I'll See You in the Morning 4 Ftds

One of the problems with

750 word stories

is that it leaves some readers up in the air with what happened to the cast of characters. So, I have taken to finishing off with a FTDS add on, so here we go, I like happy endings, most of my readers know that. But there must be pain.

Here we go with 'I will see you in the Morning 4 FTDS.' You will have needed to read 'I will see you in the Morning 4 750' for this to make any sense. This part of the story starts before Linda is brought home by Vale.

I assume you have read 'I will see you in the Morning 750', so no need for my usual warnings.

Some of you out there want Linda to have physical punishment, physical pain can go away, I know I have had enough over the years. But to me psychological pain can last a very long time.

If you do not like happy endings stop now.

It is just a story, please enjoy it.

For continuity some of this is written in the same brusque style as 'I will see you in the morning 4, 750.

Before I left the house to wait behind the oak tree I sent an email to family, both Linda's and mine explaining exactly what happened yesterday evening and what I was going to do, just family, not friends. Well, I did include our ex-friends but they had been there when Linda walked out with Vale so they knew all about what happened.

Now they would know the consequences of what they helped arrange.

Both sets of parents did get a longer version with some requests concerning the children. My parents got some more of my plans.

Sitting behind the tree just after nine o'clock my phone went mad with texts and calls from parents, family and ex-friends. I switched the phone on silent and ignored them. Nothing from Linda.

Then I managed to wreck Vale's Ferrari and made him mess himself.

As I walked past the wrecked Ferrari, I saw some of our neighbours with their phones out recording Vale's humiliation. I smelt burning motor car. I did not look back.

I got to the police station and asked to see someone. I explained to a sergeant exactly what happened and I was turning myself in for the theft of chain from the club and the council park, plus the wilful damage of one Ferrari. Oh, and firing an air pistol at Vale.

I did point out that the club and the council could go to my house and collect the chains, they were too heavy for me to carry to the Police station.

The Policeman seemed confused and put me in an interview room and brought me coffee. It was not too bad, but there again, I do not drink much coffee, so I am no judge. I sat there wondering what it would be like to spend a year or so at His Majesty's Pleasure. I would definitely be off grid, but would not be able to help the children.

When they asked for my address, I told them 'No fixed abode' but I gave them my phone number and told them I had some money and would let them know where I was when I settled down. But it would not be local as I was concerned Vale and his mates would come for me after making him mess himself and wrecking his Ferrari. It was pretty obvious who did it.

A detective came and saw me, he told me that the theft of chains was a minor crime and as I seemed remorseful, at this time no further action would be taken. I was not to do it again. However, if they received a complaint about the wrecked Ferrari and the air pistol incident they would be in touch, but until that happened, I was free to go. They would inform the club and the council where to collect their chains. I felt like a small boy who had been told off by his school teacher.

I was hoping for at least one night in the cells, now I would have to find somewhere to go overnight.

Whilst waiting for Linda to come home, if she was going to? I had decided to leave her. I could not live with someone who would do that to me. She could not love me the way I loved her, and I still did love her. But I made the decision to move on, but she would have to bring the children up herself. Whilst it would hurt more than what she did, I would have to leave the children. One day I would tell them why. But I would not ignore them.

That was the request I sent to both sets of parents, to help her with the children, her not so much. I had taken five thousand pounds and left Linda the house, the rest of our savings and my car. I quit my job and decided to move away, as I could not live in the area or with Linda after what she did. I sent a resignation email to my Boss. Once I was settled, I would send any money I could spare to my parents to pass on to Linda to help bring up Sean and Carrie, I planned to send presents for the children at Christmas and on Birthdays. I told my parents I wanted nothing to do with Linda and not to let on to Linda, but if she took up with someone else, they were to tell me and I would stop paying.

In the email to my Mum and Dad I told them every second month, on the first of the month between twelve and one o'clock I would turn my phone 'on' so they could contact me if they wished. A phone window. But if anyone else contacted me at that time I would throw my phone away and never speak to them again. It was an empty threat, but they did not know that.

I needed to know how the children were doing.

But for now, I needed somewhere to sleep. My overnight accommodation plan for the Police Station had failed. I needed a new one. Then I saw it, two birds with one stone. Sleep and somewhere to go.

I walked to the bus station and got on the first National Express bus that pulled in and asked for the end of the line. Norwich it seems.

East Norfolk is the land of swamps, it took a while to settle into swampland, but the swampies were welcoming. I had heard they disliked outsiders, but that was not true. I found a job on the holiday boats on the Broads.

The first phone window Dad phoned me exactly at twelve o'clock. He asked where I was. I did not tell him. He mentioned Linda wanted to talk. I hung up. He phoned again, I answered, when he mentioned Linda again, I hung up. The third time he phoned he did not mention Linda, he talked about the children. He got the rule. I chatted with Mum; she was worried about me. Dad asked if Linda's parents could phone during the phone window. I said they could, I had nothing against them.

The following phone window Linda's parents phoned spot on twelve o'clock, they had obviously got the rule, they never mentioned Linda. The children were doing well but they were asking questions about where I was. They just told the children I was working away from home. Linda was never mentioned.

The job on the boats lasted the summer, when winter came, I was let go. It was fun but I got the impression they thought I was a miserable bastard. They were probably correct.

During the winter I found a job on a building site. That was rough, but it paid better and I could send more money home for the children. The parents mentioned gently that Linda was managing with a little help from them with her job and the money I sent there was some left over for little luxuries.

I stayed in Norfolk for a few years and then ended up in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland because someone invited me on a building job on an airfield up there, probably because no one else wanted the job. It paid well, but it was cold and wet.

Then for some reason, I ended up in Spain as a Holiday Company rep and tour guide. I wanted warm weather after the Hebrides. It appears that mature reps exude confidence and I was fit from my time on building sites. I had a few dalliances out there, but I made it a rule never to play with married or engaged women. I stayed well away from hen weekends even though the strong silent persona I portrayed was an attraction to them. Actually, I was just a miserable bastard. I bedded divorcees and even a widowed Grandmother, she was good.

It was okay working there; I could send most of my money home as I could eat free and have drinks brought for me. After that, I ended up in Sheffield in an office. I bumped into an old mate in Spain who remembered what I used to do. It appears there's a dearth of people with my skills as a Mechanical Designer in the UK. So, I returned home. I went back to my old job. Whilst things had moved on in the years I had been away from the business, my experiences on boats, building sites and managing people, if Holidaymakers can be called people, I soon moved up the supervisor side of things. That paid much better and I could send more home. I had simple needs.

I was getting regular updates on the children; they were doing well. They stopped asking about me. It appears there had been a big argument and one day Sean and Carrie turned up at my parent's place, Sean was fifteen and Carrie thirteen. The children said the argument was about me. They asked their mother why I had left them. All she would say was it was her fault, but would not expand. So, they blamed me but were particularly rude and disrespectful to their mother.

When I heard about that I wrote them a letter telling them there would be a time when I would tell them everything, but it was not yet.

I told my parents that I thought they were too young, anyway, I wanted Linda to tell them. I got told off by my Mother. I had not seen the children for years and they were more mature than a lot of other children their age.

It was coming up to Sean's eighteenth birthday and I asked my Dad to find out if Sean wanted to know why I left and I would tell him after his birthday if he wanted to know. It was a big thing so I told him the phone would be on all the time.

I got a phone call an hour later.

"That was quick Dad." I said.

"No, Dad it's me."

I was stunned, he sounded so mature, so grown up, but it was definitely Sean.

He carried on quickly. "Please don't hang up Dad, two weeks won't make any difference, please talk to us, please."

He was correct. "Okay, sorry, I was a bit stunned to hear your voice, not Grandads."

"That's okay. We know the rules, no talking about Mum, but we might get it wrong; if we do, please don't hang up Dad. Just tell us we have done it."

Hang on! "Sean, what is this 'we'?" I did not think I was going to like the answer, I sensed a trap.

"Dad, Carrie's here with me and Nanny and Grandad."

"I don't think Carrie is ready for..."

"DAD!" Sean interrupted. "Mum told us all about it two years ago. We know all about it. We know what she did with that football bloke."

I was stunned. Sean carried on. "Dad, don't worry, Mum is not here, in fact, she doesn't know we are talking. I've only just told Nanny and Grandad what Mum told us and she appears to have told us the truth. Grandad has shown us the email you sent them when you left. We know you have been speaking to all the grandparents regularly and following what we get up to. Oh, by the way, you're on speaker so Carrie can join in."

I was gobsmacked. "Carrie?"

"Yes Daddy." As I expected, Carrie sounded like a young Linda.

"Are you okay?" I had tears in my eyes.

"Fine Daddy, all the better for hearing your voice. How are you?"

"A bit shocked really. I wasn't expecting this. It has kind of taken the wind out of my sails. I've been worried about how I was going to tell you, how I was going to answer your question as to why I left. But you know so I suppose I don't have to worry anymore about that."

"No Daddy you don't." Said Carrie. "Mum has told us some of how she felt when the football player came up to your table and how she felt when she got home and afterwards. But we don't know how you felt."

Sean piped up. "And no Dad, she did not go into details." Well, that was a relief.

"Daddy, we have so much to say, let's not do it over the phone, let's meet, please. If you're in the country, that is?"

"Does Sheffield count as in the country?"

"I think so Dad." Said Sean.

I hesitated. "I'll have to think..."

"It's time son." I heard my Dad say. I suppose he was right.

We spent the next half hour working out details of where and when, somewhere halfway between where we lived. I insisted they tell their Mother what was happening.

Two weeks later I was pulling into the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham to meet in the cafe. Carrie saw me before I saw them as I walked in. She came hurtling across the cafe and threw her arms around me. Sean just stood up smiling.

We talked for ages, they went on about their plans, they wanted to know what I had been doing, what I was doing now. After about an hour Carrie went for more drinks. It got a bit calmer.

"Thanks for this Dad. It means a lot to Carrie, and to me."

He leaned in as if to share a secret. "Carrie has missed you. So have I."

That made me think a bit. "Were you mad at me when you realised I wasn't coming back?"

"Can we wait till Carrie gets back Dad please?"

"Okay."

Whilst we waited he asked if I had any hobbies. I told him I didn't, I just worked, did a bit of running, sometimes went out with some workmates for a beer and a game of pool. I followed the local village cricket team. But that was it.

He looked quite sheepish and asked. "Er, no girlfriend or a wife?"

He was grown up now, he glanced nervously to where Carrie was waiting in the queue. I had a feeling he wanted the answer before she got back with drinks.

"No, not now, in the past but not now, never anything serious." He seemed to relax a bit at that.

I thought back, there had been a woman about five years ago in Sheffield. We lived together for a few years. It was comfortable. Then she asked me to marry her. I told her I thought I might still be married, it never came up. Things went downhill from there. I overheard her a couple of weeks later talking to some friends we had bumped into in the pub. I went to get more drinks but realised I didn't know what our friends wanted, so I went back. I heard her tell the friends that she'd asked me to marry her and I had turned her down. I heard my girlfriend say she thought I was a cold-hearted bastard, one of the friends looked at her and said. "I have watched him, you're right, he is a cold-hearted bastard because somebody broke it. He will never marry anybody again."

At that, I took a step forward and said. "You're absolutely correct. Now what would you like to drink."

I moved out three days later.

Carrie got back with the drinks and sat down. Sean reached out and put his hand over hers. "Dad wants to know if we're mad at him. We went through that phase together so I thought we had better answer it together. Stop me if I get this wrong."

Carrie butted in. "At first no, because we got the presents and the cards, both grandparents told us you loved us. But after a couple of years, we realised you weren't coming back. So, we built up the courage and asked Mum if you were ever coming back? She looked at us and said 'I hope so, but I don't know, I don't think so and it's all my fault' and then she burst into tears. You hurt our Mummy. So yes, we hated you."

Sean took over. "Dad, you have to understand we were kids and we didn't know what was going on. Both sets of grandparents found out what happened and eventually talked us round. So we stopped hating you, we just didn't like you very much. But Mum kept on saying that we shouldn't because it was her fault, not our fault and not yours either, it was all her fault. Then when I was sixteen she sat us both down and told us we were both old enough to understand. She told us what she'd done, walking off leaving you behind, walking off to spend the night with a famous football player. She told us she regretted it every single day and if she could take it back she would. So over time we forgave you and we understood where you were coming from."

Carrie gave a little sigh. "The presents and the cards kept on coming, no matter what we thought of you. Grandad then told us that you'd been sending him money, and the money that he gave us was mostly from you. Both grandparents topped it up a little bit in the early days. So that's it, we loved you, we hated you, we forgave you and we love you." Tears were pouring down her face. She came around the table and sat beside me and put her arms around me. "Daddy please don't hate us for hating you?"

"I never stopped loving you, I could never do that. I just could not be in the same house with your Mother after what she did."

Then I asked the question I did not want to know the answer to, but had to know.

"How is your Mother, has she met somebody else?"

There was sadness in Sean's face. "She's fine Dad, it's not been easy for her, but she has never complained, not once, she's been a wonderful mother. She had help from both the grandparents as I gather you asked them to do. They have been fantastic too. But she is sad and we often see her looking off into the distance, a tear running down her cheek. Other men, not as far as we know. Uncle Nick was around about two years after you left." He looked at Carrie. "We've talked about this, we don't think he stayed the night." He stopped coming around after a couple of months."

Nick had been a good mate of mine before I left. We used to go to the pub, play pool and football together. I knew he fancied Linda and he was single. I liked him. He would have made a good Dad to Sean and Carrie. I had heard nothing from the parents about Linda taking up with anybody. It was really none of my business, I was the one that walked out.

"Dad, part of the reason for coming here is so we can hear your side of the story."

I hugged Carrie, reached across and took Sean's hand. "Yes, I know, but it's nearly time to go. Let's not end this first meeting on a sour note."

Carrie pulled herself up. "Daddy, can we do this again then?"

I smiled. "Absolutely, you have my phone number. No phone windows, call any time. You can tell your Mother everything we've talked about but she's still not to contact me."

It was hard but we said our goodbyes and I watched Sean and Carrie walk away arm in arm. At least I had mended one bridge. Next time I might have to go further down the country and see both grandparents and thank them properly.

We met up four or five times a year, sometimes they came to Sheffield, and sometimes I went South and stayed with my parents. I did not see Linda. I was not ready.

Over time I told Sean and Carrie my feelings on that Friday and after. There were a lot of tears.

Carrie gave me a call, she wanted a catch up, just Carrie and I. Sean was away at university. He was not far away and went home every other weekend. I had seen all of them including the parents last week so it was a little strange. I had an inclination of what she wanted to tell me, she had been seeing this bloke Harry for fourteen months. I had met him a few times, and he seemed okay.

We met up at a service station on the M5. "Dad. Harry has asked me to marry him. I have said 'Yes'.

"Excellent." I gave her a hug, then pulled back. She could have told me that on the phone. There was more to this.

"You're not pregnant, are you?" She laughed. The laughter reminded me of how her mother laughed.

"No, Dad, I'm not. I can understand why you would think that. We both have careers to get going first. But trust me. You will probably be the third or fourth person to know when it happens."

She had a serious look on her face. "Daddy. I want you to walk me down the aisle, please. And this is the really difficult bit. I want you to stay for the wedding breakfast. You will not sit next to Mum. I expect you to leave as soon as the speeches are over, but I would like one dance." She smiled at me.

"Daddy, you have been a ghost in my past, a shadow apart from the last couple of years. I know you and Mum will never be together again. But I want my children to have four grandparents. Please Daddy."