The New Ever After (The New Ever After Series) (7 page)

"Yo
u're right volunteering is a good thing to do," said Jenny. "But I don’t think getting a job had much to do with needing money. She just wanted to try something new and have something just for her."

"Victoria, what do you do for yourself?" asked Janie.

Victoria turned bright red. "I do plenty just for me. I don't need a career to boost my ego."

"When I was little my mom doted on me all the time
. As she got older I wanted her to have her own life. She never did and I kind of resented it the older I got," said Jenny.

"There's no such thing as too much doting
. You can never be too careful nowadays with your kids," said Victoria.

Peter was tired of this conversation
. All of the guys looked scared to speak and bored to tears.

"Time to make the banana splits
. Matt and Chris, want to help me?"

They both stood up
quickly and said, "Yes, please!"

"Guess we scared them away," said Jenny.

The women waited another minute before getting out and putting on some cover-ups. They got the kids out of the pool and helped make up banana splits for all. The parents used the "you must stay out of the pool for twenty minutes after you've eaten" rule and ended the last day of school party. Heather and Peter hugged everyone good-bye and Heather's mom helped them clean up.

"That was a nice party," said Diane.

"I think the kids had fun. Thanks for staying with the twins."

"No problem
. I'll talk to you tomorrow so we can go over any last minute things before you guys take off."

"Sounds good
. Love you."

"Love you too."

Peter and Heather closed up and went up to bed.

"Did you think Matt was quiet tonight?" she asked.

"He's always like that. He's not the easiest guy to make small talk with."

Heather decided she was thinking too much about it and forced herself to fall asleep even though she was thinking of all she had to do
before they left on their trip.

After hemming and hawing about the trip for days, Heather finally woke up on Saturday excited to go on the mysterious honeymoon with Peter. No matter what Victoria said, it was a well-deserved trip. The last time she went on an adult vacation for a week was to Paris the year before Hayes was born. The prospect was exciting, even though she was filled with guilt and would miss the kids. She knew that Donna and Phil had wanted to take the big kids for a week to the beach ever since Hank had passed away. They were excited about being able to take them now. Jenny and Janie were going to alternate mornings at the house to give Heather's mom a little break. All of the plans were finalized. All five kids were taken care of. She was almost done packing the big guys and still had grocery shopping to do for the necessary supplies for her mom and the twins. Heather also had to get herself ready. Peter had insisted on packing her clothes, but she was determined to throw a few things in just in case she didn’t like his choices.

Heather got up and ran her
errands, which included going to have a Brazilian wax done. The whole idea scared the crap out of her, but she had secretly always wanted to see what it would be like to get one. She figured now was the perfect time before she was about to leave for a week's vacation with the hottest guy in town. The spa's website mentioned taking Advil before the procedure to reduce swelling and pain. She took four just in case. She was getting the Bombshell Wax and was escorted to a little private room. The room was funky with pink accents and stars on the ceiling. Music was piped through speakers. Heather tried to relax and removed her clothes and put on the little robe. She got up on the table and felt like her stomach was going to explode because she was so nervous. Brenda, the aesthetician, walked in just as she was contemplating getting up to go, having decided this wasn't a great idea.

"Hi, sweetie! First time?"

"Yes, and I'm having second thoughts."

"No need
. Just lie down and it will be over before you know it."

Heather wasn't sure why she ever thought this was a good idea
. She only really wanted Peter down there or a doctor who had to perform some kind of exam. Brenda readied the materials and started the process. Heather was holding onto the sides of the table with a death grip. The aesthetician smiled and went to work.

"How many kids do you have?"

"I have five."

"FIVE?"

"Three kids and a set of twins."

"Wow, you look great for five kids," she said, and Heather couldn't help but wonder if she was thinking that her lady parts looked great or the rest of her
. Was stuff supposed to be hanging out? Should she feel lucky that she only sometimes peed when she sneezed?

"Thanks," said Heather grimacing as the wax was being put on.

"Now this will hurt a little but I promise it will be worth it."

Worth it for who? Peter better like it
, she thought. He had no idea Heather was there, and she wanted to keep it a secret until they arrived at their secret destination. She knew that was going to be hard to do because Peter was very touchy feely and saw her naked all the time. He thought she was running errands right now while he was watching the kids.

She yelled as the first piece of wax was peeled off
. Removing hair was more painful than giving birth, which didn’t really make sense because a piece of hair was miniscule and a baby’s head was gigantic. After an excruciating fifteen minutes, Heather felt like she had been riding a horse without a saddle. She paid, thanked Brenda and went on her way.

It was a hot summer Saturday morning and people already lined the bars across the street having an early lunch and a beer to cool down
. Heather smiled knowing she was about to have all kinds of leisure time on her hands. As she walked to the car she did some people watching. She saw a blonde sitting at one of the tables kissing the man who was next to her. From the back, the blonde looked almost exactly like Victoria. As Heather got closer, she could see it was Victoria and she was kissing Matt, Jenny's husband. Not in a hi-it's-so-great-to-see-you way either. In an I-want-your-body way.

Holy Fuck, Matt and Victoria are kissing
. What do I do? Do I run over and yell at them? Do I call Jenny? Do I scream? Oh my gosh what the hell is he doing with her?

Heather stopped dead in her tracks
. Matt and Victoria ended their lip lock on each other, and Matt looked up and saw her standing there. Their eyes met and she froze. Her crotch was burning and she wanted to rub it, but she needed to run and hide. She couldn't believe what she had just seen and the implications of it all. She took off and walked as fast as she could to her car. Her phone started beeping immediately.

11:26 Victoria: It's not what you think.

11:26 Matt: Heather, please don't say anything
. Let me explain.

11:27 Victoria: We just happened to meet for lunch
. I hadn't seen Matt in a long time.

11:27 Matt: I love Jenny.

11:28 Victoria: It probably looked funny from your angle. I'm sure it looked like we were actually kissing. That's absurd!!!!!

It looked like it because you were! You love Jenny? I hope Peter doesn't love me like that
. Heather couldn't answer them. She got in the car, sat down, itched her bikini area and called Peter.

“Hey, how are the errands?”

"You are never going to believe this. I can't even believe it. I don't know what to do."

"First, slow down. Second, what happened? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I was walking to the car and saw Matt and Victoria kissing each other at Keegan's in Short Pump."

"Kissing, like I haven't seen you in awhile?"

"No! Kissing, like his tongue was rammed down her throat."

"You've got to be kidding
. You're sure it was them?"

"Positive
. They saw me, and they're texting me like crazy. I'm not talking to them. I know what I saw, and Jenny is my freaking best friend. What am I going to do?"

"Nothing right now. You're going to come home and we'll get ready for our trip. We'll have seven days to think about it and not react quickly."

"I am so mad. What a bitch! How could she do that to Jenny? Victoria's Miss Holier than Thou. What a freaking fake!"

"Yeah, that's pretty much the worst thing she could do. She better cool it with all her passive aggressive junk now."

"And Matt, I knew they were in a bad place, but how could he do that? How could he do that to Jenny and their sweet kids?"

Heather could feel herself start to tear up
.

"Are you done doing everything you need to
do?"

"Yes."

"Drive home. Take your time. Stop at Starbucks. You're upset. We'll talk about it when you get home."

"Ok. I love you
. And I would Krazy Glue your penis to your stomach while you were sleeping if I ever found out you were fooling around on me."

"I have no doubt you would, but I would never ever do anything like that
. You're way more than I ever hoped for, Mrs. Adamson. See you in a few."

Heather was reeling and not sure how to handle it
. Peter was right. She needed to sit on it before talking to Jenny. She wanted to be there for her. They couldn't cancel the trip because of this, and she didn't want to tell her and just take off. It was too much to process. Heather followed Peter's instructions. She went through the Starbucks drive thru and got herself an iced venti nonfat chai. She got Peter an iced Americano and was on her way home. Her phone was still beeping and she was sure it was Victoria and Matt, but she had no intention of answering them. Fortunately, they were leaving at the butt crack of dawn tomorrow, so Heather only had to get through today.

When she got home, she kept herself busy and helped Peter feed the kids and put the twins down for their nap
. Heather helped the big kids gather their last minute things for their beach trip with their grandparents. Gracie was excited because she was going to paint on the beach with a real easel, and Henry and Hayes were going to go deep-sea fishing. Having them on vacation made Peter and Heather's vacation a little easier. Peter worked for the afternoon and Gracie and Heather snuck out to finish the grocery shopping while the boys fought each other on some Xbox game. Life and the kids forced what Heather had seen out of her head.

"Are you excited for your trip?" Heather asked.

"Yeah, I've never been away from you for this long though," said Gracie.

"I know
. Donna and Phil know where to find me, but I'm not sure my cellphone will work. How about if I plan to call you every night before you go to bed?"

"That would be awesome."

"You'll have fun with Nana and Popi. They can't wait to spend some extra time with you guys. It means so much to them."

"I know
. I think it makes Daddy happy in heaven too."

"I am sure it does
. He's probably smiling at us right now."

Heather got a call from Jenny while she was at the grocery store
. She let it go to voicemail and decided she would call her back later. Being with Gracie was a nice diversion from what had happened this morning. Her bikini region was starting to itch even more, and that was worrying her. It would be so romantic to be itching down there the whole week.

When they returned from the store,
Peter announced they were going to The Hard Shell for a family dinner before they all departed on their respective vacations.

"Ok
. I just need to call Jenny back. She called while Gracie and I were out."

"You ok with that?"

"Yeah, it will be strange. She'll know something's up, but hopefully she'll just attribute it to me being crazy about our trip."

"That wouldn't be too much of a stretch," said Peter, and he slapped her bottom. His hand sent reverberations through to the front and it felt remarkably uncomfortable
. Heather's eyes got huge forcing Peter to ask, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, just thinking." And Heather went into the office to call Jenny.

"Hey," said Jenny.

"Sorry I didn't answer before
. Gracie and I were out running around. A little mommy/daughter time before I get in a bunch of different cans of steel tomorrow."

"You're so weird
. You'll be fine. Just have a drink and dream about your tropical paradise. And then when you get on the beach find some time to sit in peace. You need to center yourself again."

"I will," said Heather knowing she wouldn't meditate on the beach
and didn’t know the first thing about centering herself. "Are you fine with all of the arrangements?"

"Yep
. I've got everything under control."

"Great, call if you need anything."

"I will. I have every number and all that jazz."

Heather was anxious to get off the phone, so she said a quick good bye telling Jenny they were headed out to dinner.