Two weeks after Jocelyn left away I was offered a Director's position with a good sized hospital. Being an experienced administrator who has a reputation for always paying attention to the "bottom line" and the efficient utilization of services made me a very competitive find. In the current economic market there simply weren't too many jobs that I was tailored for, in terms of education and experience. Hospital administration was a perfect fit for me and I was gainfully employed.
I hired a nanny to come in afternoons to be with the kids and prepare the evening meals. Logistical issues due to not having Jocelyn home forced me to begin using a couple of different babysitters. Sitters would stay with the kids on weekends when I was called in for an emergency situation (which was rare). Usually a Physician or Nurse (on-call) would be called in for an emergency surgery. As the administrator I am usually just notified of emergency cases.
Jocelyn began calling the kids at 8:30PM every evening. The regularity of her calls helped her and the kids be prepared and look forward to the conversations. For the most part the calls, usually on the kitchen's speaker phone, consisted of telling Jocelyn what they did in school that day, what they had for dinner or what they had planned for the weekend. Sometimes I would stand around the corner and listen in on the calls to doing what I believed was a father's job to monitor the exchanges. I wanted to make sure the content of the calls was appropriate for children and that Jocelyn wasn't denigrating me or our family. After the webcam display I was "gun shy" and wanted to make sure my children did not become unsuspecting receptacles, so to speak, for the problems Jocelyn and I were experiencing.
There was never an inappropriate exchange that I overheard. I also heard the "mother" in Jocelyn emerge in a way that made me a little relieved. I wasn't sure why I felt this way; it was probably they way she began talking about the kids and me.
"Don't you love us anymore?" Jimmy, my seven-year old toe-headed wonder asked with eyes wide and near tears. As the youngest he fell into that category of always being picked on by his older brother, John, and then rescued by his older sister, Karen. When Karen would intercede to defend little Jimmy John always backed off and apologized. Yes, they are great kids. Karen could mediate in a way that Jocelyn and I, as the authoritative parents, could never do.
"Of course I do Jimmy. And I miss you so much! It is important I do a few things to make sure we can always be together, and this is taking me time. Please be patient with me." Jocelyn sounded sincere, like the wonderful mother she has always been! Her sincerity helped address my fears and anxieties.
"Then why did Dad make you leave? Don't you love Dad anymore?" Karen was a very perceptive girl all of nine years old. There was no doubt in my mind she would go on to college to do something scholarly, maybe even become a psychologist. I almost felt guilty as I eavesdropped on their conversation but needed, at least for my own sense of self-confidence, to hear her response.
"Karen, you need to believe me, it is nothing your father did. It is something I did that hurt your father, something I will regret for the rest of my life. I am spending time alone trying to figure out how to make things right with your father. Please help your father as much as you can. He is a good man and not at fault for me not being home." Even though Jocelyn had chosen her words carefully I did not believe she was feeding the kids a line of bullshit.
"Mom, what did you do that was so bad?! If you love Dad, and he loves you, what's the big deal?" John, my oldest, was never one to mince words and was straight-to-the-point. Tact was not something he considered as important and that is probably why he picked on Jimmy only to be chastised by his sister.
"John, let's just say I did something that hurt your father terribly. It was my entire fault and I am struggling to find a way to make it up to him. I did something I am not proud of and need each of you to understand you mean the world to me." I knew John, now 14, had discovered the internet. Even though his time on the computer, located in the family room, was limited and supervised, I wondered if he'd discovered live webcams. I was hoping this thought entered Jocelyn's mind as it did mine.
As I listened in on the kids conversation with their mother I wondered where we would be now if I had not discovered what Jocelyn was really doing when she went to "work"?
I didn't need to hear anymore and was a little afraid my kids would learn I was listening in on the conversation. I was just relieved Jocelyn was not trying to push this off onto me or was shrugging her responsibility. Aside from Jocelyn's calls to her children I spoke to her, albeit cordially, only when I picked up the phone in the evenings.