In that moment, my heart beats wildly and I want to hit the door open button and scoop her into my arms and kiss her so passionately and hold her in my arms, tell her that I love her too. But I stop myself. We couldn’t afford to have anyone see us, and there were security cameras everywhere. After I left the elevator, I called Dana.

“Hey Dane, so how about that job offer?”

“You want to join me,” she asked excitedly.

“Yes, I am leaving the hospital right now.”

“Awesome, you can start tomorrow,” she said and we hung up. I had to leave the hospital before the shit hit the fan, because tomorrow it would. I handed my badge to the new PT director along with my letter of resignation and left.

Tina got home shortly before eight that night and she saw that Eric was home. She breathed out and took Jackson out of his car seat. She went over to Mrs. Poteet, the nice old lady next door and asked her to watch him for about an hour while she and Eric talked. She reached the door, sighed once more and opened it. Eric was pacing the hallway and looked up as she reached him.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself.”

“We need to talk,” he starts, “I really don’t understand what’s going on between us.”

“What’s going on is, I’m getting older and I’m changing, we’re changing.”

“What’s changing? We don’t need to change; we’re perfect just as we are.”

“Eric, I want more kids, it’s as simple as that.”

“Please, there’s more to our problems than children.”

“How about your lack of parenting skills? How you would rather go fishing or hunting or hang out with the boys than hang out and play with your own boy.”

“That’s such bullshit and you know it. I spend plenty of time with Jackson.”

“What about our lack of physical intimacy? Is the reason why you won’t fuck me because you don’t desire me anymore?”

“Jesus Christina, are you really going to go there? I enjoy every single sexual moment we have.”

“Right, you enjoy it. You’re in, you’re out and it’s over. Forget my needs. Jesus, you won’t touch me because you don’t want to get me pregnant.”

“It all comes back to this? The fact that I won’t give you more children? I don’t want another child; I didn’t want kids in the first place! I just want my fucking freedom back. I want US back.”

“You can’t get US back, there’s no US anymore. There’s you…there’s me…and then there’s Jackson.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you then.”

“You say you didn’t want children. If you don’t want more children, then sign this,” she says and tosses a file folder at him, “I’m done. I can’t pretend anymore. I believe I was put on this earth to be a mother, and you are holding me back.”

“What’s this,” he said and looks through it, “are you fucking serious? Divorce papers?”

“Yes, I want another child; I want four or five more. And I want to be with someone who wants a family, someone who will give me a family and will love them.”

He snorts at her and takes the file folder and walks out the front door. Tina hears his Jeep start and the tires screech as he backs out. She just stands there and sighs, it was over. As she walks over to get Jackson, she’s very upset, but very relieved that it was done. She was able to move on with Bette and start a new life. She feeds Jackson, gives him a bath and showers herself before she reads to him and puts him in bed with her, they both fall asleep contented.