⨷⨮°°°Happy Reading°°°⨭⨷

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Thanksgiving is a holiday that the government observes to give thanks for what has been received today. This day, too, is the most anticipated for everyone to spend time together at the dinner table. Usually, the American population is so busy that even having dinner together is very difficult for that reason, thanksgiving makes it a very special day.

Boisterous voices and laughter could be heard in one residence. This house was the home of a married couple named Alexander Stone and Layla Stone. The Stone family has always had a tradition of rotating Thanksgiving celebrations at each of the family's residences. This time, it was at the home of Alexander Stone, who is the fourth of five children. Alexander and Layla have two twin daughters, Denny and Bev.

Alexander looked at his large family with a smile and saw his wife, Layla, who was still busy on her cell phone. "OH, COME ON!!!" a shout from Amelia, his youngest sister who was with his three brothers and father watching the football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants.

"Lia, don't yell..." warned his mother who was chatting excitedly with his sister-in-law. Alexander's mother is a former celebrity magazine journalist while his sister-in-law is a journalist at a well-known celebrity magazine agency.

Alexander, who is not a soccer lover at all, doesn't understand, usually, he will accompany his brother and father to watch. At the very least, he understood a little bit about the sport of soccer.

But there was something strange. For about 2-3 months, his wife Layla, gave him an indifferent attitude. The two of them had been married for about 12 years and this time his wife's attitude made him anxious. Not because of what, but Layla started to stay away from him and their twins, even preferring to spend time at her workplace rather than at home. Whenever Alexander asked her about this, she always replied that she had a lot of work to do.

Looking at his wife who smiled a little while chatting with someone, Alexander exhaled heavily. "Daddy, Daddy, let's play!" the twins exclaimed excitedly. Glancing at the innocent faces of his two children made him forget about the negative thoughts and focus on them.

"Alright, alright..." he chuckled at his son's antics. "What do you want to play?"

"Superhero" / "Princess" both exclaimed simultaneously.

"Urgh, it's my turn to play this time," said Bev, who did not accept her brother's proposal.

"Uh, no way! I don't want to play princess, eww...," said Denny.

The two twins started arguing. "Ok. Ok... Calm down you two. How about playing together?" suggested Alexander, not wanting the Thanksgiving mood to end with the two toddlers fighting.

"Huh? What does that mean?" Danny asked, confused.

"I mean we can play superheroes and princesses at the same time," Alexander said cheerfully. He loved playing with the twins, especially now that they were at an age where they could use their imaginations.

"WOOO... Okay," the twins exclaimed excitedly.

PLAK! PLAK! PLAK!

"YOU'RE CRAZY, LAYLA! HOW DARE YOU DO SUCH A VILE AND DISGUSTING THING!"

The sound of the slap was so loud that it turned Alexander and his two children's cheerful smiles into worried and confused looks.

"YOU DISGUSTING BASTARD! WHORE!!! SLUT!!!"

Amelia's screams of abuse echoed throughout the room. Danny and Bev, who were starting to get scared, just tried to bury their heads in Alexander's legs. "Stss... Daddy's beautiful and handsome children. How about you play in your room first, huh... I want to calm Aunt Amelia and Mommy down for a while, okay?" he pleaded softly hoping that his two young children would understand. She didn't have the heart to see her twins looking at her with fear.

"Come on, Bev, daddy will be fine..." pulling her sister who was hugging her stuffed rabbit.

"B-But..."

"Don't worry, he'll be back to play with us."

Alexander was very grateful for Danny, despite his young age of 7, Danny was more mature than most kids his age. Alexander led the twins to their room, then, he quickly left to head to the trouble spot. 'What the hell is going on?' thought Alexander.

"Amel, why are you screaming? My children are so scared?" he asked repeatedly.

Suddenly there was silence, and Mom and Dad looked very disappointed and sad. Alexander's siblings seemed to be holding back their anger, even his sister-in-law looked at Layla with disgust. "...Hello, let me ask you why are you yelling?" she asked patiently. Usually in the Stone family, Amelia had an explosive nature, unlike the other siblings, because she was the youngest child. However, looking at his three brothers with red faces he sensed something was wrong.

My first brother, Jordan, handed me a cell phone. "Here, try to read this message first..." he said in a tone of voice that Alexander couldn't understand.

For the next few minutes, Alexander's face turned 360 degrees as if he had just seen a ghost. His hands were shaking, and his breathing was intermittent as he stared in disbelief at what he had just read.

"I... I can't... B-Breathe..." said Alexander stammering with fragmentary breaths. He had a panic attack, having had an anxiety disorder since he was in junior high school.

His parents carried him to sit on the sofa, trying to calm Alexander down. "Honey, breathe... It's okay, breathe." was the mantra his mother chanted to calm him down. His family had become the bedrock of his well-being.

After Alexander regained his composure, he saw his wife with her face down crying bitterly. This was the first time he had ever seen his wife cry like this. When her twins were born, she had never cried like this. "I'm going to the twins' room; we'll talk about this through tomorrow. If you all want to stay over, feel free..." he said in a weary voice. "Amelia, for now, don't get angry with Layla. Let's just talk nicely, okay?"

"BU-..."

"Fine, if that's what you want," said Demarcus, who was Alexander's closest third brother.

Alexander walked straight to the twins' room. Danny was reading Bev's favorite fairy tale book; he was already reading fluently while Bev was still a bit lost. Bev, who heard the sound of their bedroom door opening, immediately smiled happily to see their father. "DAD!!! I miss you!!!"

He immediately caught his daughter with his wide arms. He embraced them, hugging them tightly. "Hmm... I miss you too! It's not time for you to sleep yet, want to play for a while?" he suggested. There was an immediate response of agreement.

Alexander tried to push away his fears and worries about what would happen the next day. He didn't want his two children to experience the same pain he was feeling right now. He tried with all his might to play with his two children in a cheerful atmosphere.

At 8:00 p.m. While they slept, Alexander read the fairy tale book that he and Layla always read. "Dad, why doesn't mommy read us a story anymore? Is mommy mad at me and Danny?" asked Bev, who looked at Alexander with an innocent look.

"Daddy's beautiful daughter, no really, I think mommy is just a little bit tired... That's why she said she wanted to sleep first..."

Danny, who heard his father's words, just looked at his father with a flat face, so flat Alexander thought that he was angry with him.

"Dad... Is it because of Uncle Billy?" Danny guessed. Suddenly Alexander blinked in surprise at his son's words.

"Huh? Uncle Billy? What are you-... OHHH~~ That's right..." Bev responded to Danny's words.

"Kids, do you want to explain what you two mean?" asked Alexander with a worried look.

Danny and Bev exchanged worried glances as if they both knew something. "Come one, kids. Help me, please..."

"Both of us, used to seeing Mom and Uncle Billy are always alone in the room. But mom said not to tell..." said Bev guiltily.

"More like she threatened both of us... I knew that I would tell you so she threatened me that if I told you, she would hurt Bev," Danny said with a guilty face and wanted to cry. "I'm sorry Dad, I should have told you..."

Alexander held his breath at the words of his two sons. An innocent child, witnessing his wife's despicable behavior. Like lightning striking in broad daylight, it made him feel pain in his heart.

He immediately hugged his son and daughter tightly, "How long have you two seen Mama and Uncle Billy together..." he asked softly.

Danny replied, "We've seen Uncle Billy for a long time since our birthday at the beach."

Alexander was shocked because Danny and Bev's beach birthday was their 4th anniversary. 'Has she been cheating on him since then?' He began to be disappointed with Layla's unfaithfulness to him.

"...Dad, are you angry with me...?"

"Oh, baby, no not at all. You did the right thing, protecting your little sister."

"But just the same I should have told you..."

"Hey, Danny, listen to me. No matter what happens between mommy and me we both love you and Bev very much."

"Hmm... Okay, Dad."

Danny and Bev both closed their eyes and went into dreamland. Alexander lay on the floor of his nursery intending to contemplate what would happen the next morning. What decision to make? Would this decision please his children? Or, will it create hurt and trauma for the young children?

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The next day, Layla and Alexander had a one-on-one talk to resolve this issue. She had also asked her parents to go to the park with the twins to distract them both. And, for her brother and sister-in-law to come home to their house.

He saw his wife's swollen eyes indicating that she had cried herself to sleep last night. "So, what happened? Why are you having an affair, Layla?" he asked in a cold tone.

Suddenly, Layla's body jerked at her husband's tone. "I'm sorry, Al... It was just a one-time thing; I promise I won't do it again..." Layla pleaded she didn't want her husband to leave her. "I beg you, what will the children think if we get divorced? After all, the children are still young..."

Alexander snorted at the words. There was no apology. There was no regret. They were just words spoken out of necessity. He was confused about his wife's actions, 'Is she unhappy living with me? Or, could it be because of me that she has moved on?' he thought.

"Alexander, please answer me, can we go back to normal?"

With a slow sigh, "I... I don't know..."

"Huh!? What do you mean-..."

Layla's words were cut off by Alexander. "At first, I wanted to forgive you maybe we could go back to the way things were... Maybe we can go to a marriage counselor to help our marriage..."

"Yes, that's-... That's a good idea, we better do that." Layla said happily at her husband's suggestion.

"But that was before I got the painful information from our two children..." said Alexander still maintaining his flat face. Layla who heard that was confused and surprised, "They say that 'Uncle Billy' has been coming here since three years ago..."

"I-That... I can explain..." Layla whimpered.

"Yes, and you said it was just one time." quipped Alexander. "And what's worse is that you threatened Danny and Bev, who are your flesh and blood, to shut up about it!" he scolded.

"I-I..."

"SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!"

"I want you to pack your things and get the hell out of this house!!!"

"No, I don't want to leave! This is my house too!!!"

"I bought this house you have no RIGHT to it!!!"

"Bu-But..." Layla sobbed.

"Wipe your baby's tears, for the next five minutes you have to get out or I'll ask the police to pick you up." broke up Alexander unilaterally.

With a heavy heart, Alexander headed to the kitchen to calm himself down and called the family lawyer to take care of his divorce from Layla. He also sent proof of his wife's infidelity to him. He also contacted Layla's parents to tell them about his daughter's affair. They could only say a thousand apologies for their daughter's behavior towards him.

A few hours later, Danny and Bev came home beaming with their grandparents. "Dad, look at this..." Bev pointed excitedly.

"Wow... What is this? Is this a picture of our family..."

"Yes, Dad. This is me, Danny, and this is you. Then, this is Aunt Amelia, Uncle Jordan Aunt Paige, Uncle Demarcus, and Uncle Kayden. Oh... here, grandpa and grandma." Bev said with a story.

Alexander who saw the absence of his wife who was their mother made him feel scared. Not because of anything but, because their child was still young and needed a mother figure in his life. "Waah... Nice picture, my princess, I'll put it on the fridge..."

"Oh, yes before I want to talk to you guys too..." said Alexender quite seriously. His parents had gone home and now it was just the three of them at home. He was honestly worried about his children's reaction.

"First of all, I want to apologize for not knowing what your mom did..." Alexander said.

"We're fine, dad. No need to worry..." said Danny, hugging Alexander.

"And, you see mom's not here because she had to go to her house... I've decided to divorce your mom..."

"What's a divorce?" asked Bev, confused.

"Divorce is like mom and dad separated, like Uncle Kayden and Aunt Adalyn," Danny replied.

"...Oh," said Bev. "Does that mean Mommy doesn't live with us anymore...?"

"Yes, dear... But, if you want to see Mom, you can," replied Alexander. "Are you two okay, if mom and me get divorced?" asked Alexander.

"Yes, Dad. We are okay with that, especially since mom threatening us."

"Hmm, I don't want to lie to you anymore," said Bev.

Hearing the words of his twins who understood his situation. Alexander invited both of his children to go to a psychologist so that there would be no trauma or anything that happened to the mental health of his two children. The divorce proceedings lasted for 4 months and luckily, he got custody of Danny and Bev. He decided to focus on his health and that of his children as well. He decided to make a memory together on Thanksgiving to remember the good things.

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⨷⨮°°°THE END°°°⨭⨷