Teaching Noah | √

039

I WRAPPED MY jacket tighter to myself as the cold breeze occasionally hit my skin. I watched Simon make his way to where I sat on the park chair, his hands in his pocket as he walked like he was taking each step with precaution. 

"It wouldn't have made much sense if I didn't bring one of these for you," he sat beside me on the long bench and stretched a box of orange juice to me, a small smile on his face.

"Thanks, Simon," I took it from him, mirroring his smile.

He nodded. "How are you doing? How long have you been waiting? It's pretty cold."

"Not for long."

"On another note, your favorite time of the year is here again," he nudged me with his elbow softly and I smiled softly. I loved Christmas. Everything about it made me happy. The decorations and lights. Big meals with my family. Sipping hot chocolate, being tucked under a big blanket on some nights and watching Christmas movies with Mom— but all of a sudden, I didn't want to do those this Christmas. 

"Do you want to vent?" I heard Simon ask carefully, and I thought of his question. Did I need to vent? I was actually tired of talking about what happened with Mom, and I'd decided to let it go. Talking about it previously might have helped me because I didn't feel so upset and tired anymore. So, defeated, I shook my head, "No."

Simon was silent for a short while before running his fingers through his hair, "I remember months prior to the finalization of me and Eleanor's divorce, I spent most of my time trying to come up with what I would tell Luke and Drew," he paused. "Should I just be honest and tell them their mom simply wanted to be with another man? Or should I just come up with a lie? I didn't know what to do."

I listened attentively to what Simon was saying. I could remember the weeks leading up to the divorce, and how stressed he was. The bags under his eyes that indicated that he wasn't getting enough sleep, the inability to concentrate fully, the loss of sense of humor and the subtle depression he seemed to be going through.  I remembered thinking that Eleanor didn't know what she was about to lose. It was the lowest point I'd ever seen Simon in, and even though he was going through all of that, he would still make time for me for consultations or just visitations. 

"So, what did you do? What did you tell Luke and Drew?"

He shrugged, "I didn't want to paint Eleanor as a bad person or whatever. She's still their mom at the end of the day. It was such a difficult conversation, and sometimes I remember the confused expression on Drew's face, but we had to tell them. Eleanor suggested we did it together, and she seemed in a hurry to do so, but I didn't blame her because she wasn't hurting the way I was."

"We did, though, and of course, I couldn't tell them that Eleanor had been seeing someone else. I just told them sometimes people aren't meant to be together. We just wanted different things, and we would remain friends, but we weren't in love anymore."

It was then I realized I never asked, "How did they take it?"

"Drew thought everything was going to change, like, not attending his school anymore and not having holidays again. But it wasn't going to. It might be hard for a while, but they would get used to it. Luke didn't really understand it, he just thought me and Eleanor didn't want them as our kids anymore," we both laughed lowly and Simon continued, "I had to explain that parents can end things with each other, but they can't end things with their kids in that sense. We're still a family, just under different roofs."

I hugged my knees to myself, "How's the journey so far?"

"Really good, actually. And that's the thing. It was so bad at that time, but I got out of it and it's all over. That's the thing about bad moments. They pass."