The Monroe Legacy - G.1. Chapter 7 - True Colours

Life in the Monroe house was going better now that the house was full of life and two happy little girls. But money was still tight and all too soon Marlie had to return to work part-time. Ben was a personal trainer so he arranged his shifts around Marlie's and they managed to care for the girls and conveniently have nothing to do with each other - he might be an okay Dad but Marlie and he were only just beginning to rebuild some kind of friendship.

 Marlie worked harder than anyone in the office, even her boss had to grudgingly admit that she was a good employee and she was soon promoted to ballot counter. In this role she had access to the records of everyone in the area, so one night after finishing the late shift she searched the database for people with the initials NJ. More than 20 options popped up, Marlie should have known It couldn't be that easy but she printed it off anyway and tried to narrow it down. 

She could only discount a few, two were children, one dead and one in a retirement community with advanced dementia. There were still too many. She debated calling round but she had so little time between work, sleep and looking after her daughters that she couldn't see ever getting to all of them but she started mailing out letters to every NJ still on the list. Late one night whilst mailing the latest batch she had a brainwave.

The next morning she waited outside for the mailman with the box which had contained the guitar, hoping he might be able to identify the postmark. The tale took a turn for the mysterious

'I never delivered this Miss' stated the mailman with certainty.

'Oh', sighed Marlie, 'Perhaps a colleague was working that d-'

'No Miss, You see that box is too large, we don't deliver parcels that big. 'Sides that label ain't a post label, nor a courier label neither - I used to be Fedex see - it's just a random sticker. I'll wager that was delivered by hand. Got to run Miss, sorry!'

A thrill ran through Marlie, NJ may have been on HER lawn, who was this person and why were they interested in her - what were their motives. She swore she'd track them down and headed to work thinking of ways she could keep watch 24 hours for any unusual deliveries.

She jogged home through the frost that night hoping to find Ben in a good mood, she planned to ask him to keep an eye out for visitors while he was watching the girls. As she approached the house she could hear crying from inside, sounded like both girls and she worried they were sick, Belle had seemed a little grizzly that morning. As she rounded the trailer she was shocked to see Ben leaning against the outside wall with a glazed look in his face muttering about flowers.

'BEN' she yelled, 'Can't you hear the babies screaming'.

'Uh sure Marlie, I was just unwinding with Lauren, it's my birthday ya know! Hah! she's so great and you just missed the party! It was AWESOME - Belle was singing this great but totally sad song, then there were sparkles everywhere and my arm was like a wing from a flying unicorn!'

Marlie was horrified, if Lauren was back then that changed everything - that girl was trouble. She looked closely at Ben's face. 'Are you high', she whispered.

Ben just giggled.

In a calm and deliberate tone, Marlie said 'You'd best stay out tonight. We'll talk tomorrow.'

As she walked in the front door to comfort her daughters she locked the door behind her. Her mind was made up.

The next day Marlie called in sick. It was the girls' third birthday and she spent the morning cleaning up and baking them a cake each. Ben staggered to the door at lunch time and Marlie let him in to shower, taking the girls outside to blow out their candles (the trailer was so flammable that the rain was preferable!). Ben emerged looking fresher and clearly not remembering the events of the night before.

Later Marlie put the girls to sleep whispering that Mummy and Daddy loved them, whatever happened in the future, and she asked Ben to talk to her out front, knowing that this wouldn't be easy.

Taking a deep breath she began.

'Ben, I think it's time you move out' she said.

He just looked at his feet.

'I know we've been getting along okay lately and you're a great dad but we have to be realistic. We will never be right for each other, we'll only make each other miserable and now that you're getting older you deserve to follow your dreams - whether I like them or not. And I want to be happy too, I want a man who loves and appreciates me and supports me in everything I do.'

Marlie paused, Ben wasn't responding, he looked completely blank so she soldiered on.

'Above all, I need to know the girls are safe and with Lauren back in town I don't feel sure that they're your top priority'.

Ben finally looked at her with a glint of malice in his eyes. 'I should have known that that's what it was about' he snarled. 'You always were jealous of Lauren. It's fine, I never wanted a family anyway, don't expect to see me around much any more!'

Marlie winced but she was determined to finish. She pulled her shoulder back and stood firm, refusing to be intimidated. 'I'm sorry you feel that way Ben, I hope you'll still want to be in the girls lives, I just think it's best you move out before they're old enough to expect you to be here forever'.

Without another word, Ben stalked into the house, he packed up his things, called his dog and a few hours later walked out into the night with a puppy under each arm.

Marlie cried herself to sleep that night. She knew she had done the right thing but she hated that she was alone again, and this time she had twin daughters depending on her.

-----------------------------------------

Next time on The Monroe Legacy - Will Marlie catch NJ delivering any more mysterious packages. Will Ben stay away or will he be there for the girls. Can Marlie find the time to meet some new people to help her out and keep her sane?

Find out now in The Monroe Legacy - Chapter 8 - Silver Linings and Sweet Nothings