Page 1 of Fourth Wall

1

Maeve

Three Years Ago

“I found someone else.” After Tyler came home from work today, and the girls were in bed, he sat me down at the kitchen table of our home in San Diego.

The world hummed with anticipation. His words echoed in my ears, yet they hadn't fully registered in my mind.

"Stay calm, Maeve," I whispered, my voice barely audible. Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose as if trying to grasp the gravity of the situation. I kept my face impassive, refusing to let him see the cracks in my facade. This wasn't the time to break down. I had two little girls, and in an instant, I was about to transition from a stay-at-home mom to a single mother with no job. Tyler had been our sole provider throughout our entire relationship. He was a successful lawyer who insisted I stay home to care for the children. Now, what was I supposed to do?

I never finished college because I became pregnant with Kelsie at twenty. With Tyler already immersed in law school, it seemed logical for me to put my education on hold and focus on being a homemaker while he completed his studies and supported us. Almost exactly a year later, Kinsley came into our lives, and now I had a three-year-old and a two-year-old to care for.

"I'm sorry. I'm not sure I quite understand you," I replied, trying to buy myself a bit more time. Where did things go wrong? Yes, he was hardly ever home, but I believed it was because he was engrossed in his work at the office. And sure, we hadn't been intimate in two years, but juggling the demands of two toddlers made finding moments of intimacy arduous.

“I’m leaving you. I found someone else. I’m sorry, Maeve, but I have been seeing this person for a while now.” Nothing. My face was expressionless. I loved Tyler when I first met him. He swept me off my feet. He was fancy, Southern, and something I’d never seen on the West Coast.

“But the girls?” I barely managed to choke out the sentence as things kept flashing through my head, like how the fuck I would survive financially. I knew I would have to call my mom and beg her to let us move in, which, as someone in their mid-twenties with two very fucking young children, was wild.

Where would I find a job? I wasn’t talented and had no skills. In fact, I was severely and utterly disorganized. Who would hire me and take me seriously? Why the fuck couldn’t he have just had his fucking affair in secret like he had been and left us out of this? We were perfectly fine living in our bubble until now.

“We’ll share custody unless you cannot take care of them.” His eyes narrowed on me. Fuck no, buddy.

“I can care for my children, thank you very much,” I practically bit out at him. “Who is the other woman?” I hesitated to ask because, quite frankly, I didn’t give a flying fuck who it was. I really didn’t care that he cheated. I just knew my life would be shit because of his selfish decisions.

“Well…” Tyler hesitated. “His name is Stephen.”

Oh. Now, I was surprised.

But was I? Eh, not really. Our sex life sucked. Honestly, I was more so really fucking pissed that he was breaking up our family and leaving me high and dry. I was happy that Tyler found someone he felt connected to, but did he really have to cheat on me to find it? Now, I’d be a single mom with no usable skills in the real world.

“I wish you would have told me earlier so I could have planned better,” I grumbled and started fussing with the house. When I got stressed, it was easiest for me to clean. I grabbed the girls’ toys and started to declutter.

A steady hand reached out to my shoulder. “Hey, we’ll figure this out together. You’ll always be the mother of my children, and I’ll always help you out, no matter what. Remember that. I’ll always do what’s in the best interest of you and the kids.”

“Really?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Always. Even telling you about Stephen, I could have just kept you in the dark for a while. It’s not like you would have noticed…” That was a dig, wasn't it? It certainly felt like it, but I quickly shook it off and remembered what he said. He would keep me in the center of our family because no matter what, we would always be family.

I believed him. At least I tried to believe him because there wasn’t another option for me. It was either trust that he would help me, or fucking sink. For Kelsie and Kinsley, I couldn’t go down. At least not without a fight.

“Together,” I murmured to him and then turned around to continue cleaning up the toys. I had to believe this would all work out. There was no other choice.

2

Christian

Ten Years Ago

Pulling my truck up to the base one last time was an eerie feeling. I had all my paperwork from my higher-ups, so I wasjust coming to collect my stuff from the barracks, but it just felt fucking weird. My ex-wife had already packed up her stuff and moved back to Arkansas after we filed for divorce. Picking up my duffel bag with my medals from the incredibly small dorm-like room and saying goodbye to all the other guys in the Wounded Warrior unit was just a finality to the end of this chapter in my life.

But it felt fucking weird. I already had all my appointments made with the VA and an apartment lined up with a buddy in San Diego, but that was about it. Besides my disability, I was really fucking lost. We all assumed that we would stay in until we were deemed “better” by the military, but the guys in my unit were getting discharged around the same time.

After we came home from Syria, we were immediately sent to the Wounded Warriors Unit for different reasons. Some of us were missing parts, and others were just fucked up in the head. I was the latter.

“Sir,” I offered to my old First Officer, who waited in front of my barracks room. I was in civilian clothing, and my hair had gotten quite long, with a beard slowly forming. It was definitely out of regs.

“Getting your stuff, and then you’re off?” he asked me casually, leaning on the door as I awkwardly walked around him to pack the rest of my room.

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