Chapter 10

After dinner they walked back home in silence. The kids on the other hand where whispering amongst themselves. It wasn’t long before their walk took them to a small park where the kids dashed to the playground.

“Hey you guys come on; it’s too late to play in the playground now.” Elizabeth said.

“Awwwww, Mom, please just ten minutes.” They said at different times.
Elizabeth looked at Howie who looked to the kids.

“Your mom is right you guys we have a big day tomorrow and you have school to go to, if you have finished all your homework and……” he stopped halfway wondering if they had dance lessons to go to.

“You guys don’t have dance tomorrow, your dad and I can bring you, I think Uncle Marco needs to spend some time on his own at the studio, Plus I don’t have any classes to teach so I think it’s ok.” she said and looked at Howie.

“Ok” They said and mumbled slightly as they continued to walk down the street.

“Thank for helping there Howie.” Elizabeth said and smiled.

“I think it was time I started to act like a dad and just leave you to your space.” he said as he avoided looking at her.

They walk to the house seemed long and slow as they walked in silence. The kids looked back to their parents and back to the sidewalk in front of them. They were glad to have a dad, and maybe everything would turn out ok.

“Do you think Dad will move out here now that he knows about us?” Jr quietly asked.

“I don’t know. I guess it would be cool, and then again he could ask Mom if we can visit him during the year” Joshua said.

“I don’t want to leave Mommy all alone. She needs us and besides I like it here I don’t want to go anywhere else” Jocelyne said stubbornly.

It wasn’t long before they reached the house and stepped inside. Ashley and Alex seemed to be in their room and Marco looked like he wasn’t back yet. The triplets all rushed to their rooms and got ready for bed. Howie got ready for another night on the couch and Elizabeth made sure the kids had done all their pre bed rituals. Once the kids were tucked into their beds Elizabeth decided to check on Howie. She walked into the living room only to find that Howie had gone out to the back porch.

“What are you thinking about?” She said softly making him jump.
“Just how different things would have been if I had kept looking for you?” He said as he looked to her.

Elizabeth walked towards him and stood next to him watching the waves roll in; she loved that sounds and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. She noticed Howie’s eyes were staring at her. She cleared her throat gently and looked to him.

“Howie, what we once had is not going to comeback” she said.

“Why? Why can’t it come back? My feelings never left, I was hurt, I was angry, but a part of me never stopped loving you. Why is that so hard to believe?” He asked her as he took a step closer to you.

Elizabeth took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Because I don’t love you” she said and hurried back into the house before he could say another word.

Rushing to her room she closed the door and locked it behind her. Tears began rolling down her face as her heart broke. There was no way she would lose her kids, even if it meant never being with the man she loved. She covered her mouth with her hand as she sobbed and slid down the door. If she was ever going to make sure that she kept her kids she needed to push him away. Gathering herself she walked to her bathroom and splashed water in her face.

Howie knew she was crying, he could tell when he listened through the door. No matter what he was going to find out what was happening to his Ells. He just had to play the game. Taking a deep breath he laid down on the couch and stared at the ceiling before falling asleep.