Chapter 3 - Episode 9

Mathew greeted him and he asked Mathew to come inside for a moment, because he wanted to discuss Kate’s behavior. Mathew told him he noticed a change in her behavior and asked if the two had talked the day before. He answered that he would rather discuss it while drinking a cup of coffee. Mathew agreed and they went inside, he held the door open for his neighbor and while Mathew stepped inside, he made sure nobody saw Mathew step into his house. He closed the door after Mathew and locked it.

Kate was awake, as she was every morning when Mathew tried to sneak out of bed, in fact when he tried to let her sleep he made more noise than when just not caring about whether or not she would wake up. She felt movement next to her left side and knew it was Benjamin. Just a few hours ago he came to sleep with his parents. Kate stepped out of bed and walked to the window as she heard her husband talk with the neighbor. When she opened the curtains she could just see her husband entering the house and the door being closed, and she thought it was getting locked, considering the movement she vaguely saw.

Mathew turned around, just in time to see him lock the door. A smile on his face made Mathew shiver, something that didn’t go unnoticed. The smile became more obvious and more sadistic. He told Mathew that his wife had shivered when he move his hands over her bare back while they were searching for berries, while Mathew and Benjamin were catching fish. When they were discussing how Kate could ensure that she would have to make love to her husband that night. While he was torturing his friend he moved towards Mathew and when he was close enough he dug his hands into the chest of his neighbor and with the precision of a seasoned surgeon he removed the heart of his victim. He felt how smooth his hands went into the flesh, how easy he maneuvered his fingers around the ribs. He enjoyed every single moment of the action and then it was over.

Chapter 3 - Episode 8

Another week went by before he saw Kate getting out of her car carrying her groceries to their house. She left the car open and while returning for the second batch of that week’s groceries she saw him closing the car, carrying them. She could do nothing but let him in and while he was putting the paper bags on the kitchen table he asked her why she was avoiding her. She answered that she wasn’t avoiding him, but that she had been busy. He asked her why she’d hung up the phone every time he called. She hesitated before she answered that she was expecting an important call and didn’t want to run the risk of missing that call because she was talking to somebody else. She told him she didn’t like the third degree he was giving her and he replied he didn’t like to be ignored by her. Their voices raised they argued, she walked towards him, telling him to get out of her life. Telling him that he had ruined her life when they made love in the mountains. Telling him that she was pregnant and didn’t know if he or Mathew was the father. He was stunned, felt behind him, grabbed a chair and sat down. He looked at her, not saying a word eyes fixated at her stomach. He reached out, touching her as if to touch the life she had in her, possibly his life. She took his hand, pushed it aside but didn’t let go of it. Guided it to her face and kissed it. She told him how much she missed his touch, how much she missed feeling him inside her, how much she wanted to make love to him. Explaining that she could only make these feelings disappear when she made sure he wasn’t in her life. Explaining that that was the reason why she avoided him, because she loved her husband and her son and she didn’t want to leave them, but if it weren’t for them, she would want, she would pray that the new life forming inside of her was his. She kissed his hand again and he kissed her stomach, pressing her against his face, feeling with his hand how tears were rolling down her cheek. He looked up and saw her cry. She was trembling all over and as his other hand caressed her breasts she started to breath heavily. A soft moan escaped from her when his other hand removed itself from her grip and stroked her inner thighs. He stood up and kissed her, their lips parted and he felt her tongue probe his mouth searching for his tongue. He broke the kiss and looked in her eyes asking her if it was him she wanted. She nodded, longing eyes staring at him, hands feverishly unzipping his jeans, anticipating what they would find inside. He stepped back and told her that she had a husband and son she loved very much and turned around. At the door he faced her again, recalling her word, that if it weren’t for them, she would pray the unborn baby to be his. She cried at his words and when he closed the door, she called out his name. Begged him to return, not to leave her alone.

Although the television was playing he wasn’t watching, instead he was thinking about what Kate had said. Ever since he left her house, he heard them in his head. He kept on hearing her say that if it wasn’t for Benjamin and Mathew, she wanted the baby to be his. If it weren’t for Benjamin and Mathew, she wanted to be with him. And while the hours went by he rehearsed the mantra in his head, and when he saw lights cutting through the darkness that persisted in the early morning he went outside.

Chapter 3 - Episode 7

The next day they prepared for their trip back, it had been a wonderful time in the mountains and they all felt reluctant to go home, all but Benjamin, who couldn’t wait until he told his kindergarten teacher about his adventures. A week later life was back to normal, almost normal as Kate avoided her neighbor. Mathew asked him if something happened that he should know about between him and Kate, as she acted strange whenever his name came up. He told Mathew that he wasn’t aware of anything and was curious himself, as it was obvious that Kate was avoiding him. Both men agreed that Kate was acting strange and neither one of them would press her to explain her behavior.

Kate was standing in the bathroom, door closed and locked staring at the little piece of paper she had in her hands. It had been more than a month since the mountain trip and she hadn’t had her period. Worried she had bought a home-pregnancy test and after carefully reading the directions she was now looking at the result. According to the test she was pregnant. Benjamin would get his sister or brother, but she wasn’t sure if his dad was the father of her baby. She decided not to tell anybody about her pregnancy before she had been to the doctor for which she had an appointment a week later.

He was standing in his kitchen looking outside at Benjamin playing with his ball. He saw Kate appearing in the front door and Benjamin stopped playing, the little boy ran inside and he guessed diner was ready at the neighbors. It had been more than a month since he’d spoken with Mathew about Kate and ever since, she had said a single word to him. He went over a couple of times, when he knew Mathew was not home, but Kate wouldn’t open the door. He had called her on their phone, but as soon as she knew it was him, she would hang up. He missed her and felt hurt being rejected like this. Benjamin seemed to share his mother’s feelings towards him, as the kid never came over to play or to ask for hotdogs. He realized how much his happiness had come to depend on his acceptance by Kate and Benjamin and he felt miserable lately. That night he went for a walk and while he was walking in the empty street, his existence only noticed by the streetlights he remembered Clara, how much he had loved her.