Jilted

Violet and Xander slowly walked down the stairs together at their mother's, Ursula, calling. There in the hall was a man standing with a suitcase who they both detested.

"Violet, Xander, welcome David," she said excitedly. "As I told you he'll be part of our family now."

"Mom," Violet replied with disdain, "you haven't even finished divorcing Dad yet!"

"Well, I thankfully soon will be," her mother answered firmly unhappy that her children weren't sharing her excitement.

"Don't you think it is a little classless?" Violet continued refusing to let up.

"Violet!" Ursula snapped at her daughter angrily.

"Is that his car," Xander said looking through the still-open front door at the less-than-spectacular but now familiar car sitting on the driveway. "I thought you said that this guy was successful. Dad has bought himself a Mercedes SUV, top of the range. It's pretty cool."

"Good see you kids again," David said somewhat awkwardly after, Xander's less than kind comparison to his father. "Yeah, I'm looking to trade up too. Got a promotion coming up so we'll all be rolling in it soon."

Neither Violet nor Xander looked impressed. A tense air of silence hung in the air.

"Welcome, David to our home!" Ursula hissed at her children, seething at her children's rudeness.

"Yeah, whatever," Violet said unkindly as both children walked back upstairs.

"They just need a little adjusting," Ursula soothed a distraught-looking David as her children returned to their rooms. "I'll talk to them. They'll come around."

Violet, 16, and Xander, 12, were told of their parents' separation six months before when they were told of her mother's infidelity. This was after two years of watching their parents arguing, their mother's coldness towards their father, Gary, her berating of him and her regular weekends and holidays away with her girlfriends, family, trips to see family and any other excuses to be away overnight. It got to the point that not even they believed her mother. It broke their heart to see their father lose his self-respect desperately trying to save their marriage. Their parents tried marriage counselling but David was never far from out of the picture. When their mother was away, they could hear their father sobbing at night.

After two years, Gary finally snapped. He found evidence of her affair before filing for divorce and named David in it. Both parents sat down with their children to explain why they were separating. Xander cried and Violet stared at her mother with ill-concealed hostility. Ursula refused to look at either of her children in the eye as she sat uneasily in front of them, anger not far from the surface. She tried to hold their father equally responsible but it cut no ice because it was only believable to her. All she could offer was that she fell in love with someone else.

What followed was a tortuous three months while Gary looked for a place to stay. It was almost a relief when he moved out. Not that it made living at home any more pleasant. Both Violet and Xander held so much anger towards their mother who was too infatuated with David to notice.

Once the divorce proceedings began after Gary had moved out, it became bitter as no love was love lost between Gary and Ursula. Gary sued for full custody of his children and the house. Ursula fought back and demanded alimony on top of the child support, the house for which Gary was to pay the mortgage and only supervised visitations of Violet and Xander.

It took six months for the divorce to complete. What the unimpressed judge ruled was unsatisfactory to everyone. Gary still had to pay his half the mortgage until, if ever, Ursula married again as well as child support. Custody was complicated by the difference in the children's ages. Violet was deemed old enough to choose which parent to live with, but Xander wasn't. It was decided that Xander would stay in the family home with Ursula during the week and spend weekends with his father. Violet reluctantly decided to do the same for the sake of her brother. She cried into her father's arms when she told him. Gary equally tearfully told his daughter how proud of her he was of what she was doing for her brother.

Their parents' divorce made Violet and Xander closer especially as Violet was forced to babysit her brother while her mother continued her affair with David.

A month after their parents' separation, Ursula took Violet and Xander out for dinner to meet David for the first time. It didn't take the children long to work out who David was.

"Violet, Xander, this is David, the man I have been dating," Ursula told her children proudly, squeezing David's hand.

"You mean he's the guy you cheated on Dad with," Violet sneered. Xander slouched in his chair with his arms crossed and looked away sulkily.

"Violet!" Ursula snapped, looking around to see if any of the other diners heard her daughter.

"It's okay, Ursula," David smiled uneasily but not happy at Violet's disdainful bluntness. "I wish your mother and I could have met under different circumstances but when you're older you'll realize that love doesn't always work how you want."

"Yeah, Dad learnt that the hard way," Violet replied.

Anger flashed across David's face and Ursula was trying hard to hold in her fury.

"Xander, I hear you're quite the baseball player," David said brightly to Xander, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, I'm good," Xander replied surly not bothering to look at David in the eye.

"Maybe you and me could catch a game?" David offered smiling.

"That would be wonderful, wouldn't it Xander?" Ursula agreed happily. "Thank you, David."

"Nah," was all Xander said. The David and Ursula's smiles dropped. The atmosphere at the table became tense with Violet's hostility, Xander's sulking, David's frustration and Ursula's concealed anger. The meal was eaten in silence and dessert was declined by both children who were eager to leave.

"That was extremely rude of both of you!" Ursula told her children angrily as she drove them all home. "David was trying very hard to get to know you and you publicly disrespected him!"

"I don't like him," Xander spoke from the back seat.

"I can't believe you left Dad for him," Violet added. "Dad is so much better than he is."

Ursula wiped away a tear and began to look visibly upset, "If you just give him a chance, you'll grow to love him like I do. He is such an amazing man." Neither Violet nor Xander gave a reply and indignantly looked out of the car window. When they got home Violet and Xander went straight to their rooms leaving their mother to tearfully apologize to David on the phone for their behavior.

"Dad, you can't be happy about it!" Violet screamed at her dad in frustration when she told him about meeting David. "Can't you tell Mom we don't want to know him!"

"No, I am not happy about it," Gary replied sounding exasperated before taking on a more soothing tone to calm his daughter down, "but this day was always going to come. There isn't anything I can do about it unless he harms you. If I know your mother, you'll be seeing a lot more of him too. Look, I'm not going to punish you for your behavior around him, that is up to your mother."

Gary's intuition was right, Ursula convinced herself that the more Violet and Xander saw of David they would grow to love him. There was no way that they wouldn't. David was too wonderful of a man for that not to happen.

David began to come for dinner and stay overnight. The bare minimum of conversation was returned despite his best efforts. He bought presents which would be carelessly discarded and disappear after David had left. Ursula would later find them in the trash, still in their boxes, unopened.

Ursula even invited David and his parents over, calling them Violet's and Xander's step-grandparents. To her intense frustration and David's parents' confusion, Violet and Xander still refused to engage.

"Violet, Xander, I need to talk to you," Ursula told her children firmly. Inside she was fuming. Their behavior wasn't normal. She was trying so hard to bring David into her children's lives but her children consistently refused. She was convinced Gary was encouraging them to behave this way. "I need to understand why you are behaving the way towards David. He has been nothing but kind to you but neither of you is giving him a chance. Why is that? Is your father telling you to do it?"

"Dad told us it is your problem, not his. He doesn't want to know," Violet retorted. "Anyway, we don't like David because of what he did to Dad. I can't believe you are forcing him on us."

"Violet, myself and David are in a loving relationship, you have to accept that," Ursula responded sounding exasperated. "He is going to be part of your life whether you like it or not!" Ursula instantly regretted saying it the way she did.

"So, you ARE forcing him on us!" Violet said what Ursula feared she would.

"No one is forcing anyone on you. David is going to be part of our family. I just want you to accept him. Let him make you as happy as he makes me," she said almost pleading in her frustration.

"That still sounds like you are forcing him on us. You need to accept that we don't like him and never will."

"And you Xander? Are you going to tell me you don't like David either?" Ursula asked accusingly to her son.

Xander just slowly shook his head in disgust, "I just don't want to know him."

Ursula just couldn't understand her children. Why they were behaving like this? She felt exasperated and frustrated. Her sex life with David was suffering because of it. The only time they enjoyed sex was when Violet and Xander were with their father on weekends. It seemed like it was so much better when she was still married.

The more she thought about it the more she was convinced Gary was behind it all.

After her talk with her children, she made sure Gary could see David whenever he picked up their children or dropped them off. She wanted him to see that she, David, and the children were a happy family and he couldn't get between them. At first, she could see, with satisfaction, that seeing David was getting to Gary but he then started to appear happier and more relaxed. She tried to send David to Gary's house to pick up the children out of spite but the children refused to get into his car and Gary had to take them home instead.

All Ursula could think of doing next was to have David move in with them. He was far more reluctant than she expected. Despite the problems with the children, she thought everything was good between them.

So here they were, with David standing at the front door with his suitcase and his belongings in his lackluster car having been snubbed once more by Violet and Xander while Ursula consoled him.

If Ursula thought having David moving in with them would make Violet and Xander accept him then she was sorely mistaken. An already tense home became even more tense. Violet and Xander continued to refuse to engage with David. Mealtimes were silent affairs. When David attempted to interact with them, Violet and Xander would wait in an awkward silence until he got the message and left. Offers to game with Xander were repulsed, and offers to teach Violet to drive were given a sharp, "That's my dad's job." Any attempt to integrate David into the family just fell on deaf ears. Even when Violet and Xander were forced to interact as a family that included David failed. It wasn't long before David began to complain and to suggest that Violet and Xander should more time with their father.

A furious Ursula now had enough and confronted Gary as he picked up his children from his former home,

"Gary, you need to talk to your children about what they are doing to David!" she told him angrily. "Whatever you are telling them, you need to stop!"

"What do you want me to do about it?" Gary shrugged. "You brought that asshole into their lives, not me."

"I know what you're doing! You need to stop or I'll go to court and stop all access to Xander and Violet!"

"You're delusional!" Gary laughed in disbelief. "You cheated on me with him then you complain that they won't accept your asshole of a lover. Perhaps a relationship born from infidelity wasn't such a good idea after all? Violet and Xander are good kids and know right from wrong. They can make their own opinion; they don't need me to tell them. They're old enough to decide for themselves. What happens between them and David isn't my problem."

Ursula scowled at her ex-husband and stormed back into the house.

An attempt at a holiday only worked because Violet and Xander went off alone and left Ursula and David together. It gave their flagging relationship a boost.

Gary's indifference to David's and Ursula's relationship soon became apparent. During dinner, after Gary had dropped Violet and David off, Violet and Xander began to talk excitedly about Gary's new girlfriend. She had called on Gary unannounced while Gary was out on an errand and the children were alone at home unaware the children were there. The unintentional meeting went surprisingly well. A nervous Gary arrived to see his children and girlfriend talking. After some awkward questions were answered and Gary's assurance that his girlfriend already knew about them, how his marriage to his mother ended and that she made him happy, the children embraced her.

Ursula could have screamed in anger as she listened. They barely said David's name after almost about six months of trying but with one unplanned meeting, their father's new girlfriend was welcomed with open arms by her children.

Despite all the problems, Ursula was determined to prove that her and David's relationship was a success. Her social media use exploded. She posted photos of her and David hugging and smiling, telling the world how lucky she was. There were photos of her and the children. Photos of David at the children's events, Xander's baseball games, and Violet's soccer games. She desperately tried to portray David as her children's loving stepfather.

There is only so much you can fake. A birthday for Xander became a point of contention. She held his birthday at their house and put a lot of effort and expense into it. Not only were Xander's friends invited but also their parents and siblings. Ursula also invited David's family and began to call David's nephews Xander's and Violet's cousins. To Ursula's intense frustration, Xander insisted that Gary was invited too and Gary insisted that he was allowed to contribute to the party.

Xander had a great time. So did Violet who knew many of Xander's friends' elder brothers and sisters. The problem was Gary. Ursula was delighted in introducing David to all of Xander's friends' parents but Gary had known them a long time and they were all keen to see how Gary was doing. David became more and more sidelined in his own home. David's whole family were cold-shouldered by Ursula's children. Xander completely ignored David. He refused to have his photo taken with him but he had plenty with his father and the parents at the party began to notice. Gary was ruining the party she had carefully organized.

David then did, as far as Ursula was concerned, the most amazing thing. He got down on one knee and proposed to her with a ring she had no idea he had bought. The surprised Ursula could not believe it and cried with happiness. Applause broke out at the proposal; she was sure of it. It truly was the happiest day of her life.

She insisted the four of them had their photo taken. If there were any negative comments, she didn't hear them. She, David, Violet and Xander were going to officially become a family.

If Violet and Xander felt unhappy about Ursula's forthcoming wedding to David then they didn't show it. It appeared to be the best move that David could have made. Their attitude towards David was transformed. They began to engage with him, go out alone with him, and even smile around him. The tense atmosphere of the past months evaporated. Ursula felt they were a family, something she had dreamed of ever since she first met David.

In her delirium, Ursula couldn't see a reason to delay the wedding. It was planned for the beginning of the school summer holidays so Gary could take the children while she and David went on honeymoon. She had wanted to have the wedding as soon as her divorce was finalized but there were practicalities with the children's education. The only thing that took any wind from her sails was Gary's lack of interest. All she got from him was an unemotional "Congratulations," with a shrug of his shoulders. He really was worthless. Divorcing him was the best decision she ever made.

Everything leading up to the wedding was perfect. The arrangements went smoothly. All guests invited accepted. The day of the wedding was sunny and warm. Nothing appeared like it could go wrong.

In the few weeks leading up to the wedding, there was a change in the children. Ursula couldn't put her finger on it. There appeared to be a nervous excitement about them. Like they could not wait for something to happen. She assumed that it was the wedding and the fast-approaching school holidays. It made sense. The wedding was a big deal and they were going to have an important role. Xander was going to walk her down the aisle and Violet was to be her bridesmaid. Ursula wanted her father to walk her down the aisle but although they were attending, they had taken a dislike to David. Ursula loved going wedding dress shopping with Violet. Xander appeared happy to buy a wedding suit with David.

The wedding was to be held in a nearby resort hotel overlooking a lake. The grounds were beautiful and ideal for photos. Ursula was more excited than she had ever been in her life.

During the wedding rehearsal, Ursula noticed Violet and Xander were smiling a lot at each other. Like they were planning something but during the entire rehearsal the happiness they were showing the previous months appeared to disappear. They refused to smile and looked uninterested in what was happening. They had to be told several times to do anything they were asked to. They were constantly whispering together and laughing making the whole rehearsal difficult.

Ursula could feel her anger rising but they had a surprise defender in David,

"Relax, they are just kids. They're probably just excited or nervous," he told her. David was right, of course. Violet and Xander had now completely accepted him so why else would they misbehave?

The day of the wedding began perfectly. Ursula and Violet went to have their hair, nails and makeup done. Mother and daughter together, looking beautiful. The caterers were on time as were the flowers.

Things started to go wrong just before the ceremony. Xander went missing. Violet went to look for her brother and did not return. Ursula paced outside the small hotel chapel. All the guests were inside waiting. David was waiting. Where were her children? She couldn't get married without them!

"Where have you been!?" she demanded angrily as they returned. "Xander, where is your buttonhole?"

Xander looked down and smirked, "I must have left it in the room." Violet suppressed a giggle.

"It's not funny!" Ursula snapped furiously. "Xander, go and get it, now!" she shouted. Xander looked shocked at his mom's anger and turned and ran back to his room. Ursula was starting to feel stressed. Everything was perfect so she wasn't going to allow anything to go wrong now. An usher slipped out of the chapel to check if everything was alright.

"My son just forgot his buttonhole," she laughed with a joking roll of her eyes. "Boys!" Inside she was not laughing.

Fifteen minutes later Xander returned with his buttonhole in hand. Ursula snatched off him and fastened it herself. She did up the top button on his shirt, straightened his tie and fastened the top button of his suit.