arm and the thumb on her right hand in her mouth. Julianna's heart clenched at the sight of her daughter watching the door with wide eyes. She walked slowly to the bed and sat, placing a gentle hand on Olivia's head.
"Hey baby." She said. Olivia didn't reply. "How are you doing?"
"Okay." Olivia whispered around her thumb.
"Guess what?" Julianna said.
"What?" Olivia asked and removed her thumb from her mouth, only to bury her hand into her blanket.
"You get to go stay with Aunt Alex tonight." Julianna said, and then hoped her sister was home.
"Really?" Olivia asked, her eyes widening as she brightened up. Julianna smiled and nodded, running a hand over Olivia's curly, messy ponytail.
"Yep." Julianna said.
"Now?" Olivia asked. Julianna smiled.
"Let's see." She said and hoisted Olivia and her inseparable blankie onto her hip as she stood. They walked into Julianna's bedroom and Julianna sat on the bed and released Olivia. Olivia crawled up to the pillows and sat back as Julianna picked up the phone.
"Hello?" Her sister Alexandra asked after Julianna dialed the number and the phone rang on the other end.
"Hey Alex." Julianna replied.
"Oh, hey Jules, what's up?"
"I have a request." Julianna said and glanced back as Olivia crawled off the foot of the bed and wandered toward the bathroom.
"Yeah?" Alexandra asked. Julianna watched as Olivia pulled open the bottom drawer and dug her hand in. She came out with a tube of lipstick. Julianna smiled and looked away. Olivia loved playing with make-up because she knew her mama was in movies and she knew Julianna got prettied up all the time, so Julianna had bought some cheap make-up for Olivia and kept it in the bottom drawer for the times when she wanted to play.
"Well, something happened and I, uh, I need to you keep Olivia today and tonight."
"Of course I will, but what happened?" Alexandra asked.
"Well, Ron and I...We....Well, he kicked Olivia and I out of the house."
"What?"
"It's a long story, but to make it short, we're through." Alexandra nodded, not going to question just yet. She had always known something hadn't been right with her sister and her boyfriend since after Olivia had been born, but she hadn't questioned then and she would wait to question now.
"So then, where are you going to stay?" Julianna stopped and paused.
"I hadn't thought about it."
"You can stay with me for awhile."
"No, Alex, I can't. Your apartment is too small. Besides, I can't impose on you for that long." Julianna said. "It may take awhile to find a good place in a good neighborhood for the two of us in this area."
"My apartment isn't that small!" Alexandra exclaimed.
"Honey, you're living in a one bedroom apartment by yourself. Where would we sleep?"
"You could sleep in my bed with Ollie and I could sleep out on the couch." Alexandra said.
"No. I can't do that. You need your rest for your dancing, you're not going to sleep on the couch."
"Well, then where are you going to stay?" Alex asked.
"I...I don't know." Julianna huffed out.
"C'mon, Jules. For a few days." Suddenly an idea dawned on Julianna.
"No, I know someone I can call." Julianna said.
"Who?" Alex asked.
"George." Julianna replied.
"You'd rather impose on George than on me?"
"He's on location right now. I could call him up and ask him if we could stay at his house for a few days until I find a place." Alexandra sighed.
"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" She asked.
"Yes, that will work out fine. Don't worry. I'll call George up and then I'll get Olivia some stuff and bring it and her to your house in like an hour, okay?"
"Alright. I'll be here." Alex said.
"Good. See you later."
"Bye."
"Bye." Julianna said and hung up the phone. Then she turned to look at Olivia. All she could see was the little girl's feet because she was standing close to the counter as she leaned toward the mirror. "Whatcha doin' in there?"
"Putting on make-up!" Olivia called back.
"Are you alright?" Julianna said.
"Yeah!" Olivia replied and Julianna smiled and turned back to the phone to dial George's number.
"Hello?" He asked after only two rings.
"Is this a bad time?" Julianna asked right away.
"Hey Jules, and no, it's not." He said.
"Okay. Well, I have a question." She said.
"Alright."
"Well, I don't have a place to live." She said calmly, even though it killed her on the inside.
"What?" He exclaimed.
"Ron is making Olivia and I move out."
"He's what? Why?" George asked.
"We're through and he told us to move out."
"He told you? And you didn't argue?" George asked. Julianna sighed.
"For a few seconds. But it was useless. Plus, he needs the house more than I do. I have money to buy another place." She said.
"But you paid for the one you're living in now!" George exclaimed.
"Yes, I did. George, please, just..."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." He said.
"But I was wondering if we, Olivia and I, could use your house for awhile. Until we find somewhere else to stay."
"Of course." He replied immediately, without thought. "I've got plenty of room."
"Okay, well, Ron gave me today and tomorrow to get everything out, so by tomorrow I'll probably have everything there."
"Do you need some help moving stuff?" He asked.
"I'll get some friends to help. I don't want you to leave work for me." She said.
"I'm not working." He replied.
"What?"
"We finished yesterday. I'm back at home."
"Oh. Well, I...We can go somewhere else then, George. I thought you wouldn't be home. I don't want to impose." She said.
"Now listen, you wouldn't be imposing."
"George, you don't want a grown woman in your house, let alone a little girl."
"Why not?" He asked. She didn't reply. "Do you think that it will ruin my reputation with women?" He said, his voice a little heated. She was still silent. "Or do you just think that I will get annoyed with you like Ron did?" Then he cursed under his breath. "I'm sorry, Jules, that was out of line."
"No, no, you're right. He was annoyed with us. And tired of us. And I'm sorry for assuming things, but if you don't want us there, we'll find somewhere else to go." She said. He sighed.
"You know that I don't care, Julianna. You know that I'd take you in if you ever needed me too."
"I know you would." She said. And then she thought of Celine. She didn't know if she should tell him or not. She'd wait on that before she made her decision.
"Good. So do you need some help moving things? I can get a truck from a friend and we can haul stuff over here." He said. She nodded and replied.
"Yes, I could use some help."
"Alright. I'll be over soon."
"Well, come in two hours. I have to take Olivia over to Alexandra's to spend the day and tonight." Julianna said. He nodded.
"Alright. I'll wait and come then."
"Thank you, George."
"You're welcome. I'll see you later, alright?" He asked.
"Yeah. Bye."
"Bye." He replied and hung up. She did the same and then stood to go into the bathroom. She stood in the doorway and saw that Olivia had put on bright red lipstick and blue eye shadow, but very messily.
"You look beautiful." Julianna said and smiled. Olivia smiled back. She loved getting dressed up for her Aunt Alex. Because her Aunt Alex knew just how to make her seem like she was a movie star herself and Olivia already understood to appreciate that.
"Thank you." She said, very politely. Julianna laughed and pulled her up into her arms to give her a kiss smack on Olivia's bright red lips. Her daughter always knew, somehow, how to make her laugh, just when she needed it.
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Two hours later, promptly, George rang the doorbell to Julianna's house. She opened the door for him.
"Hey." She said.
"Hello." He replied and walked into the house.
"That's a big truck." She said, looking out into her driveway. He turned and glanced at it.
"Yeah, I got it from Rick." He said and shut the door. She nodded.
"So, let's get started." She said and turned.
"Wait." He said and grabbed her hand. She turned back to him. He pulled her a little big closer and studied her face. "Tell me."
"What?" She replied, staring back at him.
"Tell me what happened. You need to talk to someone. I'm here. Lean on me." He murmured. She didn't say a word. "Just for a little while." She sighed and looked down. "You know I won't judge. I'll only be here. That's what friends are for, Jules. Use me." She turned away and walked to the couch. He followed her and sat beside her, waiting patiently, knowing she'd begin when she was ready. Finally she spoke.
"I suppose it's a good thing that he ended this, because I'm so tired. Tired of living like this." She said.
"Living like what?" He replied. She bowed her head.
"When Ron and I decided to have a baby, we were so excited. Throughout my entire pregnancy he was a wonderful father. He did all the appropriate things with me and everything. He was the same Ron he had been in the years before I was pregnant. Then, once Olivia was born, he was disappointed right away."
"Why?" George asked softly.
"Because he wanted a boy." She said and smiled a bit. "He was bound determined it was a boy. And when they laid Olivia on my belly when she was born, his face wasn't one of fatherly joy. Oh no. The next day he told me that he had thought she was disgusting when she was born. He was proud that second day, proud that he had made such a beautiful daughter, even if she wasn't the boy he wanted. But he told me, he actually told me that he thought she was ugly when she first came out. Yes, she was messy, but she wasn't ugly or disgusting. When I first saw that baby girl, I thought she was the most beautiful thing to have graced the earth and to hear the father of my child tell me he thought she was ugly, was a blow to me. I still remember the...despair I felt. I wanted to take Olivia from him because I wanted to protect her from hearing that, even if I knew she couldn't understand." George rubbed a hand over her back as he felt the anger flowing off of her.
"And then, that first night we had her at home, he wouldn't get up with her. Babies are supposed to be fed every two hours and I had already been up with her twice that night. The third time she cried, I asked him to go get her. He said no and went back to sleep. This went on for a week before I confronted him. He told me that it was a woman's job to change diapers and to feed the children. As Olivia got older, he never once changed her diaper, got up with her in the night, or helped me feed her. I did it all. The older she got, the more bitter I became toward him. I confronted him a few times after that first time, but it never did me any good. It wasn't his place, he always said." She looked at George and he saw the tears in her eyes. He wished he had known it was that hard for her, because he would have helped. "I raised her all by myself, George."
"Why didn't you ask for help?" He said.
"Because I hate to fail." She said it angrily this time and the tears dried up quickly. "I wouldn't ask for help from anyone because I didn't want everyone to see that I hadn't picked a good man. And I didn't want anyone to think that I couldn't raise her all by myself. So that's what I did. Alone."
"You can't believe that, Jules. You can't believe that your family, and your friends would think you failed if you ever asked for help. Do you really believe that?" He asked. She sighed.
"For a few years after she was born I did. I don't anymore. But by the time I realized it, it was too late to ask for help. She was already two years old. I had gotten through the hard years by myself, why not get through the rest by myself?" She sighed. "It was stupid of me, but....that's how I was." He sighed then.
"Why didn't you leave him?" He asked.
"Because, I...I don't even know anymore. I said it was for Olivia for awhile, but that was stupid because he didn't care about her. Once she wasn't a baby anymore, he started to resent her. She could talk and ask him things, ask him for things. He didn't want to be obliged to do things with and for her. And in this past year or so, I don't know why I didn't leave him. He hated Olivia and she knew it, yet she kept trying to convince him that she wasn't bad. She constantly asked him to play with her or to read to her, but that only made him resent her more." The tears were back as Julianna looked at him again. "I stayed and it traumatized my baby. She is actually scared of men, did you know that?" She asked. George shook his head and ran his hand over her back again. "You've probably noticed that she seems really shy around you."
"Yeah, but I always thought that it was because she was little." George replied softly. Julianna shook her head.
"No. She's scared of Rachel's husband, her uncle, Phil. She's scared of you, and all my other guy friends, like Noah and Eriq. She's afraid of my mother's husband. She's afraid of all the men on Ron's side of the family, not that she's met many. The only man she is not afraid of is my father. And that's because she understands that he is my father and that amazes her. Because she knows that my father loves me, and when she sees that, and knows he loves me, she knows she can trust him. And she adores him. And he adores her right back, so she knows that he's okay. But I've stayed and it made my baby afraid. And even though I knew it, even though I saw it, I didn't leave him. Does that make me a horrible mother?" Julianna asked, as her chin trembled and a single tear fell. He shook his head and took her chin into his hand.
"No, it doesn't. It only makes you hopeful. You hoped he would come around eventually, didn't you?" He asked. Julianna nodded and closed her eyes, ashamed. "Look at me." He said and waited until she opened her eyes and met his gaze. "That doesn't make you a bad mother." George said softly. She nodded and a sob slipped from her lips.
"You know what he told me today?" She said through the tears and the sobs.
"What?" George asked and released her chin.
"He actually told me that Olivia means nothing to him." She said. George sighed and wrapped her up in his arms. She buried her face into his shoulder and sobbed.
"Well you know what? When you're living with me, I'll show Olivia that she can trust me and that I care about her. I'll help you teach her that not all men are bad. I'll help you." He murmured and rocked her against him.
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When Julianna managed to pull herself together and they began to work together on getting her stuff, she wondered if she should tell George about Celine and Ron. She knew that their break-up hadn't been easy on George, even if he had tried to make it seem that way. And Julianna didn't want to hurt him. After five minutes of arguing over it mentally in her head, she decided not to tell him. At least not yet.
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Later the next night, Julianna and George went to Alexandra's house to pick Olivia up. She ran to her mother when Julianna walked into the room, but when Olivia saw George, she became shy and apprehensive, holding onto her mother's hand while she kept a wary watch on George.
Julianna thanked her sister, and got all of Olivia's stuff, before they piled into George's jeep, for the last trip to his house that day. Julianna sat up front with George, but kept glancing back at Olivia to see what she was doing. She was staring out the window and growing sleepy, Julianna could tell by her eyes. They would flutter shut every now and then until Olivia would realize and fight them back open. Julianna turned back around to face the front and sighed.
George reached over and squeezed her hand gently. She squeezed back and didn't let go. He kept his hand in hers all the way home, thinking nothing of it. She needed it and that was all that mattered.
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By the time they reached George's house, Olivia was asleep.
"Can you get her stuff, George?" She asked. He smiled and nodded.
"Sure. The last trip of the day is an easy one." He murmured and she smiled, before climbing out of the car. She opened up the back door and began unbuckling Olivia. Then she hoisted her daughter into her arms and Olivia wrapped her arms sleepily around Julianna, as her head lolled against Julianna's shoulder. George followed Julianna into the house, wondering if this was going to become his new family. He didn't mean it in a romantic sense, but more in a sisterly way.
If only he knew.
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The next afternoon, George went over to a friends house to play basketball because he could nearly feel Olivia's discomfort at him being around oozing off of her. He wanted to get out, so she could have time alone with her mother, without him around. He figured they'd have something to do.
And he was right. Nearly as soon as George was out the door, Olivia began to question her mother.
"Why are we stayin' wi'f George?" She asked.
"Because we don't have a house anymore."
"Why not?" Julianna sighed, bowing her head. She wasn't sure whether to tell her daughter the truth yet, or wait until she got older. "Did Daddy kick us out?" Olivia whispered. Julianna's head whipped up, amazed once again by this little child. Julianna paused and then nodded.
"Yeah, Ollie, he did." She whispered in reply. Olivia nodded. She didn't seem quite upset about it. Apparently she had already accepted it.
"But why do we have to stay here?" She asked quietly, meeting her mother's gaze with her own big eyes.
"Because we need a place to live for awhile."
"But can't we go to Grandpa's? Or Aunt Alex's?" Olivia asked, her chin trembling.
"Baby, Grandpa lives too far away. And Aunt Alex doesn't have enough room." Julianna said. A tear rolled down Olivia's cheek.
"I miss home." She whispered. Julianna smiled weakly and ran her fingers over Olivia's cheek. She ached, and ached for her daughter who was so adult-like in her ways.
"I do too, sweetheart, but we can't go back." Julianna said and leaned over to pull the child onto her lap.
"Why?" She asked, looking up at her mother with big watery eyes even as other tears rolled down her face. "Why can't Daddy leave?"
"Because, Ollie, that's not the way it worked out. I wish it could be that way, but for now, George is our best shot. We can look for houses together, okay?" Olivia nodded and wrapped her arms around her mother. Julianna cuddled her close, and felt her stomach aching for her daughter. Jesus, if this doesn't kill me, I don't know what will, Julianna thought to herself.
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