Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 197

Bethany

POV

I spent some time holding Theo as he wept softly; I was holding him to my chest, my hand rubbing his back in comfort after word came that Kitty was gone now; he was crying for the loss of his mother and sisters. I think it had finally sunk in that they were gone.

Somehow, I feel he must have been in denial all this time.

Later that day, Hank arrived home happy with talking about the new grandchild and how well the birth was going. He mentioned how Felicity almost broke Sam's hand, and Sam took it like a champ.

Hank was showing us the photos of the new baby when it triggered a memory I had been meaning to ask. In the lounge were Dad, Pam, Theo, Hank, and myself; the women had gone, though I had no idea where they went or if they would be returning. They had left not long after Hank arrived home.

'Dad, I have a question that has been bugging me for a while. Dad looked over at me with a smile. Pam rested her head on his shoulder, and he played with her hair.

'When I first introduced you to Theo and his dad, you acted like you had never met them before; why is that, when it was clear you have had dealings with him in the past?' It bugged me for a while. But I couldn't shake it off, and the question kept resurfacing in my mind. This memory was crucial and held the key to a puzzle I had been trying to solve, not that it was life and death, just and niggling annoyance of recurring memory.

'We had researched the missing family. Plus, there are a lot of other issues; Theo's Dad and Scott's Dad both would correspond with all sorts of info. Scott's Dad, Hank, Jacko, and I worked on the missing family repeatedly over the years. After Scott's Dad passed on, Scott continued to investigate; in our own time, I have worked more with Scott than any of the others, and when Hank and Theo walked into your penthouse, he shook my hand and said to pretend we did not know each other. In a way, I don't know him. You and I were both new to the city, and I should not make an issue about it. If I said I knew him, then it might have led to discussing the missing family, and to be honest, when we bought the house, it had not occurred to me that it was the same house. Hank said he was looking into something, and with us both now in his city, we could start as new friends and go from there. I liked the idea and went with his suggestion. It was simpler, or at least at the time, it seemed simpler, to pretend we were new friends, and, in a way, we were, as I was a work colleague and knew him through his Dad in the beginning, and I had never been around Hank socially. A lot of our communication has been viewed via email or the internet, and I had never met Theo or been to their house. So this was, to me, a new relationship based on sports and nothing else. We both liked that idea: keep working and have a day that is fun. 'Hank? Why did you not want us to know?' I pushed.

'I was having trouble with Kitty. I lost sight of her a few times and did not know where she went or who she was with. I did not want Bob to know, so pretending we did not know each other and avoided being asked about Kitty; she had been gone for a week, and I felt she was with another man. I was having personal issues, and pretending I had a new friend seemed to be a good idea; even Theo did not know that I was a working colleague of Bob. Having known about him from Dad, I promised my father that I would continue to hunt for them and not let the disappearance die away, and he gave me Bob's contact and with Bob now our brand new police chief who was trying to reveal his hand, yet we both needed to stay as new friends. Odd as it may seem, it worked for both of us for our own reasons. I was trying to protect Kitty, to keep her safe from Bob's prying eyes or my bad marriage. He had just left his marriage, and Theo said something about you having just left a bad one. I did not want to talk about anything but the game and enjoy the day. Bob seemed to want the same: a day to relax, enjoy the sports and put our woes behind us. It was not to deceive you but to replace a happy balance in our already complicated lives. That was the most I had heard from Hank ever. Even Theo was looking at him strangely. 'So you both worked on the disappearance; what did you conclude? Before replaceing the bodies?' Theo asked his Dad. 'I had looked into it the best I could when I was doing a school project, and the missing people were the subject. It was only a few years before Scott started to ask questions. Bob never gave up, even though he was a city away; he kept an eye out for any sign of them. The new face recognition technology brought new hope, but again, something has yet to show up. When Bob moved here, he teamed up with Scott and started a fresh hunt. When he and Pam bought the house, I thought he might have wanted to get a feel of the place and maybe owning the house, give him a new perspective of their disappearance; I do not think he even realized what house he had bought, as they wanted the one next door at first. You must admire how fate always throws us curve balls!

'Now, the other question I have for you. Both Scott and the women are not here. Is it over?' I asked, knowing something had changed.

'Scott and I talked about this, and it was not for us; I cannot see the four of us being romantically inclined. Scott said he would tell the girls that it won't work between us, and they have left. Scott has agreed to go out clubbing with me, or whatever it is called nowadays, and we shall team up so neither of us feels uncomfortable and see if we can replace a more suitable lady for us both.

'That is good news, Dad. I was concerned about you diving into that style of living. It is not for everyone, and I am glad you gave it a try and found it lacking, Theo said, and I wondered if he had not liked them together at all.

'I am sure we shall see them around as they are friends with Thomas. Yeah, Thomas is different, though, than those twins. I am curious to know how close he is to them. I am still waiting to discuss it with him any time soon. It is weird enough talking about this now; I am weirded out, right? This is not a usual type of family chat, but there is nothing usual about our family.

We relaxed, and funny enough, we watched the sports news, catching up on what we have missed lately. Our Sunday sports days could have been better, and we have promised to make a better effort moving forward. Hank seemed a little sad after our chat, and I feel he had wanted to replace someone to like him for him, and being with the women doing what they wanted was a compromise he was unwilling to make. He wants something for himself, for a change, and to be a little selfish. I don't blame him; Dad managed to replace a woman who seemed to make him happy, so why can't Hank?

Pam and Bob retired for the night first, soon followed by Hank. Theo watched his Dad go up the stairs, and he had this sad face as Hank disappeared out of view.

'I think he is hurting more than he is letting on. There had been a lot going on, and that chat about why he and Bob did not reveal they knew each other was the first I knew of it. Dad has been bottling up all his hurt for so long. Theo wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and we headed to the rooms we now used. I wanted to complain about being moved down here, but it made sense, so I held my tongue.

'I understand about Dad and Hank not wanting to show they knew each other and spoil the sports day for us, and it worked out for the better that way. Even though it was a lie, it was still good to have thought good things about them. Dad was hurting, and so was Hank, and sports day was exactly what both of them needed, a day where outside troubles were left at the door. They really only knew each other through the hunt for the missing family and did not have anything else binding them together to class them as friends. This is, in a way, a new friendship. I say contentedly.

'I agree it was good they did it; it made us think good thoughts at the time. Changing the subject, what about the twins' sister? Are we still going to meet up with her?' Theo asked as I climbed into bed.

'Why not? Just because it did not work out with the twins does not mean we have to change our plans. I have talked to an agency to replace out the kind of services they have, and if this woman is not suitable, then we can look at using the agency people! 'Sounds like a plan; we should not judge the sister because of the twins. When will you be meeting her?'

'She is coming over tomorrow morning!

'I will go to work late. I do not have surgery until after lunch, and we can meet her together. Theo gave me a tender kiss before climbing into the other bed. He no longer shared my bed, as I toss and turn a lot and disturb his sleep. He argued at first but caved when he had a bad night because of me.