Chapter72On a Business Trip
Patrick drove to the house, where Madison heard the doorbell ring and went to answer it.
"Madison, I... came to get Matthew's phone."
Quentin and Hannah, hearing the voice, scampered down from their upstairs room.
"Mom, who's here?"
Patrick saw two charming kids behind Madison. Little Hannah, with her doll-like features, was especially enchanting. He had only heard about them from Willow before, but now he was meeting them in person. Their cuteness explained why Matthew had been so secretive.
Kneeling to be at eye level with the kids, Patrick greeted them with a wide grin.
Madison introduced, "Kids, say hello to Uncle Patrick."
"Hi, Uncle Patrick," the polite duo greeted Patrick.
Scooping up Hannah without hesitation, Patrick held her comfortably as she seemed unbothered by new faces and let him carry her inside.
"Uncle Patrick, am I going to see with Dad?" Hannah inquired.
"Yeah, and you'll meet your two uncles who work there too. Next time, I'll take you. Well, one of them is often abroad, so he might not be there, but everyone else will be, including your auntie."
The young girl clapped her hands excitedly, "That's great! I want to go to Dad's company with Uncle Patrick today."
"Uh, not today, kiddo," Patrick hesitated, realizing the impracticality of taking little Hannah with him, especially since Matthew wasn't just absent from the office but also wasn't in great shape. "Uncle Patrick has to go on a business trip with your Dad. We'll do it when we get back, okay?"
He soothed her with talk about the business trip, hoping to ease any confusion about why Matthew wouldn't be home the next few days.
Indeed, his heart ached with concern.
"Uncle Patrick, the phone is in the study. You can get it yourself. Hannah, come down here."
"I'll go up with Uncle Patrick. I know where it is."
With that settled, Patrick ascended the stairs with the little princess to the study.
Quentin never expected Dad to be gone for two days and then suddenly announced that he needed to go on a business trip. There was a sense that something was going on between Dad and Mom.
Patrick walked in, cradling Hannah, and immediately spotted the cell phone on the desk.
He picked up the phone and said, "Hannah, take me to your Dad’s bedroom. I need to pack some clothes for him."
"Why pack clothes? Is he going to be gone a long time?" Hannah asked, tilting her head in confusion, dreading the long absence from Dad.
"Um... well, not necessarily, just being prepared," he said evasively.
But the look on Matthew's face suggested it wasn't for just a short while.
When they entered the master bedroom, Patrick opened the wardrobe to find only men’s clothing – no women's attire in sight.
"Why is it all Matthew’s clothes here?" he murmured while selecting a few shirts.
Listening intently, Hannah earnestly explained, "Mom sleeps in my room with me and my brother, so Dad sleeps in his room. That’s why there’s only Dad’s clothes."
Patrick had an 'aha' moment.
The couple was sleeping separately, and Matthew's frustrations led to arguments, which led to him storming out of the house.
One had to admit Steven hit the nail on the head. It was indeed out of frustration.
Patrick quickly picked out a few pieces of clothing for him to change into, guessing that Matthew would be home soon. With his wife and kids waiting, why would he stay away for long?
As he went downstairs, he had indeed intended to stay for dinner before leaving – it had been too long since he'd had Madison’s cooking. But remembering Matthew’s dejected demeanor and his brother waiting for him, he steeled himself, bid farewell to the little ones, and drove off.
Upon hearing from Patrick that Matthew had gone on a business trip, Madison sighed with relief. Even though they hadn't seen each other since that night, and he had stayed away, there was always the fear of an awkward encounter, as Matthew's cell phone was still at home.
With him gone, she needed to hurry and finalize the house deal.
After seeing Patrick off, Madison headed back to her room to call the real estate agent to push for the signing of the contract.
As she finished her call and hung up, she turned to see Quentin at the door. The kids had been in the garden, watering the plants. Madison had gone upstairs to make the call without closing the door, presumably why Quentin had overheard her conversation.
"Where's Hannah?"
"Oh, she's downstairs watering the plants." Quentin had meant to go upstairs to ask Mom for a bigger watering can when he overheard her discussing signing contracts for the house on the phone.
Madison ushered Quentin into her room and sat beside her on the bed.
She knew it was time to talk with the kids about the move.
"Mom, what's wrong? Did you and Dad fight?"
"Quentin, why don't you ever call him 'Dad' to his face?"
The little boy hung his head, seemingly struggling to speak.
Eventually, he looked at her and said earnestly, "I saw Dad on TV with another lady."
Madison paused slightly upon hearing Quentin's words.
"So, you don’t like Dad?"
"It's not that I don't like him. But if he's mean to you, Mom, I'd rather not have a Dad." Quentin was adamant. Initially, he was curious to meet his father, but if his Dad were causing pain to his mom, he'd rather not have him in his life.
"Quentin, Dad, and I divorced for a while before you and Hannah were born. So it's okay for him to see other people now."
Madison didn't want her children to harbor any resentment. She wanted them to be happy, especially Quentin, who took everything to heart.
"I know about the divorce. So, are you moving out?" Quentin had overheard part of her call, so he figured it had to do with moving to a new place.
"Yes. You and Hannah can stay here, but I can't. I wouldn't say I like leaving you two, though. Would you be willing to come with me? You can always come back to visit Dad and William, just not live together."
"I want to go with you, Mom. So does Hannah. We don't want to leave you," Quentin said firmly, nodding vigorously.
"So Dad is going to get remarried and start a new family, right?"
"Yes, probably. But, Quentin, it's not all Dad's fault. I didn't tell him when I was pregnant, but remember, both Dad and I love you and your sister very much."
Madison didn't want her children to be hurt. She could see that Matthew truly cared for them. Adults should handle the matters between the adults.
Madison didn't know when Matthew would remarry, but a day like that was bound to come.
"Let's go. We should head downstairs and look for Hannah. I'll talk to her about it once the house situation is sorted out."
"Okay."
Madison took her son's hand, and they went downstairs to find their daughter.
The greatest blessing of her life had to be these two precious kids she’d been graced with.
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