The Second Half by Lauraine Snelling Read Free Book Online Page A

we kept the bunk beds up in the playroom.”
    They had turned Steig’s old room into a room for the grandkids, complete with beds; a playpen for when the kids were younger; toys; games; a bookshelf full of books, including those once enjoyed by both Steig and Marit as they grew. Mona had taken over Marit’s room for her office, and a bathroom connected the two bedrooms. The physical arrangements were doable. But the emotional ones? There was the rub.
    Mona blew out a breath and hit the speed dial number for Marit’s cell. She quickly filled her daughter in on the conversation and glanced over to see that Ken had fallen asleep. Good thing someone could sleep. “And that’s all I know for now.”
    “I am so sorry, Mom; I know how you and Dad were looking forward to his retirement. This just isn’t fair.”
    “Since when did life ever promise to be fair?”
    “I know, but…Magnus and I were talking about would it be better if we took the kids?”
    “Steig has it all set this way for now. Let’s not throw any more at him right now. We’ll be fine, and if your dad and I can do a two- or three-week trip before school starts, you’ll have all five, and we can see how it goes. After all, it is only for a year maximum. Perhaps the powers that be will take pity on his situation and let him come home early.”
    “Right. We know how sympathetic the military can be. So, let’s change the subject. Everything is on track for the weekend?”
    “Far as I know.”
    “And you can’t talk because Dad is right there in his recliner?”
    “That’s right. I’ll call you tomorrow. Oh, would you please register Melinda and Jakey for VBS and swim lessons?”
    “Of course. Have they had swim lessons before?”
    “Good question.” Mona tried to think back to the summer before.
    “No matter. I’ll put them in the beginners, and if they can already swim, it’s easy to shift them up to an appropriate level. If you need anything else, let me know.”
    Mona clicked off, jotted a couple of other thoughts. She needed to clean out the closet in the kids’ room. Surely Steig would bring the children’s chests of drawers. She brought her chair upright, and taking along her pad, she went upstairs to study the room. The playpen could go to the garage, the stuffed animals in a sling across the corner; she’d seen that done before. Bathtub toys could go into a sling, too. Two children here full-time, not just visiting and going home. Two children who had never stayed with their grandparents by themselves; there had always been parents along. Thanks to Angela, the visits had not been often.
    Mona leaned against the doorjamb. How could that woman walk out on her kids like that? She kept reminding herself that they’d only heard Steig’s side of this, but no matter. A mother did not abandon her children. Her husband maybe, but not her children. Maybe it was better she had chosen to not see them again. How had Steig explained it to them? Jakey was too young to understand, but what about Melinda? Dear Lord, how are we ever going to …to what, she wasn’t sure.
      
    “How are you and Dad ever going to handle raising two small children?” Marit asked her mother the next day.
    Mona stared at her daughter. “Well, moment by moment, the way any other parents manage. It’s not like we don’t have experience.”
    “Raising your own children was a long time ago. And you were younger then.”
    Mona swallowed what she almost said and continued her level stare. “Seems to me we did a pretty good job then, and since this is what God seems to be sending our way, of one thing I am sure. He’s not going to dump the kids and run.”
    “Do you mean Steig or God?”
    “Either. This is not a situation to any of our likings, but this is where we are and we go on from here. It won’t be like this is for the rest of our lives, you know.”
    “But what if something happens to Steig?”
    Mona closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath before puffing