Different Kind of Forever
At the party, my son, Hughie Peters, deliberately raised his voice and said to my wife, Penelope Peters, "Mommy, you're pregnant with Darren's baby. Are we gonna live with him from now on?"
Penelope set the sliced steak down in front of me and said softly, "I made a promise with your daddy. Whoever betrayed the other first would disappear from the other person's world forever. I can't afford for that to happen. After the baby is born, it'll still be your daddy's child."
After saying that, Penelope signed to me that she would love me forever.
But she didn't notice my reddened eyes.
She didn't know I had gotten my hearing back a week ago, nor did she know I had already discovered their little secret apartment.
And she definitely didn't know I had quietly bought a plane ticket to Lumora for a teaching volunteer program.
I was just waiting for the paperwork to be approved in seven days.
Then, I would disappear for good.