Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 143

Bob POV

Pam and I were sitting at a nice, quiet restaurant. She wanted to talk some more, and I wanted to try my hand at something romantic; I was rusty as hell, and it felt good to try and be the gentleman I knew I could be. During my time with Wendy, that side of me got squashed so many times once we were married (that is a joke, 'married.' If only I had known, I would not have hung around for that long.) Anyway, I wanted to see if I still had it in me and to find the lost me, the one my Mother and Father raised me to be. Somewhere along the line, I lost it all and tried to stay away from the so-called family home as much as possible, pushing myself into my work. I am grateful that Bethany and Thomas never gave up on me.

'I am only thirty-eight; I know you are forty-seven; are you too old for children?' What the? Kid? I'm Not sure where that came from, but I love kids, and I thought I would take on some foster care kids when things were settled and before Pam came into my life. Kitty talked me into looking at that side: temporary care for kids like Samatha's who are innocent of wrongdoing and stuck in a bad situation.

'I have been considering becoming a foster Dad, taking in children that are displaced due to parent or parents, in hospital and no family to take them in, and there are so many out there, it is a bit unfair for the child to be sucked in an overloaded foster system, I think I could handle one or two, in my home for the time the parent is incapacitated. I hope I worded that right.

'What about your own child? Would you take on another one? Would you consider being a Dad again with me?' Where is this coming from? Has her biological clock started to tick, reminding her she is not young anymore and if she would like a child of her own, she better start looking at it now? Am I okay with a baby to wake me up early in the morning for feeding? Could I do that again? I thought of mini Bob and remembered how much I enjoyed holding him.

'To be honest, I had not given it much thought; I was getting long in the tooth and did not even have a girlfriend to consider it. What is going on? Is your clock ticking, and you singled me out to be the donor?' Ouch, that did not come out like I wanted it to. 'Not really. My clock never hit me like I hear so many baron women have, but we did not have protection the last time we were together, and the result is a little on the way. I am going to keep it, and I wanted to know if you wish to be part of the child's life as a partner. Pam is pregnant. This is huge, and I am going to be a Dad again.

'Stop before you say something; both don't need to be said. Of course, I want to be in the child's life; it is my blood, and I want to be there for everything; how about we get married, for real, and not Vegas? That place has left a bad taste in my mouth. 'Married? Are you sure?' She gasped at me, shocked I had suggested such a thing.

'Look, Pam, I want this child. It will have my name on that birth certificate, and if I am going to live with you, I should do it correctly. You can fight me on this if you wish, but... Pam lifted her hand and placed her finger on my lips to stop me from talking. 'Thank you. I have never been married, and I know yours was not real, either. Hank's friend is a celebrant and can wed us privately, and I presume you would want your family with us. One shock is that you're going to be a Dad while just becoming a grandfather, which is going to be interesting. I am sure they will love that the child will grow up with them. I am still shocked. I am going to do better with this child. Oh, how is Bethany going to take this? I hope she and Thomas will be okay with it. I need to ask Jacko if he would be my best man. There is so much to think about.

'How about we announce it at Hanks's place this Sunday? It's sports day, and the people I love most will be there!

'Perfect! Pam said, and I am excited to be a Dad again and hopefully get it right. Bethany POV

We were sitting in the lounge. I had just made coffee, and Theo was walking back and forth, waiting for me to explain why I did not wish to stay here any longer. At the food hall, I had asked to wait until we got home to talk about it, and now it was time, and I was

nervous.

'Come here and talk to me. Are you unhappy with our relationship, and is this your way of breaking up with me? What is going on?' He was getting all worked up and coming to all sorts of wrong conclusions.

I placed the coffee on the table, walked over to him, wrapped my arms around him, and rested my head on his chest. This stopped him from pacing, and after a moment of hesitation, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in close and tight; he sighed and kissed my hair, unsure what to do with himself. He led me to the lounge and sort of pushed me to sit down. He sat beside me, holding my hand and waiting.

'I spoke to a friend of mine, and he confirmed what I had suspected. I had not intended for this to happen, and I would like to know how this is going to affect the research and all the planning that Robson did. It has taken me a bit for it all to sink in, and I know this is going to affect you in a big way, too.'

'Can you stop with the riddles and spit it out? The suspense is driving me crazy. I need to know what I got to change or fix!' He butted in and blurted out, almost shouting at me.

'First off, I had thought of moving because of the incident. It made me realize that it does not matter if I had good doormen or bodyguards. If someone wants to get to me, they can; they are desperate enough to find a way, and I cannot keep walking around looking over my shoulder in fear that they are going to grab me again! I had struggled with that since I was taken the first time, and now, a second time, I understand they will find a way if they really want something bad enough.

'Yes, we have asked Scott to review the tapes and find out how it all came about; we can get better security; we do not need to move to be safe. He does not get it yet, but he will.

'I need a garden to grow my tomatoes, peas, and flowers; I want my own lab, where I can get lost for hours and not have some nurse or doctor come banging on the window just to wave hello. I need a place for my children to run around and play in. I say softly, throwing it all out there for him to digest.

'Have you considered where you might like to live? Some really lovely homes near where my Dad lives are up for sale. They all have about an acre of land to play in and grow vegetables and flowers. He sounded relieved that I was breaking up with him. 'Yeah, I would like to look at homes in that area. It seemed to be a nice place. Plus, it has a school bus that runs by!'

'Is there more to this that you have yet to tell me? Is Mum pressuring you or something?'

'Nope, nothing like that. You are going to be a Dad. I got it out. Trying to give him hints does not work.

'Me a Dad, are you sure?'

'Yeah, the friend that confirmed it was your Dad when he came to see how I was doing after the latest k********g.

'So Mum and Dad know before me?' He sounded wounded.

'Nope, only your Dad because I used him to confirm my suspicions. He kept his doctor-patient confidentiality but pushed me to tell you soon!'

'Will you marry me?' That was different from what I expected as a reply to all this news.

'Sure, how about in three weeks at your parent's place, Hank can get his man in to be a celebrant? At least we know to trust that one to get the marriage registered correctly!'

'Okay, we can announce it on Sunday at the sports day, when everyone is there. Theo pulled me to him and kissed me deeply, then abruptly left me sitting there stunned. He returned, knelt on the floor before me, and produced a ring; he took it out of the box and slid it onto my finger.

'Wow, this is so gorgeous! I lunged at him, and he managed to catch me. Together, we fell backward onto the floor. He was quick to try to protect me from the fall.