Hole in the Wall
*Author's Note: I still don't have my 'mojo' back, but I enjoyed finishing up this story. It was a little more than half done, and I've been slowly pecking away at it for a couple of months. I hope you enjoy it!
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"I really wish you'd come home, honey."
There was a long pause before her daughter answered.
"I can't. Not yet anyway."
"Will you at least let me pay for the repairs?"
"Mom, you've already helped so much."
"Since your father passed away, money isn't an issue. So please let me do this. Okay?"
Alicia Wells was 37 years old and recently divorced. A year ago she'd been happily married to her college sweetheart and they'd just celebrated their 14th anniversary. She'd fallen head over heels for him her senior year when he was a Navy ROTC student at the University of Washington in Seattle.
He was so handsome and so confident, and he was always driven and goal-oriented. Alicia wasn't a slouch by any means, but she'd never had his focus. But after a few years as the wife of a Navy officer who later became a Navy SEAL, she learned things like time management, budgeting, and many other things that were, to her ex-husband, Jerry Wells, second nature.
She'd always wanted children but Jerry didn't, and she'd known that going in and believed it wouldn't be that big a deal. He loved the Navy and he loved being a SEAL even more, so she put her wants aside and focused on him and his career. But two years ago, when she turned 35, her biological clock began ticking. As the days went by it turned into an alarm clock. Over a six-month period, it became a jackhammer that was so loud she could no longer ignore it.
She began dropping the first hints about having a baby a couple of months after turning 35. Her husband laughed at first then began ignoring her. But once it became clear she wasn't going to let up he got angry.
This was a side of him Alicia had never seen, and the first time he blew up at her, it scared her so badly she didn't mention children again for the next three months. In fact, she didn't say much of anything during that time. But as the internal ticking got louder and louder, she worked up the courage to bring it up again.
She planned what she thought was a perfect evening. His favorite dinner, her wearing his favorite outfit, and passionate lovemaking later on. But even then, when she casually said she wanted to revisit something, he told her if it was a 'kid' to save it. Actually, the words he used were, "That's never gonna fucking happen!" before he threw off the covers and stormed out of the bedroom.
They'd been stationed at Coronado near San Diego for almost three years, and Jerry had orders sending them to the East Coast that summer. But just two weeks before the movers came, Jerry told her she wasn't going with him.
There was no discussion. He simply informed her in no uncertain terms that he was done and wanted out.
"If it's the baby, I can...."
Alicia didn't get to tell him she could wait another year or two. He cut her off and told her it wasn't just that. What it was drove a stake through her heart.
"I've been seeing someone," the newly-promoted commander told her calmly and matter of factly.
Jerry was what the Navy called a 'fast burner.' He'd been promoted to lieutenant commander and then commander ahead of his peers, and if he continued on pace, he had a very good chance of being an admiral one day.
But all Alicia wanted was a child, and her husband wanted no part of it.
So the following day, as she vacillated between anger and tears, she went looking for a place of her own. Unwilling to ask her mother for help, Alicia called a friend who sold real estate, and started looking for a house or an apartment.
Nothing near the base was even close to her price range. In fact, she couldn't find anything she was willing to live in anywhere in San Diego. So she went a little further south, to the city of Chula Vista, population 271,651, and found a small, two-bedroom place that was liveable but not ideal. The truth was it was far from even being close to ideal, but it was the only thing she could afford even with her half of what they'd saved.
Alicia had a degree in nursing but had never worked in the field. Jerry wanted her to be a stay-at-home wife, and for as long as things went well, she'd mostly enjoyed it. But with a divorce looming, and no money coming from her soon-to-be ex-husband, she needed to find a job ASAP.
The only thing she'd been able to find was working as an LPN, a licensed practical nurse, in a free clinic where the doctor who did the hiring took a chance on her. Alicia was well aware that even at 37 she was still a very attractive woman, and as much as she hated using her feminine charms for anything, she played to her strengths, charmed him, and took the job.
But what she'd done proved to be a double-edged sword. Yes, she had a job, but fending off the doctor who hired her had become constant battle, and after rejecting his advances for the umpteenth time, he let her know he could find numerous legitimate reasons to fire her. Most of it was trumped up, but due to her inexperience there had been a handful of things he could point to, and she had nothing to use to defend herself.
So, as of a week ago, Alicia found herself with no source of income and very little money left in the bank.
Making matters worse, she now had a serious leak in her kitchen, and after having a friend she'd met at the clinic look at it, calling a plumber was her only option. And as much as it pained her to ask, her mom was her only remaining choice. So...she'd called.
"I don't know how much it's going to cost, Mom. It could be expensive."
"Honey? Did you not hear me?" her mother, June Griffith, said as nicely as she could.
"I know. Dad's life insurance was substantial. But that's your money, and I hate asking."
"But I don't hate giving," her mom said just as kindly. "You're my only child, Alicia, and I love you. So it's not a burden to help you out."
Her mom paused for a moment then said, "It wouldn't be a burden to have you come home and live with me, either. At least until you get settled."
There had been plenty of times when the financial stress had nearly broken her, but Alicia still wasn't willing to admit defeat. Determination was another leadership trait she'd learned from Jerry, and giving up was quitting, and quitting was something she despised.
Chula Vista wasn't exactly her idea of heaven on earth, but at least she was free, healthy, and independent. However, the added pressure of her growing need to have a baby wasn't helping, and it was all she could do not to accept her mother's very generous offer to go back home. There, she focus on meeting someone while looking for work without the constant worries about money.
"Not just yet, Mom," Alicia replied rather quietly.
"All right. Just let me know how much it is, okay?"
"I will. And...thanks, Mom."
She paused to swallow hard as she teared up before saying, "I love you."
"I love you, too, honey," her mother, who was also tearing up, said back.
Her mother almost repeated her offer but felt like it wouldn't be much longer until her daughter threw in the towel. She knew her daughter well and understood that the only way Alicia would be able to accept her mother's help was when she realized she couldn't make it on her own. Were she to try and pressure her to come home now, her daughter would resent being there, so for the time being, she was willing to wait.
"Oh. I...I've been thinking about going back to my maiden name."
