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batsutousaiTitle: To Be In Control
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batsutousai
Warnings: Incest, cutting, spouse abuse, child abuse
Summary: Living the modern life, the only way you can. Based on a true story.
A/N: I have been told that this story, particularly the last section, is difficult to follow because I don't use names. I considered using fake names, but the story didn't have the same feel to it, and most of the characters have the same initials, so I couldn't go that route, either. I apologise, in advance, for the confusion. ^.^"
To Be In Control
He said she was beautiful. Even more so than her mother. He said that he loved her, that she was everything to him. He always spoke such pretty things to her and sent her such intense looks. He went out of his way to brush against her, to stumble and catch her, his hands lingering.
She dressed up for him, for his approval. She wanted his love, and she wanted to learn to love him back. She craved his looks, his smile, his touches, wrong as they may have been. She wanted desperately to earn the pretty words he bestowed upon her, even if they made her mother green; even if they made her mother hate her.
When she didn't look her best, he frowned at her, turned the other way and let her mother take her place. She started borrowing her mother's make-up and hiding in her room until she was perfect. She neglected friends and work to impress him, to draw his eye. She watched the popular girls and learned to sway her hips just right and how to smile like you meant nothing behind it. She eyed the latest trends and raided her mother's purse to buy the off-brands.
Suddenly, his wasn't the only eye following her around with hunger. Boys asked her out, but she denied them; she had eyes only for him. As her mother grew angrier, the boys grew more desperate and he smiled more at her and less at her mother. When her mother pulled her aside to talk, she smirked and said, "You're just jealous that I'm more beautiful."
Her mother threatened to take him to court and he stopped paying attention to her in public. At night, though, he slipped up to her room and touched her past what short skirts and too small shirts showed during the day. He taught her tricks that would impress other boys, if she'd wanted to try them. He had her writhing under callused hands and moaning into his mouth. Together, they kept their family from finding out even as they met under the same roof they slept beneath.
At seventeen, her cycle was off. He ran off to the store while she cried on her bed and worried about others finding out. When the test was negative, they breathed in relief.
He said, "This won't happen again," and got her an appointment with a small clinic. Once the blister pack came, they returned to their forbidden dances in a sleeping house.
As soon as she finished high school, her mother made her get a job and an apartment. It became harder to meet, and her mother kept a close eye on him.
When she was nineteen, she found out he'd been eyeing another girl who she was friends with and went to her mother in tears. Her mother said, "So now you know how it feels." When she apologized, her mother shook her head and said, "You didn't know better. The fault is his."
When she was twenty-one, her mother filed for divorce against him as his Christmas present. She and her brother and sister were shocked into silence. When her sister croaked out, "Why?" her mother said, "Because I've had enough, and now that you three are grown and out of the house, I don't need him to support us anymore."
He knocked on her apartment door a week later, his car packed with his things. When he asked to stay with her, she slammed the door in his face. On the table next to the door was a book about coping with child abuse. It had been a gift from her mother.
***
They met at a party that a mutual friend had thrown. He had eyes for her easy figure, she had eyes for the packed wallet poking out of his back pocket. They danced with each other and shares drinks.
A napkin in his pocket the next morning was the start of a new, much longer dance.
At twenty-three she was engaged and three months later they tied the knot. Her father was at the wedding, even though she'd told him not to come. When he asked about grandchildren, she told him that he'd be lucky if he saw them at family gatherings, and she'd be damned if he ever saw them alone. Next to her, her mother smiled and kissed her cheek as her brother and sister traded confused looks with the groom.
A year of living together taught her that he wasn't as well off as his packed wallet and gifts had led her to believe. Between them, they made enough to call a slightly bigger apartment their own. He kicked his shoes off as he sat down and asked her to rub his feet when she came in an hour after him, then told her to cook him dinner. He told her the food was bad and left her his dishes to clean up. She called her mother for advice.
"You can leave him."
"But I love him."
"Who do you love more? Yourself, or him?"
"...."
"Sweetie?"
"...I don't know..."
A month later she had her answer by way of her cycle being off again. This time, she went and got the test herself. When it came back positive, she called her mother up with tears in her eyes.
"I'm pregnant, mom!"
"You sound happy."
"I... I think I am. Maybe he'll treat me better?"
"I hope so. Just know that I'm here if you need me."
"Thanks, mom."
With the news of a child on the way, he did become kinder. Sometimes, he made dinner so it was ready when she got home and they would laugh together when he burned something. If she cooked, he did all the dishes. She still tripped over his shoes once every week or so, and he still acted like an asshole sometimes, but things were better.
The girl was born in March; a preemie, the child stayed at the hospital for longer than she did. He became angry again, blamed her for the child's weakness. She let him be angry, only praying that her daughter would live. She went to church with her mother, something she hadn't done since her father had seduced her in high school.
When the child finally came home, he calmed down again and treated them both with kindness. He didn't even seem to mind when the baby woke them both in the middle of the night. She thanked God for her daughter and showered the infant with love, even as money became scarce.
Three months after her daughter's birth, another test because her cycle was off found her pregnant again. She started going to church with her mother every week, taking her daughter and asking him if he'd come. He always said no, but he'd drive her to her mother's house without complaint, then come and pick her up at two.
She prayed that this child wouldn't have to stay in the hospital for an extended time. In February, her wish came true in the form of a beautiful, healthy girl. She showered her children with love, because he was always kinder when they were there. He smiled when he saw them, and that made her happy.
When she found she was pregnant again, he said, "God, let it be a boy. I'm already outnumbered!" and they laughed. That Sunday, when she asked if he wanted to go to church with her, he stared at her for a long moment, then shrugged and said, "Sure."
Kneeling next to him with a child in her arms, she heard him whisper, "A boy, God. Please let it be a boy?" and smiled to herself. It was moments like that that she loved him the most.
When he went with her to church the next weekend, she joined him in praying for a son. After all, she figured, it was the least she could do.
A much-needed raise hit his bank account at the beginning of the new year and they celebrated by moving into a larger apartment that had enough room for their growing family. Balancing the check book in February, he mentioned that they should probably stop after this child, or they wouldn't have enough money for even the simple life they already led. She didn't say anything in response, but during her next appointment at their doctor's office, she asked about ways to stop from getting pregnant again. The doctor suggested birth control pills or getting her ovaries removed. She said she'd think about it.
In March, a little boy came out of her and into the world. He was introduced to his big sisters, who could have cared less. She thought the pleased look on his face was the best thing in the world and was so distracted she misspelled her son's name. He laughed with her at the mistake and they left it. The new baby gurgled when they apologized to him and they laughed again, sharing a happy smile.
For five years after that, she juggled three children and keeping the house while he worked hard to get another pay raise so they could make ends meet without the odd job he often had to find on the side. Sometimes he yelled or hit her, and once or twice she yelled back, but they always tried to smile at their children and keep their spats away from innocent eyes.
After one particularly bad fight which found her with a black eye and the three children crying as he stormed out of the apartment to the bar down the street, she considered the pros and cons of divorce. When he came back and apologized, she smiled and accepted his apology, but the thought of divorce didn't leave her. When she mentioned it to her mother that Sunday, her mother commented that it might be a good idea. After all, "One black eye will lead to another. And another. And then, before you know it, you're black and blue and your children are mirroring you because they jumped in the way."
She dithered over whether or not she should file for a couple of months. The next time he got violent, her eldest did just as her mother had said and got in the way of the angry fists. The next day, she filed for divorce.
***
She met him over the internet. He was from Virginia and was just recovering from his second divorce. He had two daughters her children's ages. She suggested the children become pen pals and her two eldest fell right to it, happily trading letters with these two strangers three states away. The four girls were fast friends even as he and she discussed him coming up to visit with her and her children.
His first visit up resulted in an accident on the way and some hospital time on his part back at his home. When he was able, he tried again and made it up to visit with smiles. He didn't care that she had gotten fat after three pregnancies or that she had three children and a walk-in closet of emotional baggage. She didn't care that he had been diagnosed with clinical depression and had two living children of his own with one long dead. Neither cared that he was almost twenty years her senior.
They both acted their best to make the other's children like them. The five children may not have been sure of their parent's newest love interest, but they quickly grew to like each other. While they may not have been sure of their possible step-parent, they did know that they liked one another and, to them, that was all that mattered.
When he asked, she moved down to Virginia to be closer to him and his children. When her ex denied her pleas to have her children with her, they both moved back up to New York to fight for them there and won. When he wanted his children to stay after a visit with them, she suggested not going to meet his ex to trade them off. When his ex came all the way up and got the police involved, they had to hand the children back over, but neither were happy about it.
Eventually, he talked her into moving back down to Virginia, where the weather was warmer, the schools were better and he could get a job that paid better than the grocery store he'd been working at. Assured that she would be able to take her three children down with her, they moved down together. For the first time, they were close enough to his ex and children for weekly visits and he was happier. She smiled and took them all to church, glad that she could help his children learn more about God, which their mother could have cared less about.
When his ex decided to move out to Denver to do some extra schooling, she plotted against the woman and warned his eldest daughter so it didn't come as a surprise. That daughter warned his ex and they made it to Denver safely. She swore that she'd kill the little bitch when she saw her again and he tried to calm her even as he wondered why his daughter didn't want to stay with him.
Five and a half months after they had left, with no visits because of the distance, his ex returned with his children. When she had his eldest away from her mother, she yelled and hit the girl. He sent his daughter out of the room and calmed her. All five children made themselves scarce that weekend.
He and his ex fought over their divorce arrangement and their two daughters. They decided to add a stipulation that said they couldn't move more than a certain distance apart so his ex couldn't run off with his children again. She approved of the new agreement and he and his ex signed.
When the townhouse they were living in became too expensive, they looked together for a new home that would fit their large family, was in the distance of his agreement with his ex, and that they could easily afford. A large trailer caught their eyes and they down-sized their things to fit in it. Somehow, they made it work and her children quickly got used to a new school and made friends while his daughters got used to the added distance between their parents.
Somewhere between the distance and their growing ages, the five children started fighting against their step-parents. She started yelling more and he got into constant fights with her eldest. They fought over little things with each other while their five children got together to complain about their step-parents and jumped to each others' defense.
Adding to the discord in the small house, her eldest was diagnosed with depression, while her middle child started being rude to everyone around her and her youngest couldn't seem to pay attention to anything. His eldest took to hiding in a book while she was at their house and his youngest started throwing tantrums in school, leading her to be diagnosed with depression. After a particularly bad argument, her eldest was found cutting herself in the kitchen while everyone else ate in the living room and was sent to a psych ward and re-diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar.
His ex took his youngest to a new psychiatrist with a frown and the diagnosis that she had depression was disproved. Her youngest was diagnosed with ADD after many complaints from his teachers and screaming matches about how he could never pay attention. His eldest was caught cutting herself and dragged to a therapist.
His daughters started finding reasons to not come visit. Her children started talking about how they wished they could live with their father full-time where she could hear them. His ex said that if she hit her daughters again, she would take her to court.
Things came to a head the weekend that they were to have the service for his father after the children's martial arts class at the church. His children declined the visit that weekend, but showed up to the evening church children's group and martial arts. When her children yelled, his yelled back and parents were called. They got there before his ex and there was more yelling. When she struck his youngest, the pastor intervened and made them return home while he separated their children and calmed them down.
His children hated her. They didn't want her around. He picked her over them and his children wouldn't speak to him for months. When they reconciled, he again said she was his top priority and when they got angry he said, "I never want to see you again," so they refused to see him. When he called, they ignored him or picked up the phone only to yell and curse. She wrote his children off as a lost cause even as he tried again to reconcile and finally got an agreement to visit with them, but she wasn't really invited and was glared at when she came with. When his children visited him at the house, they ignored her and visited with her children when he wasn't around.
As the five children moved through middle and high school and his children pulled farther and farther away, her children wanted to spend more time with their father. When her middle child asked too many times, she sent her up to her ex. Her eldest followed her sister after a couple of years and her youngest lasted a few more years after that.
She made friends with people in the area who dabbled in a gothic form of Christianity and invited them to her home to stay when they needed a place. He allowed it with a smile and worried about his children.
A fight over nonsense one day after all of her children had left her and his never spoke to him any more found her threatening to divorce him. He stopped eating. She called his eldest daughter in a panic. His eldest called him and cried apologies over the phone at him while he sat in traffic.
His brother flew across the country and stayed with his ex. With his brother's help and his children's support, he moved out of the house he'd shared with her for six years and left her to it with her friends.
***
Now, she lives on her own in a small apartment in Virginia and works as an over-the-phone surveyor. Her two youngest live with her ex while her eldest has moved in with her fiancé. Her most recent divorce is still in the separation stage. Somehow, she manages to get by and she doesn't care what others think of her, because she is in control of her life for now.
.
Author:
batsutousaiWarnings: Incest, cutting, spouse abuse, child abuse
Summary: Living the modern life, the only way you can. Based on a true story.
A/N: I have been told that this story, particularly the last section, is difficult to follow because I don't use names. I considered using fake names, but the story didn't have the same feel to it, and most of the characters have the same initials, so I couldn't go that route, either. I apologise, in advance, for the confusion. ^.^"
He said she was beautiful. Even more so than her mother. He said that he loved her, that she was everything to him. He always spoke such pretty things to her and sent her such intense looks. He went out of his way to brush against her, to stumble and catch her, his hands lingering.
She dressed up for him, for his approval. She wanted his love, and she wanted to learn to love him back. She craved his looks, his smile, his touches, wrong as they may have been. She wanted desperately to earn the pretty words he bestowed upon her, even if they made her mother green; even if they made her mother hate her.
When she didn't look her best, he frowned at her, turned the other way and let her mother take her place. She started borrowing her mother's make-up and hiding in her room until she was perfect. She neglected friends and work to impress him, to draw his eye. She watched the popular girls and learned to sway her hips just right and how to smile like you meant nothing behind it. She eyed the latest trends and raided her mother's purse to buy the off-brands.
Suddenly, his wasn't the only eye following her around with hunger. Boys asked her out, but she denied them; she had eyes only for him. As her mother grew angrier, the boys grew more desperate and he smiled more at her and less at her mother. When her mother pulled her aside to talk, she smirked and said, "You're just jealous that I'm more beautiful."
Her mother threatened to take him to court and he stopped paying attention to her in public. At night, though, he slipped up to her room and touched her past what short skirts and too small shirts showed during the day. He taught her tricks that would impress other boys, if she'd wanted to try them. He had her writhing under callused hands and moaning into his mouth. Together, they kept their family from finding out even as they met under the same roof they slept beneath.
At seventeen, her cycle was off. He ran off to the store while she cried on her bed and worried about others finding out. When the test was negative, they breathed in relief.
He said, "This won't happen again," and got her an appointment with a small clinic. Once the blister pack came, they returned to their forbidden dances in a sleeping house.
As soon as she finished high school, her mother made her get a job and an apartment. It became harder to meet, and her mother kept a close eye on him.
When she was nineteen, she found out he'd been eyeing another girl who she was friends with and went to her mother in tears. Her mother said, "So now you know how it feels." When she apologized, her mother shook her head and said, "You didn't know better. The fault is his."
When she was twenty-one, her mother filed for divorce against him as his Christmas present. She and her brother and sister were shocked into silence. When her sister croaked out, "Why?" her mother said, "Because I've had enough, and now that you three are grown and out of the house, I don't need him to support us anymore."
He knocked on her apartment door a week later, his car packed with his things. When he asked to stay with her, she slammed the door in his face. On the table next to the door was a book about coping with child abuse. It had been a gift from her mother.
They met at a party that a mutual friend had thrown. He had eyes for her easy figure, she had eyes for the packed wallet poking out of his back pocket. They danced with each other and shares drinks.
A napkin in his pocket the next morning was the start of a new, much longer dance.
At twenty-three she was engaged and three months later they tied the knot. Her father was at the wedding, even though she'd told him not to come. When he asked about grandchildren, she told him that he'd be lucky if he saw them at family gatherings, and she'd be damned if he ever saw them alone. Next to her, her mother smiled and kissed her cheek as her brother and sister traded confused looks with the groom.
A year of living together taught her that he wasn't as well off as his packed wallet and gifts had led her to believe. Between them, they made enough to call a slightly bigger apartment their own. He kicked his shoes off as he sat down and asked her to rub his feet when she came in an hour after him, then told her to cook him dinner. He told her the food was bad and left her his dishes to clean up. She called her mother for advice.
"You can leave him."
"But I love him."
"Who do you love more? Yourself, or him?"
"...."
"Sweetie?"
"...I don't know..."
A month later she had her answer by way of her cycle being off again. This time, she went and got the test herself. When it came back positive, she called her mother up with tears in her eyes.
"I'm pregnant, mom!"
"You sound happy."
"I... I think I am. Maybe he'll treat me better?"
"I hope so. Just know that I'm here if you need me."
"Thanks, mom."
With the news of a child on the way, he did become kinder. Sometimes, he made dinner so it was ready when she got home and they would laugh together when he burned something. If she cooked, he did all the dishes. She still tripped over his shoes once every week or so, and he still acted like an asshole sometimes, but things were better.
The girl was born in March; a preemie, the child stayed at the hospital for longer than she did. He became angry again, blamed her for the child's weakness. She let him be angry, only praying that her daughter would live. She went to church with her mother, something she hadn't done since her father had seduced her in high school.
When the child finally came home, he calmed down again and treated them both with kindness. He didn't even seem to mind when the baby woke them both in the middle of the night. She thanked God for her daughter and showered the infant with love, even as money became scarce.
Three months after her daughter's birth, another test because her cycle was off found her pregnant again. She started going to church with her mother every week, taking her daughter and asking him if he'd come. He always said no, but he'd drive her to her mother's house without complaint, then come and pick her up at two.
She prayed that this child wouldn't have to stay in the hospital for an extended time. In February, her wish came true in the form of a beautiful, healthy girl. She showered her children with love, because he was always kinder when they were there. He smiled when he saw them, and that made her happy.
When she found she was pregnant again, he said, "God, let it be a boy. I'm already outnumbered!" and they laughed. That Sunday, when she asked if he wanted to go to church with her, he stared at her for a long moment, then shrugged and said, "Sure."
Kneeling next to him with a child in her arms, she heard him whisper, "A boy, God. Please let it be a boy?" and smiled to herself. It was moments like that that she loved him the most.
When he went with her to church the next weekend, she joined him in praying for a son. After all, she figured, it was the least she could do.
A much-needed raise hit his bank account at the beginning of the new year and they celebrated by moving into a larger apartment that had enough room for their growing family. Balancing the check book in February, he mentioned that they should probably stop after this child, or they wouldn't have enough money for even the simple life they already led. She didn't say anything in response, but during her next appointment at their doctor's office, she asked about ways to stop from getting pregnant again. The doctor suggested birth control pills or getting her ovaries removed. She said she'd think about it.
In March, a little boy came out of her and into the world. He was introduced to his big sisters, who could have cared less. She thought the pleased look on his face was the best thing in the world and was so distracted she misspelled her son's name. He laughed with her at the mistake and they left it. The new baby gurgled when they apologized to him and they laughed again, sharing a happy smile.
For five years after that, she juggled three children and keeping the house while he worked hard to get another pay raise so they could make ends meet without the odd job he often had to find on the side. Sometimes he yelled or hit her, and once or twice she yelled back, but they always tried to smile at their children and keep their spats away from innocent eyes.
After one particularly bad fight which found her with a black eye and the three children crying as he stormed out of the apartment to the bar down the street, she considered the pros and cons of divorce. When he came back and apologized, she smiled and accepted his apology, but the thought of divorce didn't leave her. When she mentioned it to her mother that Sunday, her mother commented that it might be a good idea. After all, "One black eye will lead to another. And another. And then, before you know it, you're black and blue and your children are mirroring you because they jumped in the way."
She dithered over whether or not she should file for a couple of months. The next time he got violent, her eldest did just as her mother had said and got in the way of the angry fists. The next day, she filed for divorce.
She met him over the internet. He was from Virginia and was just recovering from his second divorce. He had two daughters her children's ages. She suggested the children become pen pals and her two eldest fell right to it, happily trading letters with these two strangers three states away. The four girls were fast friends even as he and she discussed him coming up to visit with her and her children.
His first visit up resulted in an accident on the way and some hospital time on his part back at his home. When he was able, he tried again and made it up to visit with smiles. He didn't care that she had gotten fat after three pregnancies or that she had three children and a walk-in closet of emotional baggage. She didn't care that he had been diagnosed with clinical depression and had two living children of his own with one long dead. Neither cared that he was almost twenty years her senior.
They both acted their best to make the other's children like them. The five children may not have been sure of their parent's newest love interest, but they quickly grew to like each other. While they may not have been sure of their possible step-parent, they did know that they liked one another and, to them, that was all that mattered.
When he asked, she moved down to Virginia to be closer to him and his children. When her ex denied her pleas to have her children with her, they both moved back up to New York to fight for them there and won. When he wanted his children to stay after a visit with them, she suggested not going to meet his ex to trade them off. When his ex came all the way up and got the police involved, they had to hand the children back over, but neither were happy about it.
Eventually, he talked her into moving back down to Virginia, where the weather was warmer, the schools were better and he could get a job that paid better than the grocery store he'd been working at. Assured that she would be able to take her three children down with her, they moved down together. For the first time, they were close enough to his ex and children for weekly visits and he was happier. She smiled and took them all to church, glad that she could help his children learn more about God, which their mother could have cared less about.
When his ex decided to move out to Denver to do some extra schooling, she plotted against the woman and warned his eldest daughter so it didn't come as a surprise. That daughter warned his ex and they made it to Denver safely. She swore that she'd kill the little bitch when she saw her again and he tried to calm her even as he wondered why his daughter didn't want to stay with him.
Five and a half months after they had left, with no visits because of the distance, his ex returned with his children. When she had his eldest away from her mother, she yelled and hit the girl. He sent his daughter out of the room and calmed her. All five children made themselves scarce that weekend.
He and his ex fought over their divorce arrangement and their two daughters. They decided to add a stipulation that said they couldn't move more than a certain distance apart so his ex couldn't run off with his children again. She approved of the new agreement and he and his ex signed.
When the townhouse they were living in became too expensive, they looked together for a new home that would fit their large family, was in the distance of his agreement with his ex, and that they could easily afford. A large trailer caught their eyes and they down-sized their things to fit in it. Somehow, they made it work and her children quickly got used to a new school and made friends while his daughters got used to the added distance between their parents.
Somewhere between the distance and their growing ages, the five children started fighting against their step-parents. She started yelling more and he got into constant fights with her eldest. They fought over little things with each other while their five children got together to complain about their step-parents and jumped to each others' defense.
Adding to the discord in the small house, her eldest was diagnosed with depression, while her middle child started being rude to everyone around her and her youngest couldn't seem to pay attention to anything. His eldest took to hiding in a book while she was at their house and his youngest started throwing tantrums in school, leading her to be diagnosed with depression. After a particularly bad argument, her eldest was found cutting herself in the kitchen while everyone else ate in the living room and was sent to a psych ward and re-diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar.
His ex took his youngest to a new psychiatrist with a frown and the diagnosis that she had depression was disproved. Her youngest was diagnosed with ADD after many complaints from his teachers and screaming matches about how he could never pay attention. His eldest was caught cutting herself and dragged to a therapist.
His daughters started finding reasons to not come visit. Her children started talking about how they wished they could live with their father full-time where she could hear them. His ex said that if she hit her daughters again, she would take her to court.
Things came to a head the weekend that they were to have the service for his father after the children's martial arts class at the church. His children declined the visit that weekend, but showed up to the evening church children's group and martial arts. When her children yelled, his yelled back and parents were called. They got there before his ex and there was more yelling. When she struck his youngest, the pastor intervened and made them return home while he separated their children and calmed them down.
His children hated her. They didn't want her around. He picked her over them and his children wouldn't speak to him for months. When they reconciled, he again said she was his top priority and when they got angry he said, "I never want to see you again," so they refused to see him. When he called, they ignored him or picked up the phone only to yell and curse. She wrote his children off as a lost cause even as he tried again to reconcile and finally got an agreement to visit with them, but she wasn't really invited and was glared at when she came with. When his children visited him at the house, they ignored her and visited with her children when he wasn't around.
As the five children moved through middle and high school and his children pulled farther and farther away, her children wanted to spend more time with their father. When her middle child asked too many times, she sent her up to her ex. Her eldest followed her sister after a couple of years and her youngest lasted a few more years after that.
She made friends with people in the area who dabbled in a gothic form of Christianity and invited them to her home to stay when they needed a place. He allowed it with a smile and worried about his children.
A fight over nonsense one day after all of her children had left her and his never spoke to him any more found her threatening to divorce him. He stopped eating. She called his eldest daughter in a panic. His eldest called him and cried apologies over the phone at him while he sat in traffic.
His brother flew across the country and stayed with his ex. With his brother's help and his children's support, he moved out of the house he'd shared with her for six years and left her to it with her friends.
Now, she lives on her own in a small apartment in Virginia and works as an over-the-phone surveyor. Her two youngest live with her ex while her eldest has moved in with her fiancé. Her most recent divorce is still in the separation stage. Somehow, she manages to get by and she doesn't care what others think of her, because she is in control of her life for now.
.
