My Two Mothers by UltimateSin

My Two Mothers by UltimateSin

A/N – Been a while since I’ve uploaded a single chapter story in this category. Hope you enjoy it.

Australian / British standard English. There is a good chance of reading the following: lots of profanity, characters drinking, typos, and bad grammar at times.

Proofreading and editing suggestions provided by OhDave1. Any mistakes are still mine.

Comments are appreciated as always.

Feedback by email is always welcome. Enjoy chatting with anyone who likes my work.

*****

I was fourteen years old the day my father walked in the front door of our home, sat my mother down at the dining table and announced that he was leaving her. My mother was a proud, confident woman, but hearing that her husband was leaving her immediately led to questions and accusations and eventually one hell of a shouting match as he almost happily admitted to his long-term infidelity.

My respect for the man plummeted after I walked into the dining room, unaware of the conversation as I’d been rather distracted in my bedroom with homework and then gaming, normally until Mum would lightly tap on my door when dinner was ready. Aware of the time and it was later than usual, I walked out to see my mother at the table, head in her hands and obviously upset, while I heard my father in the bedroom.

“Mum?” I asked softly. Seeing her lift her head and gaze at me, eyes wet with tears, I was immediately at her side to cuddle her as I felt her shake in my arms, “What’s wrong, Mum?”

She didn’t sob as I knew she was doing her best to rein in her emotions. “Ask your father,” she finally replied, “Let him tell you what he just told me.”

Leaning back, her green eyes were still wet behind the thin frames as she’d worn glasses nearly her entire life. Clearing some of her black hair away from her face made her smile. I’d always thought my mother was a beautiful woman. Her lower lip started to tremble as I left a kiss on her cheek. I’d never been embarrassed by showing my mother any sort of affection. I always hugged her before either of us left in the morning and always hugged her when she knocked on my door, ensuring I opened it up and I was greeted by a smile and then a hug that we both cherished.

Walking towards my parents’ bedroom, it was a sanctuary I rarely entered. I never entered without knocking or asking permission as much as they returned that level of respect regarding my bedroom. Noticing my father had a suitcase on the bed and was busy packing, I cleared my throat as he came to a stop.

“Ah, Mark… Yes… Well…”

“What’s going on, Dad?” I asked.

He cleared his throat, looking awkward as I still didn’t know what was going on. He finally straightened up. “I guess you’re old enough to understand. I’m leaving your mother, Mark. I’m tired of living a lie.”

“What sort of lie?” I was fourteen but I wasn’t stupid. I knew married people had affairs all the time. I also knew men and women lived in the closet. Or maybe he was just tired of being married.

I also knew it was an awkward question, wondering if I’d get a lie or the truth. “I’ve been intimate with my personal assistant at work for the past five years. I plan on being with her from now on.”

“Oh…” My fourteen-year-old mind could comprehend what he’d just told me, but what else could I ask except, “What about Mum? What about me?”

“You’re still important to me, Mark. I won’t forego my responsibility to my son. I’m still your father and I still love you. As for your mother, she’s more than capable of raising you while I’m not here and I will happily leave her this house and contents.”

“Where will you go?”

“I already have an apartment sorted out where I will be living from now on.”

“Oh… So, um, you had this planned?”

“I’ve been planning this for a while.” He walked over and rested a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry to spring this on you like this, son. What I don’t want you to do is blame yourself for this. And your mother isn’t to blame either. We haven’t been terribly close in a long time, and I’ve found someone else to love.”

I knew bullshit when I heard it, but I wasn’t going to get into an argument with him then and there. Nodding my head, I let him continue packing as I returned to the dining room. Mum had been preparing dinner as things were still on the stove. I tried to help her wherever possible when it came to dinner, and I was good when it came to chores. Turning everything back on, Mum lifted herself from her chair, grabbing a couple of tissues. Even at fourteen, I was nearly taller than her, and I knew she needed another hug.

“I love you, Mum,” I whispered.

“Thank you, baby. I love you too.”

“Dad told me. I kind of hate him right now. It’s not right.”

“It’s not… But he’s your father. That’s all I’ll say for now.”

My father didn’t reappear until he’d obviously grabbed everything he wanted and taken it out to his car. To my surprise, he placed keys on the table along with a piece of paper.

“We obviously can’t divorce for a year from now. Australian laws and all that,” he stated, “These are the only keys I have to the property. If you want the locks changed, I’ll pay for it.”

“Why?” Mum asked, “Why bother?”

“Look, I know what I’ve done, Madeline. I simply want to make all of this as painless as possible.”

“Painless for you… Fuck you, Brian. Fuck you and that slut who works for you.”

Dad simply nodded his head. “I deserve that. All I ask is that you allow me to visit Mark from time to time. I won’t be forgetting about my son in all this.”

Mum met my eyes. I didn’t make a single gesture as I was still processing what was going on. “You realise you’ll be on the hook for child support until he’s eighteen,” she finally said.

“Which I’ll pay willingly as I’m his father and still want to spend as much time with my son as possible. But given we both earn roughly the same…”

Mum snorted derisively. “Of course, you’re worried about that, aren’t you? You cheat on me, fuck around for God knows how long, and you’re worried about having to pay me a little money, aren’t you?”

Dad sighed. “Look, I’m going to go. On this piece of paper are the details of my lawyer. There is also the address of my apartment. Yes, I’ve been setting this up for some time as I didn’t want this dragging out. Fact is we haven’t been happy for a long time, Madeline.” Mum surprisingly didn’t have a retort to that. Maybe she felt the same but stayed married for whatever reason. “Yes, I know I’ve been cheating, but part of the reason was that I didn’t want to break up the family home. Mark is now fourteen years old, and I think can understand that marriages do come to an end.”

Mum visibly deflated. “Just go, Brian,” she finally muttered, “Just go.”

Dad nodded, glancing my way. I glanced at Mum and returned my eyes to his, shaking my head. I couldn’t follow him out and leave Mum alone. I think he sensed my thoughts, earning a nod of what I liked to think was respect. What he didn’t realise is that I had none for him then and there. He’s just torn out his wife’s heart, the same heart which loved her son completely, and she already looked a shadow of the vibrant woman I was so used to seeing each and every day.

To my surprise, Mum didn’t hit the bottle that night or on subsequent nights. I heard her crying that night in bed, unable to sleep until I knocked on her door, Mum opened her arms as I slid onto the bed, feeling her shake and sob as I tried my best to make her feel better.

“I’ll always love you, Mum,” I promised.

After that night, Mum threw herself into three things. Her work, her few friends, and raising me. She’d always shown an interest in my life, but as much as she showed interest in me, as soon as she knocked on my door, I’d join her in the living room, asking about her day, almost being her sounding board as she’d slide out of her heels and massage her pretty little feet. Sometimes wearing stockings, sometimes not…

We ate dinner together nearly every night, not missing the fact we usually headed out at least once or twice a week. Mum would dress up occasionally and ask me to wear something nice, and as I turned fifteen and the divorce loomed, I knew Mum had been relying on me for emotional support. Though I had plenty of good friends, they were aware of what was going on and I never liked being far away from her. My friends liked coming to my place, and more than once, Mum thanked me for ensuring the house wasn’t too gloomy and quiet all the time.

As for my father, he had bought himself one hell of a nice apartment closer to the city. What I found hilarious is that within three months of moving out, the relationship with his personal assistant had fizzled out. Apparently, she had loved being his piece on the side, receiving all the gifts a mistress does, and all the attention that came with in, but when it came to a permanent relationship, she wasn’t interested at all. And from the little I did learn, my father hadn’t been clued in at all.

I did visit him every so often as although I hated what he did to my mother, he was still my father and I still loved him. I just found it difficult to truly forgive him. It was around six months after he moved out when I was having dinner at his place one night when I had to ask him a question.

“So what will you do now?”

He chewed on his rather nicely cooked steak as he nodded. “I’m not going back to your mother.”

“Dad, she wouldn’t take you back anyway.”

“Touche,” he stated, managing a rueful chuckle, “Mark… I’m serious when I say neither of us was happy for a long time. It’s why we never gave you a sibling. Sure, me having an affair wasn’t the right way to go about things, I knew it then and know it now. And I guess I’ve had my comeuppance. So what will happen is that the divorce will go through and I’ll meet someone else.”

The thing is, I was confident his prediction would come true. My father was still a somewhat handsome man, successful in his professional life, and had a lot to offer a prospective partner. Frankly, the fact his personal assistant hadn’t been interested in being with him long term had surprised me though I guess it was self-preservation. Willing to cheat on his wife, would he cheat on her too?