Thus, the book was born.
I wanted to test the waters and see how much interest there would be in this work, so I'm posting the first part of the book here. I still have some re-writing to do, but what you read here is finished and will make up the first few chapters of the book. My goal is to have this book available in ebook format by the end of the month.
Please comment and let me know what you think! Thanks.
Chapter One
“You guys need to make sure you eat all of your dinner.”
“OK, Dad,” the children chorused.
Natalie and Kevin looked at each other and smiled. The family had just finished a long Saturday shopping trip and they were having dinner at Applebees. It had been a very enjoyable day. They had shopped at the mall, had lunch, visited WalMart and Target and now were finally having dinner.
Kevin asked Natalie what she would like for dessert. He glanced at his wife out of the corner of his eye. She smiled in approval. It wasn’t often that they had the extra money to splurge on dessert when they went out to eat. Somehow though, Kevin always seemed to surprise her at just the right time. And he always knew what she would want-anything chocolate. The waitress approached the table and Kevin ordered Natalie a piece of chocolate cake. He ordered himself a slice of cheesecake with strawberries, along with ice cream for the children.
The kids, Kelly and Max, busied themselves coloring across the table and Kevin looked at his wife.
“Have I ever told you that you are the prettiest lady I know?”
Natalie smiled, obviously enthralled with her husband and loving every second of his compliments. “Actually, it’s been a while.”
“Really? Hmm. That’s a shame. You really are the prettiest lady I know.”
Natalie laughed. “You sound like your Dad.”
“You say that all the time.”
“Well, you do. You’re like a spitting image of him. You and your brother both are.”
Kevin smiled at his wife and gave her a kiss. He was happy to hear her say that he was a lot like his dad. Larry Reynolds was one of his heroes. He was probably the strongest, most amazing man Kevin had ever known. It was an honor to be told he was like him.
“Dad, what is a pirate’s favorite letter in the alphabet?” Kelly asked. Her eight year old eyes smiled up at him with expectancy.
Kevin made a big show of thinking really hard and then said, “I don’t know, Kelly. What is it?”
“It’s Aaarrrgghh!” she said with delight. She and Max both laughed a little too loudly.
The adults laughed silently and Natalie scolded, “OK, keep it down. We are out in public.”
“Sorry, Mom,” Max said. “That was just too funny.”
Kevin laughed. “You’re a regular little comedian, young lady.”
Kelly beamed. She enjoyed it when people laughed at her. “Can I sit on your lap, Daddy?”
“Sure,” Kevin replied. He pushed back from the table to allow her to come and sit on his lap. Max reached across the table to hold Natalie’s hand as he colored with his other hand on his placemat. They were both such good kids. Very well-behaved, even if they did get a little loud in restaurants once in a while.
Kevin wasn’t their biological father, even though he treated them like his own. Natalie had been married when she was twenty-one years old to another man, Ben. They were married for seven years, until Ben had an affair that tore their family apart on Christmas Day. Max had only been two when Ben left. Kelly was five. She still remembered it though, and for a while she asked her mom constantly about when her parents were going to get back together. With Kevin around, Kelly no longer asked that question. Ben didn’t make any big attempts to see his children on a regular basis. He was happy living his own life and doing his own thing. The kids asked about him once in a while but more often than not, they were happy with their Mom and Step-Dad.
Dinner went off without a hitch. The kids both ate all of their chicken nuggets and fries and were thrilled with their ice cream for dessert. When the family had had their fill, they left the restaurant, got in the car, and drove toward home to relax for the night.
Natalie reached over to touch Kevin’s leg as he drove. The kids were both nodding off in the backseat.
“It was a good day, wasn’t it, Sweetheart?” Natalie asked her husband.
“It was. I’m surprised I had so much fun. You know the mall is my absolute favorite place to be.”
Natalie giggled. “I know, I know. You were such a good sport about it. Thank you for taking us out all day. I know on days like today you like to relax at home.”
Kevin shrugged. “It’s just that I am on the go all the time…I don’t get a whole lot of time at home during the day. But knowing that it made you guys happy and it was really what you wanted…that makes a huge difference to me and it makes it well worth it.”
Natalie smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek.
“Aw. You probably shouldn’t do that while I’m driving. You make me want a real kiss.”
“You can have more when we get home, Mr. Reynolds.”
Kevin knew that she would give him all the love and attention that he wanted. Not just that night, but for the rest of his life. For the millionth time, he realized how blessed he was to have this woman as his wife.
They pulled into their garage and as Kevin shut the car off, the interior light turned on. Whines erupted from the backseat as the kids objected to leaving the car for the comfort of their beds. Kevin was so happy that Natalie was patient with the children. It was hard for him to remain patient when they whined, even if they were tired. He figured that probably had a lot to do with the fact that he hadn’t been around for much of their growing up. He never saw them when they were babies so the nurturing didn’t come naturally to him.
“I’ve got them, Honey,” Natalie told him quietly, as she helped the children get of the car and soothed them with her words. Kevin nodded and left the garage, shutting the door behind them. When Natalie and the children reached the back door of the house, Kevin was there with the porch light on, holding the door open for them. The kids were still whining when they all entered the house.
“Daddy, I don’t want to go to bed,” Max cried as he took his coat off.
Kevin took a deep breath, willing himself not to raise his voice. “I know, buddy. It’s time to go to sleep now, though. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you’ll wake up.”
“Do we have school tomorrow?” Kelly asked.
“Yes,” Natalie told her, giving her a hug. She kissed her daughter on the top of the head and then Kelly practically flung herself into Kevin’s arms.
“Whoa,” he said, taken off guard. He was growing used to Kelly’s abrupt displays of affection. And he was very aware that she needed a “father” in her life, especially since her own biological father was absent a great deal of the time. Kevin was happy to fill that role with her. And she seemed to enjoy having him fill it.
“Good night, Daddy.”
Kevin smiled. “Good night sweetheart. Sleep well.”
Max hugged his parents as well and both children trotted upstairs to go to bed.
Natalie and Kevin looked at each other and smiled. Kevin reached out for his wife.
“Now, what was that you were saying about giving me a better kiss when we got home?”
Natalie blushed but came closer to kiss her husband. The two of them stood that way, in the kitchen, for a long time. Kevin knew that he had some things to take care of that evening. He had to take out the trash and balance their checkbook against their bank statement online. Right at that moment, however, he just wanted to hold his wife.
When they finally broke apart, Kevin smiled down at her. “You’re really short, you know that?”
Natalie smiled and pinched his waist. “I think you’re too tall. That’s your problem. Not mine.”
“Oh, really?”
With that, she took off running into the living room and Kevin chased her, tackling her on the couch. The two of them laughed as Kevin tickled Natalie until her face was red and she was out of breath. He leaned down and kissed her again.
“Let’s go to bed,” Natalie whispered wistfully.
His body agreed with her, but his head was in a different place. He knew he needed to balance their checkbook after all of the purchase they had made that day. He smiled.
“Are you tired?”
“Well…no. Not really.” She still flashed him that grin and winked at him.
“Okay. I hate to put you off, but I do need to balance the checkbook first. Why don’t you get yourself a glass of water and find something on TV. We can watch TV for a little while after I’m done. Then go to bed.”
She put on a pouty face. “I just want to be with you.”
“I know, Baby. I want to be with you too. We will. In a little while.”
Finally, she smiled again. “Okay. But I don’t want you to take forever on the computer.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
With that, they stood up and Natalie went out to the kitchen to get a glass of water as her husband had suggested. Kevin settled down at the computer and got online. He began looking at one of his favorite sports sites. As Natalie passed through the office on her way back to the living room, she eyed what he was doing and gave him a questioning look.
“What? I’m just checking things out. I’ll be right in.”
“All right.”
Kevin got on the banking site as Natalie settled in on the couch.
Chapter Two
It was quiet in the house that evening. It was a school night and both of the kids needed to be on the bus the next morning at 7:15. The sounds of a brand-new reality show emanated through the house as Natalie laughed at their antics and Kevin plugged away on the computer.
Kevin was fairly happy with his life. The family was living in a nice home in Craning, NY. They were renting the house, but it was much better than the apartment Natalie had been renting in Elkland when they had met just over a year ago.
Natalie had separated from her first husband two years before they were officially divorced. She had been in a few bad relationships during that time. Once her last relationship ended, Natalie decided that she was more interested in doing God’s will for her life than doing things her way. Her first serious boyfriend after her marriage had ended was very verbally abusive and had begun to be physically abusive. She ended the relationship soon after the physical abuse began, however the effects of the verbal and emotional abuse lasted a very long time. Her second and last relationship before meeting Kevin was ended when Natalie found out that the man was secretly married to another woman. She had been through a lot of hardships and a lot of pain. When Natalie told Kevin about her past relationships, he worried that she might have problems trusting him. Either through her own strength, or by the grace of God, she never did.
After her last disappointing relationship ended, Natalie began focusing on getting her divorce. She realized she had put it off long enough, and that she actually had no business dating anyone as long as she was still legally married, regardless of how long it had been. Once the divorce was complete, she started writing letters to her future husband. She knew in her heart that she would be married again. She had so much love to give and her two children had been left almost fatherless. Ben, her ex-husband rarely had anything to do with them. They had a visitation order in place that allowed him to have both of the children for overnight visits every other weekend but he didn’t take advantage of that at all. It was apparent that he only wanted his own life.
As Natalie wrote the letters, she focused on God and what he had planned for her life. She began by introducing herself to this man she didn’t know yet. As she poured her heart out to him, however, she began to get to know him very well. So well in fact, that she knew when she finally did meet him, she would know him instinctively. Natalie told herself that if she met someone and asked herself, “What would my future husband think of him?” she would know that man couldn’t be her future husband. She resolved to wait until she met someone and when she asked herself that question, her heart’s answer would be, “Maybe this is him.” Before long, she fell in love with a man she had never even met.
It was no surprise to her one day when God directed her to a Christian dating site. As inexplicable as it was, Natalie often heard God’s voice and this was one of those times. She even knew what she would find when she got on the site. She knew she was looking for a man who lived close by, who had blue eyes and whose profile also contained contact information. Natalie didn’t have the money to subscribe to the service at that point.
Lo and behold, there he was. Beautiful blue eyes and brown hair. He lived in James City, which was only an hour away. Deciding to take a chance, Natalie sent Kevin a message on an instant messenger.
The next night, they talked via instant messenger for two hours. They arranged a date for that weekend and talked on the phone every night until they met in person on Saturday.
It was instant attraction for them both. Natalie had baked him cookies and since she was a published author, she also offered him a copy of her first novel. Kevin showed up with three white roses. She was very touched by his thoughtfulness. They went to a local hockey game and spent the entire time talking with each other, while they completely ignored the game.
They had had a whirlwind romance.
A few months later, they were married.
“Honey,” Natalie called to her husband. “Are you coming in soon?”
“Yeah, in a second,” Kevin answered, feeling a little bit annoyed. He was immersed in the checkbook, comparing what was recorded to the purchases on their bank’s website. As he searched, he noticed a discrepancy that explained why they were overdrawn by $25. It was a debit card purchase from a craft store in the mall. Kevin could barely believe his eyes when he saw the amount that was spent. $110! He rubbed his head in frustration. How does one spend $110 on craft supplies? he thought. He could feel the anger burning up inside of him. Natalie was a stay at home mom as well as a published author. She had published her first book a few years before she and Kevin met. Now, she had a few more projects she was working on. It wasn’t surprising that Natalie frequented the craft store. She was constantly needing more writing supplies and things for scrap booking, which she also loved to do. But, to make such a large purchase without recording it in the checkbook was ridiculous.
Now we’re going to have fees for bounced checks, Kevin thought. The more he stewed, the more angry he became.
He took a deep breath and went into the living room. His wife sat on the couch in her pajamas. Her feet were tucked under and she had put her hair in a ponytail. She wore her glasses instead of her contacts at night to give her eyes a break. Kevin thought she looked cute sitting there smiling at him. But, he quickly dismissed that thought to present the matter at hand.
Her smile quickly disappeared when she saw the look on his face.
“Do you know what you did?”
She rolled her eyes and looked back at the TV. “No, but I’ll bet you’re going to tell me.”
“You went to HC Fabrics and didn’t put what you spent in the checkbook.
Natalie clapped a hand to her forehead. “Oh, no. I did, didn’t I?” She knew then why he was upset. Kevin had just started a new sales job after losing a truck driving job and being out of work for almost a month. They were getting back on track financially but it had been difficult. Her mistake was going to cost them money.
“Yes, you did,” Kevin snapped.
“How much did they charge us in fees?”
“Don’t know yet.”
Natalie was obviously upset about her mistake. She knew Kevin worked hard. He had big dreams that he wanted to see accomplished. She did too, but he was the one who worked outside the home.
“Honey, I can’t believe I forgot that. I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, you’re always sorry. It doesn’t put the money back in our account though.” Kevin turned and left the room.
Natalie sat there a minute before going after him. He had sat back down at the computer.
“You know, I can take a lot of that stuff back. It’s not stuff I desperately need to have right now.”
“Just forget it,” he replied. “You’ve done enough.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I work very hard to bring money into this house. And then you forget you spent it.”
“Kevin, I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, I know. Maybe you should be spending more time at home and less time in the mall.”
“Wait a second. My family is very important to me. You are all well taken care of. I do everything around here and you barely lift a finger.”
“Maybe you should go back to work. That might give you some insight into how valuable money is.”
That comment stung. Natalie had been hesitant to quit her job. However, when they sat down and looked at how much they were paying for child care, Kevin saw that Natalie would really be more valuable to them if she stayed home. That was five months ago. Now, Natalie loved staying home. She was able to be there for the children after school and do almost all of the housework. She was also able to spend more time with Kevin before he left for the day.
“Why do you have to be so mean?” she asked before the tears fell.
“Oh, here we go with the guilt trip. Go ahead and cry. I’m going to bed.” With that, Kevin got up and stomped up the stairs to their bedroom.
Natalie just sat down on the floor and cried. She hated it when he got so angry. It was stupid. He always hurt her so much with his words when he got like that. What was she supposed to do? Apologize for being human? Okay, so it wasn’t the first time she’d forgotten to record something in their checkbook. But instead of working out a solution to something that was obviously a weakness in her, Kevin got mad.
She got up and went back to the living room to turn the lights and television off. Maybe if she gave him a few minutes alone they could talk rationally. She went upstairs and went through her bedtime routine before going into their bedroom. The lights were all off and Kevin was in bed. Natalie slipped into bed and he rolled away from her. She could feel the tears again but held them back because she knew they only upset him more.
Taking a few deep breaths, she touched his back. “Kevin, please talk to me.”
No answer. She knew he fell asleep fast and was often able to sleep even when they had arguments.
She tried again. “Kev?”
Still no response. The tears fell freely then and she rolled over to cry quietly into her pillow. She absolutely hated it when Kevin did this. She knew he would probably sleep like a baby while she tossed and turned all night. Natalie didn’t know why he did this to her. He knew how much it bothered her. It didn’t seem to matter to him. And what irked her even more was the fact that she knew he was going to wake up and act like everything was normal. Then she would be blamed for “keeping the fight going.”
“Are you going to do that all night?” he finally asked.
“Will you talk to me?”
“I’m done talking. I’m tired. I want to go to sleep.”
“That’s going to help me a lot. Thanks.”
With that, Kevin threw off the covers and grabbed his pillow. “I’m not staying here and listening to that garbage. Cry to yourself. Not to me.” With that, he slammed out the door and Natalie sobbed even harder.
Chapter Three
Who does she think she is, anyway? Guilt-tripping me like that. She’s the one who screwed up. Let her cry all night. See if I care.
Kevin rolled over as he tried to get comfortable on the couch. It was a difficult place to sleep. But anything was better than sleeping with her at that point.
He tossed and turned for a while, willing himself to fall asleep. It was so hard not to go to sleep beside his wife. Every night before they went to sleep, Natalie would rub his back until soft snores came from his side of the bed. Kevin had grown accustomed to those nightly backrubs. Going without them was difficult.
Finally, Kevin felt himself drifting off. Suddenly, someone turned on the light.
“Hey!” he yelled, sitting up. He squinted in the brightness that filled the room. But, he could clearly see the light wasn’t coming from one of the lamps. “What the…”
“Be calm,” a voice told him. The brightness toned down and Kevin saw what looked like a small star near the living room window. “You have much to learn.”
Kevin sat back and stared at the star. He knew he must be dreaming.
“You are a very blessed man, Kevin Reynolds. You have come through many trials in your life. The ones you face now seem daunting. You don’t appreciate what you have.”
“Who are you?” Kevin’s voice came out in a whisper.
“Silence! This is not the time for you to ask questions. This is the time for you to listen and to learn. There is much you don’t understand. You know in your heart that I AM.”
Kevin thought that was a strange sentence. He wanted to ask, You are what? But he didn’t.
“The life that you know today is going to be removed from you. But you will not die. You will return to the life of your childhood before this night is over. You will lose some, but you will gain much. You will learn what you need to learn. You will appreciate what you no longer have.”
When there was silence for a couple of seconds, Kevin said, “I don’t understand.”
“You will. It will all be clear in the morning.”
Suddenly, a sound like a loud vacuum filled the room and Kevin covered his ears. He watched as the star seemed to disappear and the room became dark again. He realized he was sitting up on the couch and covered in sweat. He threw his blanket onto the floor and settled back onto his pillow.
What a weird dream, he thought. What was that all about? He didn’t have time to ponder long before sleep overcame him.
Chapter Four
“Kevin? Kevin, wake up.”
Kevin snuggled down under the covers. “Five more minutes,” he muttered in a cracked voice.
“Absolutely not. Up this minute. You’ll be late.”
Slowly Kevin opened his eyes, expecting to see Natalie above him. He wanted to apologize for his anger the night before. He hated their fights. The face he saw was not Natalie’s.
It was his mother’s.
