This is the third part to a series of flash stories. The first chapter was "Merry Christmas, Patty." The second was "Happy Father's Day, Patty."
These flash stories are just single scenes in a larger picture. They are loosely based on real people, so the saga is ongoing. I honestly never planned to write any sequels to the original "Merry Christmas Patty", but the story evolved into a series of short, flash stories. It's still growing, evolving, changing. I tried to see if there were a way to put them all together, but there isn't.
I was planning to release this story between Christmas and New Year's Eve 2021, as that's the timeframe this took place. Unfortunately, I lost motivation. I found out that someone had stolen a few of my stories from this site and published them on Amazon. To be honest, that was kind of heartbreaking. I write from my heart, so that was a blow that was too close to home.
I put the pen and pad down for a while, but I've received quite a few emails asking about this series. So here we are, back at it again.
Lastly, many of you commented on my mistake in Patrick's nickname, Patty. I've read several comments and emails telling me that it's "Paddy" not "Patty." Thank you for the correction. However, it's been Patty thus far, and changing it now is irrelevant. So, for continuity's sake, his nickname will remain Patty. Just know that I heard you, even if I'm continuing with the faux pas.
Thank you all for reading. And for your patience. Here is the latest from "Kendra and Patrick."
"Hey Mom?"
"Yeah, Sweetie." Kendra answered her daughter.
The two of them were driving home from Patrick's apartment. Jessi had just spent the weekend with her dad. She was normally somber when it was time to leave her dad, but today seemed different. There was something else clouding her demeanor besides missing the time when her dad was always the next room away. Kendra couldn't put her finger on it, but her mother's intuition was pinging with alerts.
She'd already asked Jessi twice if she was okay. She received the perfunctory, "I'm fine" but they both knew that wasn't a hundred percent honest. Still, Kendra was learning to respect her daughter's boundaries and not push so much, so she didn't force it.
Their relationship had been in a fragile state for a while now, and she was trying to be more open with Jessi. Her hope was that Jessi would eventually feel comfortable enough to reciprocate, like she did with her dad.
Patrick always made it look so easy. He'd always been a good listener and responded well to unexpected news. Kendra wished she were more like that. She hated the "women are emotional" trope, but that was normally her first reaction.
It was obvious that he was the favorite parent. Jessi was a daddy's girl through and through. Kendra envied their relationship, which only added to her anxiety. Being the less than favorite parent is one of those pitfalls to navigate when going through a Spousal Separation.
There was a slight pause in Jessi before she asked, "What ever happened to Mr. Sean?"
That made Kendra do a doubletake, briefly taking her eyes off the road. Jessi quickly cut away from her mom's surprised glance. She wanted to make the question sound casual and aloof. Kendra's reaction showed she failed.
Kendra's two-and-a-half-year affair with Sean ended almost 6 months ago. It was right before Father's Day. He didn't take it well, but he respected her decision, albeit a bit begrudgingly. She couldn't fault him that. She had essentially wasted over two years of his life chasing a woman he had no prayer of catching.
Jessi had never really taken to Sean. Who could possibly expect her to? Even in her young, 10-year-old mind, she knew that his intrusion into her mom's life was directly connected to her father's exit. She heard the arguments. She caught the barbed comments they threw at each other, often assuming she wouldn't catch them because of her age. But most of all, she heard the deep sobs of pain in the middle of the night. Her mom cried in the bathroom when she was showering. Her dad cried as he slept on the couch, covering his sobs with his pillow.
No matter how much her parents tried to shield her from the sadness and anger, they couldn't hide the pain that lurked beneath. Even when they told her, "I love you" she felt like something was missing. Something that was once there but now gone.
And honestly, that made her not only sad, but angry. She was angry with Sean for breaking up her family. She was angry with her mom for being with him. And she was angry with her dad for letting it happen in the first place.
The truth was, Sean was a symptom of an even bigger disease of Kendra's and Patrick's marriage. He was a cough in the face of the Cancer that was killing them from the inside. But for Jessi, it was as simple as
Dad leaves as Sean enters.
And despite how young she was, she smelled bullshit on the claim that Sean was just
Mommy's Friend.
So, to have Jessi randomly ask about the whereabouts of a man that she held no warm feelings for (at best) piqued Kendra's interest.
Curiously, she asked, "Why are you asking about him, Sweetheart?"
Still avoiding her gaze, Jessi shrugged and answered. "I dunno. Just curious, I guess. Haven't seen him in a while."
Kendra had to momentarily return to the road to make sure the two of them didn't end up in a ditch, but she said, "Well...I guess you can say that he and I decided that it was best for us not to be friends any longer."
Jessi let out an annoyed sigh at the word
"friends".
A part of her wanted to scream at that, but she wasn't raised to outright disrespect her mother. Instead, she just rolled with it and asked, "Sooooo...he's not gonna...you know...keep you company anymore?"
"Keep me company?" Kendra asked with a chuckle that was both nervous and amused, realizing that Jessi may know more than she let on.
"Yeah. You know...hang out and stuff. Do that artsy stuff you guys used to do."
Kendra was slightly taken aback. Jessi definitely knew things. One of Kendra's and Sean's common interests was art. It was one of the things she could do with him that she couldn't do with Patrick.
Adults often forget that kids pick up a lot more than we give them credit for. They are like silent observers, watching our actions to one day mimic.
That thought scared Kendra. A lot. She'd been doing a bit of soul searching lately. Talks with her therapist via Zoom had been very illuminating. Most of the time, she explored her affair with Sean, and the conflicting feelings she had involving it.
On the one hand, she considered it the worst decision of her life. It cost too much. Not just her marriage and her family, but who she wanted to be as a person. She was no longer proud of the woman she'd become.
On the other hand, she felt something for Sean. Love? Maybe, but not the kind she had for Patrick. What she had with Sean was a kindred spirit of sorts. His youthful vigor gave her something that she needed at that time. Yes, it was wrong, but it felt right. If she'd met him in a different lifetime, things could've been much different for them.
Her affair with Sean wasn't the only thing she and her therapist explored together. Sean was just the tip of the iceberg. There was so much more inside of her that she hadn't even realized was there. How she got to the place where she felt the need to cheat on her husband was a long road mired in codependency.
"No. We won't be spending any more time together." Kendra answered. For some reason, she felt the need to add, "I think it's for the best. You know?"
Jessi nodded with a thin smile before turning her attention to the passenger window. A few moments of silence passed between them, the only sound being the low humming of the car's engine. Then, very carefully, almost delicately, Jessi asked, "Do you think Daddy will ever come back to live with us again?"
If there were ever a group of words that could bring Kendra to her knees, it was those. It was a question she'd been asking for months now. She'd asked herself whenever there was a still moment in her day. Could they get past this and find their way back to each other?
She didn't have an answer for Jessi, or herself. Instead, she answered her question with some of her own.
"What's going on Sweetheart? Why are you asking about Sean all of a sudden?"
