Routines routines

Ally and I have found a new rhythm in the past few weeks, although we have always been close. It is very rare to stay in the same street as your best friend, and we take full advantage of it.

Joce and Blake do their runs and have breakfast with me, and Tim and Hailey do their reading with her. I take the two older kids with me and she takes the two younger ones. Once we get to school, we as moms decide where we go first. Sometimes we have pit stops in town. We split up and get things for each other. That way I can go to the hardware store and skip the grocery store, and vice versa. Sometimes we have time to do everything together and stop somewhere for coffee. Or we end up at each other’s homes and have coffee there. Sometimes we walk back and forth between our houses up to six times, cooking, doing chores, and getting to the admin for our jobs.

Ally runs a décor business and seven factories. She employs anyone with a disability or a disadvantage in life. Her factories produce décor items and her range is very diverse, from furniture and baskets to light fixtures and ornaments. I am still involved in bees, but not so much in documentaries anymore. I run a few logistics teams for a honey business that sells nationwide and internationally. We are both fortunate to be able to work from home. I need to travel here and there, but the company has always been understanding about me being a mother.

I wanted to share with the company about Christopher and me. It has been a difficult juggle since he left, along with the pregnancy and my work. But with the new turn of events lately, I thought I might not have to.

Today was supposed to be our typical day. I forgot my phone at home. Ally suggested we start our day with coffee instead of doing it last like we usually do. As I opened my door, I saw someone had slipped a yellow envelope under it. I thought it might be some sort of update from my lawyers, who have been postponing our meetings for ages. But my heart stopped as I opened it and read the words.

He wants a divorce and our meeting is today at three.

I fell to the ground and just stared at the page. Ally came rushing to me, thinking something was wrong with the baby. I passed her the papers.

“That bastard. How could he do this to you?”

Still in shock, Ally helped me to my feet and we made our way to the kitchen island.

“That bastard.”

Still in a daze, I said, “Ally, please do not speak that way about him. I still cannot bear to hear it.”

I thought she was going to slap me.

“You cannot bear to hear me swear about a man who has left you destitute while you are still carrying his third child? Are you daft? You should be smashing everything in this house that he holds dear. I will do it for you.”

Ally headed toward his office, but I snapped out of my daze and got to her just in time.

“Ally, please. That is not my process. I just need time. I need to see where this goes. It is just too sudden and out of the blue. Just let it be.”

Ally, still with rage in her eyes, suddenly began sobbing.

“I loved you guys together. I honestly thought only death could separate you. How many times did we catch you two sneaking off for a quick moment wherever you could because the children took so much from you? How many date nights did you go on? How many times did he grab you and kiss you no matter who was there? Sure, you had a lot of distance, but it felt like you always made up for it.”

Oh, how well I knew we did.