"...and do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?"

 

"I do," he whispered quietly to himself in the back of the church, turning around and slipping back out the front just as quietly as he had entered.

 

I checked my watch and the hands read 12:02.

 

"Two minutes late," I muttered while walking down the church steps that had felt oh so familiar. I should be happy for Keegan; it's her wedding day. So what if the kids are a few minutes late? I dropped them off a couple of hours late a few weeks back; this is not a big deal.

 

But I still couldn’t get over it, pacing back and forth around the front corridor.

 

It's not like I wasn't invited, I was one of the first to receive the invitation, but also one of the first to RSVP no.

 

So, there I sat for another hour waiting for Leo and Jamie to finish their mother's wedding so we could go home. It really showed how little respect Keegan had for my time. I got off work early just so she and her stupid boyfriend Kevin could go on their honeymoon. Why did I agree to this in the first place? Oh yeah, now I remember. Because I am still in love with her. How could I deny her request?

 

"Lucas do you think you could grab the kids right after the wedding?" she asked me.

 

"Of course, Keegan. I would be more than happy to take the kids over your weekend, so you and your boyfriend could go to a nice hotel resort in the Caribbean," I had replied. Obviously with less sarcasm but you get the point.

 

Now I am sitting here, on the church steps wasting time I could've been spending at the deli. Does she not know how much I have to work just to provide for the kids?

 

I could hear people shuffling in the church and then the exit music began filling the hall and the push of the door released it to the world. As calm as I possibly could, I hopped the fence and began walking like I had just arrived, and totally hadn't been watching the whole thing for the past hour.

 

"Jamie! Leo!" I said with a smile on my face as if I was surprised to see them there.

  

"Dad!” They ran up and embraced me with open arms.

 

Jamie started first, "How are you? Where have you been? What have you been up to?"

 

"Hello to you, too," I replied with a bright smile.

 

 Keegan started to walk over, "Hey, thanks again for taking them. We will be back in a week. I'll text you when I am coming to pick them up."

 

"Don't even worry. You are gonna have such a good time."

 

"Keegan, let’s go!" someone yelled from the distance.

 

"Well, that's me. Bye, guys. I love you." She gave Leo and Jamie a kiss and then made her best sprint while in heels and a dress towards the crowd of people exiting the church.

 

"I missed you guys," giving them a hug. "How about we head home and eat?"

 

"I am starving. We were running late this morning so mom didn't let us get breakfast," Jamie said.

  

"Okay, we have leftovers I brought home from the deli you can have."

 

"Uhhhh, again!" Jamie moaned back.

 

"Hey, it's good and free. Don't complain, some kids don't have anything to eat."

 

"Well, at the wedding they had some of the best mashed potatoes I have ever seen. Dad, you would have absolutely loved them. And, oh my gosh, the cake was chocolate and vanilla. And they had an ice cream bar with every flavor of ice cream you could ever imagine. And..."

 

"Well, Leo we aren't at the wedding anymore so that wedding food should satisfy you for the next couple of years."

 

"Leo, we weren't even allowed to touch it," she then said in a mocking voice, "The food is for the guests, not you guys."

 

“It still looked delicious.”

 

The rest of the walk included stories from the wedding, although even though I tried to be positive, Jamie could tell I wasn't into it. "Hey, Dad. I have this school play tomorrow and mom usually goes but since she is gone, I'd love it if you could come."

 

I immediately replied, "Yes, I would love to go. Thank you, sweetie!" I am usually never able to go to her school activities because I am double-booked.

 

Oh crap! I completely forgot! I have work tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. But I couldn't tell her that; she would say I didn't have to go and it wasn't a big deal. Obviously, this meant something to her or she wouldn't have even brought it up.

 

Well, I guess I am gonna have to find a way out of it. I've always been so awful at getting out of things. My mom would say, "Never a No out of you Mr." It was true, I could never say no or lie, ever.

 

~

 

 

We arrived back at the apartment building and began the climb.

 

"Last one there is a rotten eggplant," Leo screamed as he sprinted up the stairs.

 

"Stop, that's so unfair. I wasn't even ready." Jamie followed behind in close pursuit.

 

I got to the top of the stairs and was greeted with a brand new and bubbling argument.

 

"I clearly got here first!" said Leo.

 

"No, I was the first one to touch the door handle," Jamie rebutted.

 

"So what? I got here first!"

 

"The rules clearly state it is the first one to touch the door handle."

 

"What? Nobody ever told me that!"

 

"Well, now you know and I won."

 

"That is so unfair. Dad, Jamie cheated and I clearly won.

 

“No, I won.”

 

“Stop saying you won! You did not win. Stop looking at me like that...Dad, please tell her to stop!"

 

"How about I win" As I pushed them to the side and unlocked the door. Why was I so tired? It was only 2 and I was ready to go to bed.

 

We spent the next couple of hours eating the leftover deli meat and just hanging out. I ended up on the couch with a blanket and pillow. I am not sure how it happened but I was okay with it.

 

I was out. I came back to consciousness at 2 a.m. the next day. Rubbing my eyes brought me back into reality. Well, now I can't go back to sleep.