Divorce and Future - Passed

"Why me?" I asked. "What does any of this have to do with me?" I asked.

Tina flashed the images on my windshield back to the sad old man and his two blonde bimbo companions.

"Those women with the old man," I said. "That's why he doesn't care about them. They're robots aren't they?"

She shook her head sadly. "No Daddy," she said. "They're human. They're two twenty year old women who love you. You just aren't capable of returning their love because once you lost Mom, once you lost the only person you really wanted to be with and found out the truth, you were simply incapable of loving anyone."

"Me?" I asked. "That old man is me?" She nodded.

"Okay, so I'm a sad old man," I said. I was doing my best to cover my shock that I was the old man in the video. "I still fail to see how the rest of this is my fault. You should probably be talking to Davenport."

"Wouldn't do any good Daddy," she said. "Davenport will disappear very soon. His body will never be found. And he really has nothing to do with all of this anyway."

"But you said that your half brother went crazy from lack of love and attention from his parents. I have nothing to do with that directly. Okay, your Mom loved me. And I have to admit it. I still to this day love her. How does that make me responsible for what your half brother does?"

"Daddy, I'm breaking a promise to Mom, by telling you this, but in the end if you're happy it won't matter. Jakey isn't my half brother. He's my brother, Daddy. I don't mean that I call him that, or that we grew up together. He is my actual, physical DNA matched sibling. He is your son, Daddy. In my time you didn't find that out until after he was dead."

"But your mother never..." I began. "She didn't know did she?"

"Yes Daddy, Mom knew from the beginning," she said.

"Then why didn't she?" I started.

"Because Daddy, she loved you so much. She spent the rest of her life loving you. She just never moved on. She couldn't. She didn't want you to stay with her when you didn't want to because of a baby. As bad as you leaving her hurt, it would have hurt her more to have to look at you every day knowing that you weren't together because you felt the same way she did, but because you had to be there for the baby."

"But..."I said quietly.

"Daddy, she simply was incapable of doing anything to hurt you. She considered what happened to her enough pain for you to go through to last your entire life. She didn't want to add to it. You do know that she called you her husband until the day she died, right?"

"If she loved me so God damned much then why did she cheat on me with her boss?" I asked.

"Daddy, Mom didn't actually cheat on you," she said. "She was set up by Davenport. They went out on that business trip and Mom never trusted him or any man around her. Even when they were having dinner with the clients or their colleagues, Mom never drank anything harder than soda. And she always made sure it was from a fresh sealed bottle. Daddy, Mom woke up the morning after one of those business dinners and found Davenport in her bed. She knew that he'd had sex with her and the first thing she did was grabbed the glasses off the table and put them in her suitcase. When she got home she had them tested and found out that the drinks were clean."

"Several of her colleagues from work had heard about what happened and started to proposition her, because they thought that she was doing things like that regularly. It took her years to find out what had happened and by then the two of you had gone your separate ways. Finding out only depressed her more. It turned out that Davenport had seen the way Mom was about her drinks. He drugged her food."

"Of course, Mom, being the way she was, when she came home, she came clean, as much as it hurt her. She told you about it. Daddy, you went ballistic, I'm sure you remember that. And I know that you were hurting too but you just didn't think about it. Would a woman who wanted to cheat on you just come crying to you and tell you it had happened?" I looked at the floor.

"Daddy, Davenport didn't get Mom pregnant. She was already pregnant when she went on the trip. She just didn't know it at the time. Jakey is your son. But you were so angry at Mom that she just never had the chance or even the reason to tell you. You realized it later in life. But by then, it was just too God damned late to do anything about it. Think about it. Your wife, the woman you love, was basically set up and date raped by the man she worked with. It was orchestrated by her boss. Instead of getting support and caring from the man she loves, she got anger and scorn. She lived out her life thinking about how she hurt you instead of by being loved by the man that she never stopped loving."

"Jakey, your son, grew up without a father's love or example to teach him what kind of man he should be. His mother was so broken hearted by losing the love of her life, that she also neglected to show him any love. To get the love he wanted most of all, Jakey had to try to manufacture it. His relationships with people were tenuous at best. He just never trusted people. He put all of his trust in his machines. In the end he was disappointed because, first, he found out that programming, no matter how sophisticated, simply isn't love. And the robots he put his trust in ended up killing him to prevent him from taking them offline. Now the entire world may be at stake. But Daddy, it isn't too late."

"So you want me to jump forward in time with you and fix your brother?" I asked.

"No Daddy," she said. "That wouldn't be a good option."

"Good," I said. "I'm still crying over what Ford plans to do to the Mustang in 2015. It looks more like a Taurus than a Mustang. They're going to destroy my car's image for the sake of modernization. I'm really not ready to see that thing they call a Mustang in your time period." She laughed.

"So what you want me to do, is to go back in time with you and prevent your Mom from cheating on me then?" I asked.

"No Daddy," she said sadly. "I can't let you do that either."

"Why not?" I asked. "We could make it so that none of this happened. That might save everything."

"Daddy, I've been there," she said. "The version of you back then had his head so far up his ass that he couldn't do anything but spout bullshit. He kept telling me that there was no reason he'd ever take a cheating whore back. If she was a real woman, she never would have let herself get in a position where someone could take advantage of her."

Looking at my daughter, I could see that she was telling me the truth again. And I remembered several drunken rants where I'd said almost exactly those words to friends of mine who were trying to help me get over Sarah.

"Maybe I could go back in time with you and meet my former self and explain it to him myself," I suggested.

"God damn it Daddy," she spat. "No time travel for you."

"Why the hell, not?" I asked. I wanted to travel to a different time. I'd seen her. I knew that it was possible and I really wanted to experience it. I'd been a sci-fi nut all my life, I love technology and I wanted to see the future. I also wanted that God damned Star Trekky feeling of going back to the past and feeling superior and better than the people of that time period. I could just see myself whipping out my iPhone and completely freaking out the people in the eighties. Just before I beamed back to my time line, I'd do that Mr. Spock hand thingy and say, "Live long and prosper." Shit, I could invent Dos Equis. I really could be the most interesting man in the world. My own daughter was trying to deny me my chance at time travel.

"Because I love you Daddy," she said. There were tears running down her cheeks. "One of us is enough."

"Daddy, Tachyon particles are lethal. They eventually kill all living tissue that they come in contact with. Time travel is deadly. That's why Jakey abandoned his research in that area. I'm already riddled with cancer."

I just looked at her and realized exactly what she must have gone through over the past however long she'd been jumping back and forth through time.

"So why did you?" I began.

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't, Daddy," she said. "On one hand, my world is about to end. My family is torn apart. Robots are trying to protect us into the grave. When we try to take control of our lives back they won't let us, because they don't think we're capable of taking care of ourselves anymore. They'll kill us to be able to continue to take care of us. Like some kind of psychotic baby sitters. Even if the world wasn't ending, which it is, I'd rather die than live like that."

"I have no world to go back to. Even if I didn't have the cancer, that world would end before I lived out my life. On the other hand, if you fix things here, that time line will never come to pass. With your gift for business and the way that you care about people, tempering Jakey's genius even if he does the robotic thing, it'll never get to the point where the robots totally rule our lives. Jake won't have to go to that extreme because he'll have all of the love he needs growing up. Shit, maybe he'll go into a totally different field. I'll grow up in a different and better world. Maybe even one where I can fall in love and have babies."

"Daddy, if everything goes well and you handle your end it will be as if I never existed. The version of me here will grow up happy and well-adjusted and so will Jake. You and Mom will grow old together and live out your lives happier and the whole world will be a better place."

"But Honey, I don't want you to not exist," I said.

"Daddy, that' so sweet. And it's the next thing I need to talk to you about," she said. "You've always loved me so much that I could feel it. I need you to share that love with Mommy and Jakey. And please don't try to make the version of me from this time line like me. Let her grow up her own way. Maybe she'll dye her hair pink and drive a Camaro, but she loves you and she's your daughter."

"Shit," I said. "If Ford fucks up the 2015 Mustang like the stories I saw in the internet, maybe I'll end up driving a Camaro."

"Seriously Daddy," she said, shaking her head. "But this part is important. You can't tell anyone about me or what's going to happen in the future."

"But Honey, if I can't tell anyone about you then how can I make things right with your Mom?" I asked.

Tina just started laughing hysterically. "Daddy, that's the easiest part of all. That woman loves you like there's no tomorrow. If you just showed up in the middle of the night and told her you wanted to ram a telephone pole up her ass, she'd try it for you. Don't worry. I'll be watching you for a few moments while I get ready for nothingness."

"What do you mean nothingness?" I asked.

"Daddy, I'm on really strong pain-killers for the cancer. If you're successful, when I do my next time jump, I'll just jump into nothingness. I won't exist anymore. My consciousness will be blended with the version of me here and my time line won't come to pass. On the other hand, if you're not successful, I'll jump back into my fucked up world. I'll have to try something else, but every jump gets more painful. Maybe you'll be almost successful and I might need to do one more little thing in which case you'd probably see me again. If I came back before I did this time, you wouldn't remember me. If I came back after this one you would. So, hug me goodbye Daddy and hope for both of our sakes that you don't see me again. I'd really like to get my rest. There are a few surprises that I've put in place for you, so look out for them."

I hugged her long and hard and she smiled. The she got out of my Mustang and held up her hand. It started to glow from inside and she waved and was gone.

I looked at my watch. It was almost two a.m. I shrugged my shoulders and got into my car. I drove back over to Sarah's apartment. I waved at the doorman. I'd been here a few times at night so I knew both the night guy and the daytime doorman very well.

I knocked gently on Sarah's door because I didn't want to wake the kids. There was no answer. Then I realized that it was very late. I tried calling her. The phone rang three times before she answered it. "Jake, what's wrong?" she asked. The concern in her voice was very clear. I guess since I never called her unless it was about the kids, she thought that something major was wrong.

"Sarah, I'm standing outside of your apartment," I said. I heard the phone drop and the next thing I heard was the sound of the locks being taken off of the door.

She opened the door looking very sleepy. I walked into the apartment and she just kept staring at me. I took her by her hand and led her back to the back of the apartment. I went into Tina's room and kissed her on the cheek. Then I went into Jake's room and kissed him too. That did get a reaction from Sarah but she didn't say anything. I took her hand as I closed Jake's door and led her to her bedroom.

I pushed her down on her bed and started kissing her. She melted into my kisses. She grabbed me by the back of my head and tried to suck my tongue out of my throat. As I kissed my way down her cheeks, down her neck and onto her breasts, she sighed contentedly.

I licked both of her nipples alternately and she shivered in anticipation. I began to finger her through her nightgown and she pulled it up to give me access.

I quickly pulled down my pants and shorts and gently entered her. It had been so long and it felt so good that I couldn't believe it. Our coupling was very frenzied with both of us reaching a climax far too soon. When I looked at us in the mirror, I had to laugh. I mean there I was still in my shirt and socks. I was lying next to Sarah who had her hair messed up and her nightgown bunched up around her neck.

She was crying.

"Sarah, I'm sorry," I said. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, Jake," she said. "I loved that...I missed it so much." I leaned over and gently kissed her cheek.

"Next time it'll be better," I said. "But tonight was about something else."

"Are you saying that this is going to happen again?" she asked. "When? I want to be ready for it."

I looked at her strangely. "Sarah, I think you have the wrong impression," I said.

Her face fell. "I should have known," she said. Huge crystalline tears dropped from her eyes again and I kissed them.

"Honey, you're acting like this is a booty call. Like I'll just drop by and want to have sex with you. That isn't what this is about," I said.

"Then Jake, what is it?" she asked.

"Sarah, don't ask me why or how, but I know everything. I know what really happened to you and I even know how. I know about Jake. I know that Davenport isn't his father. This isn't about us getting back together for sex occasionally. This is about me apologizing for not realizing that you'd never do what I thought you did. This is about me thanking you for loving me as much as you do and about me letting you know that even though I was being an asshole, I love you just as much. This is about me telling you that I want us and our kids back together again as a family and I don't give a half a God dam what anyone thinks about it. Even if we have to move away to another town or whatever, I want us together again. Is that okay with you?"

She was speechless. She just nodded her head and hugged me. I pulled her to me and we went to sleep locked in each other's arms. When I woke up the next morning, with my arms still locked around Sarah there were two small faces staring at me in shock. Tina just smiled with a knowing look on her three year old face. Jake smiled too in shock.

"Daddy, I had to help Jake get out of his crib," said Tina. "I had to tell him you're back."

"Back," said Jake, aping his big sister. I held out my arms to him and he tried to toddle over to me and fell on his butt. I picked him up and he smiled. "Dadda," he yelled.

All of the noises and movement woke Sarah up. She looked over at me and smiled the biggest brightest smile I'd ever seen.

"I was afraid that I was dreaming. I didn't want to wake up and have it go away," she said. "But you're really here." She hugged me again.

"I have one thing to do today then we're going to go shopping for a house," I said. "You and I do have to have a talk though."

"Anything you want, Honey," she said.

"No Sarah, anything WE want. What I wanted to talk about was that I'm going to stop paying your alimony soon," I said.

"Of course, all you had to do is ask," she said.

"Sarah, don't you want to know why?" I asked.

"Nope," she said.

"Sarah, because you don't have to pay your wife alimony," I said. She just smiled. Then she realized what I meant.

"Jake you can't," she said.

"Why not?" I asked. "Are you turning me down?"

"No never," she said. "But people will..."

"Skip them," I said.

"Kip dem," said Jakey.

I left the house leaving Sarah happier than she'd been in a long time. And so was I. I had my family back together and had gained the son I never knew I had. It was like all of the sadness and anger I'd been carrying around with me just vanished. But in its place was a new anger.

I drove to the building that Sarah had worked at when we were married. I waved to all of the guards and several people that I knew. I went up to her old office. I actually knew the woman who'd replaced Sarah as Davenport's assistant.

"Hey Connie," I said. "How's it going?"

"Great Mr. Reed," she said. "How's Sarah...oops forgive me. I shouldn't have asked that."

"Connie, Sarah is great," I smiled. "We're looking for a new house."

"You guys are back together again?" she asked. I just nodded.

"It's good to see that things worked out...for someone," she said.

"Connie, maybe you should get your job in the secretarial pool back," I said.

"Fat chance," she said. "I've asked him several times, but he won't let me go. And if I made a stink about it, he'd probably get me fired."

"Well, he's expecting me," I lied. "He called and told me he had some of Sarah's stuff and I wasn't going to let her end up alone with the bastard." I intended to kick Davenport's ass. He was a lot bigger than me but I was going to hurt him.

I walked into the office and he looked up at me with surprise on his face. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Do you remember my wife, Sarah?" I asked.

"Didn't you kick her to the curb, just before she quit?" he asked.

"You mean after what you did to her?" I asked. He looked at me again more seriously.

"Are you wearing a wire or something?" he asked. "Anyway, I have no idea of what you're talking about and you have no proof."

"You drugged her food," I said. "You knew she was paranoid about someone getting her drunk so she never trusted you enough to drink around you. But no one ever thinks about the food."

I saw his face pale and I knew that Tina had been correct. While he was sputtering and trying to think of a plausible denial, I punched him in the face as hard as I could. I felt the flesh under my punch move as his nose flattened and erupted in blood. At the same time, I saw the anger break out on his face and his expression change to rage.

Unlike in the movies and on TV, he did not fall down on the floor knocked out by the force of my righteous blow. He didn't roll backwards destroying his chair and shrink back from my fists of fury.

What he did do was to get a really pissed off look on his face and smile as he stood up towering over me. "I'm gonna fuck you up," he said calmly. He was so calm in fact that it scared the shit out of me. His words had the ring of truth to them. And looking at him I was sure he'd make good on the threat. At least Sarah loved me and she'd know that I either died or got my ass beaten badly trying to defend her honor.

"It's pitiful isn't it," I spat. "Someone as big and strong as you, with a job like yours is so pathetic that he has to drug a woman to get laid." The expression on his face got even angrier as he came towards me.