The Things We Bury - Part 1: In Anticipation of the End of the World [Completed]

Chapter 8: Sacrifice (Part 5 of 6)

The girls had sweaters on.  Their mother had wrapped them up to shield them from illness, even though it was too warm for the extra layer.  August's humidity had completely vanished, but the sun was still sharp and fierce.  Despite the heat, the air had taken on a nostalgic scent invoking New England autumns of his boyhood.

Carrie had on a light cream colored knit which she refused to fasten.  It flew behind her like a cape as she tore down the driveway's steep hill on her new bike.  Madeline had on a fussy pink cardigan with embroidered flowers.  She had less say in her attire and it was buttoned up tight against the imagined elements.  She meandered with her new trike around the area in front of the garage.  With every tour, she came closer to banging into the silver Lexus.

Sunlight dappled through the trees spreading random golden coins in the deep shade.  Darren sat on the edge of the porch with his empty coffee cup beside him watching his princesses and letting everything else fall from his mind.  He knew without a doubt he would always remember this morning.  When he was old and withered, he would still look back on this moment as one of the most perfect of his life.

"Spoiling them isn't going to help."  Noelle's voice cut like a cold knife through his brain severing him from his sentimental thoughts.

"It's not spoiling them."

"They didn't need new bikes."

Darren made a noncommittal grunt and checked his cup for more coffee.  Instead of admitting failure and putting it back down, he swished the meager drop around the bottom and tilted it to his mouth.

"Those bikes won't replace their father."

"You make it sound like I'm dying."

 Noelle took a seat next to him, adjusting her yoga pants to smooth out any gathers.  "They're going to miss you.  I'm going to miss you."

He looked over at his wife.  The sun sparkled off her auburn hair.  Sometime over the summer, she had gone from blonde to her more nature chocolate shade with an additional tint of red.  He hadn't even noticed.  She had to point it out to him one morning.  The compliments he showered on her did little to prevent another diatribe about him working too much and taking his family for granted.

"We've been over this, honey," he said.  "It's just for a few months.  I'll be home in time for Christmas."

"And I'm just supposed to take care of the kids by myself until then?"  Noelle had a knack of sounding absolutely confident of everything she said.  She made raising Carrie and Madeline sound like a task requiring dozens of specialists working around the clock.

"I told you that you could hire someone to help out if you wanted.  Get a nanny.  Or a full-time housekeeper.  Or both."  He could hear the irritation in his voice but couldn't stop it.  He had said all this before.  "Whatever you need."

"You know Darren, that's your problem."  She sat up, her back rigid, to indicate her pronouncement was both well thought out and accurate.  "You think that money will solve every problem."

"There is always an alternative."  He caught her eye.  Noelle's curiosity betrayed her face as she tried to stay stern.  "I could always quit.  I could leave SBI.  It might take a while in this economy, but I'd find another job."

"Don't talk foolish." 

He knew there was no chance that Noelle would take him up on his offer to quit.  Noelle always dismissed money as being unimportant, as only those who were born to wealth could.  It was like oxygen to them both everywhere and nowhere.  It was the least valuable substance on Earth until the thought of being deprived of it was introduced, then panic set in.