Burning Bridges

Chapter 2

I left for work, came home to a clean house and nice dinner made.  Everyone on their best behavior.  In fact, it stayed that way for a good two months.  Until Tori went to the doctor and they told her they wanted her to go to the hospital for an early ultrasound.  They didn’t think anything was wrong.  They just wanted some things checked out. 

Tori called me immediately and asked me to come with her to the ultrasound.  I left work early and met her at the hospital.  Together we saw her babies for the first time.  Turned out she was carrying twins and that was what the doctor wanted to confirm.  We went to lunch to celebrate and then home for the rest of the day.

When Ian got home from work that night Tori was so excited she showed him the ultra sound pictures and he told her how sorry he was that she had to go to the ultrasound alone, she should have called him and he would have went with her.  When she told him it was ok, she knew he was at a new job and didn’t want to get him in trouble, so she called me and I went with her, he lost it. 

He accused her of being selfish and saying maybe the twins belonged to someone else because why else would she want me there rather than him, unless someone else was the father.  Then he turned on me and accused me of trying to sabotage their relationship and secretly trying to get her to leave him.

I understood to a point why he was upset and angry.  So, I simply told him, "Ian, no one is trying to do anything to your relationship, my sister is not having someone else’s babies.  She was simply trying to not worry you, she is used to calling me for everything, and she also knew that I could leave work with no problem and you are new at your job.  So, I am going to go to bed and let you two sort this out.  I understand you are mad, but remember you have two children to take care of and the only way to do that right now is to take care of their mother, and for the record I would never try to separate my sister from her children’s father.  We grew up without our biological father.  Remember that."  Then I walked in my room and shut the door.

They must have worked things out that night, because the next morning Ian apologized, and all was well.  Slowly as things progressed, Ian seemed to get more and more jealous of any time Tori and I spent together.  If we bought something for the babies, he would smirk or say something mean. 

By the time Tori hit eighteen weeks and they scheduled the ultrasound to find out what the s*x of the babies were, I had gotten to the point where I wouldn't do anything involved.  No doctor appointments, no ultrasounds, nothing.  Tori started getting mad at me for always saying no, then Ian started saying I didn't care about the babies.  It seemed like no matter what I said, I was wrong. 

The day came for the ultrasound and I gave Tori a disk because the tech said they could record it if she brought one.  Ian promised her that he would meet her at the hospital.  I left for work and waited for her call or her text.  What I got was even more shocking than I ever expected. 

I went on my usual lunch break to the cafe that I always went to, they had great sandwiches and Pepsi products and since I have a Mountain Dew addiction it was perfect.  I was reading a book, like I always do when suddenly there stood Ian.

"Roni." he said

"Ian" I replied.

"So, look here’s the thing, I really don't think this whole daddy thing is for me.  I mean it was cool for a while when people were all saying congrats and stuff.  Now it’s just a pain in the ass.  So I got all my stuff out of the house and I’m heading out, I just wanted to give you the keys and tell you that you might want to meet your sister at the hospital or she is going to be at the ultrasound by herself." he said, then he tossed a set of keys on the table and walked off.

I didn’t even have a chance to respond to him.  I was in such shock.  I just sat there letting what he said sink in.  Then I looked at the time and realized that if I was going to make it to the hospital in time, I had to get a move on. 

I ran out the door as fast as I could, leaving the keys on the table so that one of the waiters had to chase me down and give them to me.  I called my boss on the phone and explained that I had an emergency and I wouldn’t be at work the rest of the week.  I had no idea how long this was going to take for Tori to deal with, and with the babies, I was terrified.

I made it to the hospital right before they called her back to the room.  As soon as she seen me, she smiled and waved.  "Hey, you changed your mind about coming.  Ian should be here any minute.  I hope his boss didn't give him a lot of trouble for needing the time off." she said.

"Sis, Ian isn’t coming.  He asked me if I could come because he couldn’t.  So here I am." I told her.

"Why didn't he call me?  I swear this is what he does.  Makes promises and doesn't keep them.  I bet he didn't mention that we are supposed to be going to get our marriage license when we left here.  That’s why we wanted you to come with us today.  Hopefully he will be able to show up for that."  she said.

I didn’t really know how to respond to that, thankfully they called her name and we headed back.  There was not much time to talk before the ultrasound was over.  We found out she was having two baby girls.  We were so excited.  I almost forgot what I still had to tell her.

Tori had a friend give her a ride to the hospital because she didn't have a car of her own anymore.  She sold her car to pay her and Ian’s share of the bills until he got his first paycheck and he had his truck at work, and I had my car at my job.  So, she was planning on riding with Ian from the hospital.

After the ultrasound she wanted to wait around for him, but I convinced her that he was not going to be coming, he told me to take her home after the ultrasound.  The entire ride home she talked about how excited she was about having twin girls, just like us she said.  She told me a bunch of names she was considering, and I just let her talk.

When we pulled in the driveway, I knew I had to tell her before we walked in the house.  He already told me that he took all his stuff out of the house.  As she started to get out of the car, I put my hand on her arm and she turned to look at me questioningly.

"Tor, there is something I need to talk to you about, and I need to do it before we go in the house."  I said.

She just continued to look at me with a confused look on her face, one foot on the driveway, half turned with the door open.

"Ian showed up at the place I have lunch, he gave me his keys.  He told me that being a dad isn’t his thing and that he has already moved his stuff out of the house, and he is moving on.  Then he told me to go to the ultrasound because he wasn't going to be there."  I told her and then held my breath waiting to see how she responded.

She looked down in the cup holder and there were Ian’s set of house keys.  She calmly got out of the car, didn’t say a word.  She went into the house, I followed behind her waiting for an explosion.  She walked into her room looked around, checked the drawers, the closet, the bathroom medicine cabinet to make sure that he had taken everything that was his.

Then she just sat on the couch and still said nothing.  I asked her if she wanted something to drink.  She nodded slightly.  So, I walked into the kitchen to get her a bottle of water and noticed on the table a card sized envelope with Tori's name written in Ian's handwriting.  I took the water and the envelope into the living room and handed them to her.  Still waiting because blowing up is what she does best, so now I am getting terrified and wonder if I should be calling our parents and having them take the first flight from Florida to Wyoming.

She takes a drink of water, and then opens the letter.  She reads its.  Starts laughing and drops it on the floor.  I am so confused; I have no idea what on earth she is laughing for.  Maybe she was going into shock, I had never been more concerned for my sister’s mental health than I was at that point.

She points to the letter motioning for me to pick it up and read it.  I pick it up and it pretty much says exactly what he told me.  Adding to it that he voluntarily gives up all rights to the kids, and he left her a money order for 500 dollars.  He even had the letter notarized.  I still did not understand why she was laughing.

"Tori, what is so funny?"  I ask quietly.

"Don’t you see, this is just like us.  Mom found out that she was having twin girls and came home to our sperm donor having moved out and in with his mistress.  Divorce papers on the table.  At least I had not married the asshat yet." she said as her laughing turned to tears.

Tori did not freak out, in fact the first thing she did was call mom.