Sara & Sarah & Their Husband Dan

  He was packing for his thrice-a-month three day visit to the Northeast region locations when his wife walked in and announced that their son Lenny, the oldest of their four children, had told her just before he left for school that morning that he had been invited to join a traveling theater troupe for the summer.

   He looked up and after a brief pause asked her, "Do you think he's ready to spend three months on the road doing summer stock?"

   She neither shook nor nodded her head, simply replying, "I don't know - He's following his dream just as we've always encouraged him to do - we can't say no now, can we?"

   "I'll think about it when I'm in Pittsburgh, I've got too much on my mind right now. My Uber should be here in a few minutes and I still have to get the stupid app to pull up my confirmed reservation on the phone. I'll only be gone three days Sara, he knows I like to think things through. Can you let him know we'll have an answer for him when I get back?"

   "Okay, but he sounded like it wasn't asking for permission, just telling me as a courtesy."

   "He's still under 18 Sara and will still need our permission. Just tell him it's a matter we have to seriously think about for a few days - he's a smart kid, he'll understand."

   As he finished speaking his phone started vibrating and he saw that his driver had arrived. He zipped up his small case and picked it up from the bed. "I have to jet Hon, I'll text you when I arrive in Pittsburgh."

   "Okay, don't forget this time, you know I worry."

   "Promise I won't, tell the kids we will go out to Baratta's when I get back."

   Dan made his way down the front stairs and out to the waiting car where the driver stood by the open trunk. With one deft move the casually dressed young woman took the case from him and placed it inside and closed the trunk as Dan slid into the back seat. 

   Almost four hours later Dan was standing outside the Landside Terminal with the  carry-on at his feet, patiently waiting for his ride. The flight had been uneventful as usual, and he had spent most of it in casual conversation with the woman in the seat next to him, a widowed grandmother going to see her grandchildren in Canonsburg.  

   He felt relaxed, comfortable, and happy to be where he was. An older model dark burgundy Chevrolet Yukon soon pulled up directly in front of him. The front passenger side window rolled down and from the driver's side a woman called out, "Put your bag in the rear seat, I have groceries in the back." Dan did as instructed and then took the front passenger's seat."

   "Hi Babe, miss me?" the woman behind the wheel stated as she leaned toward him for a kiss. Once the quick kiss was shared Dan replied, "Of course, always do" as he locked the seat belt in place."

   The woman put the SUV in gear and signaled to merge into the left lane marked with a large "Exit" sign. "The kids are excited to see you Dan, especially Gleason - she can't wait to read to you from her new favorite book - she is turning into quite the little scholar."

   Dan smiled as he adjusted the temp for his side of the vehicle. "Just like her mother I imagine - smart as a whip and a joy to be around."

   "Why thank you Mr. Garver, from both of us. Going to be a fun weekend!"

    "Yes it will Sarah, yes it will - and a nice recharge for me before I have to go back to the grind in Des Moines on Monday.

    Stating that reminded Dan he needed to text Sara he had arrived safely in Pittsburgh and he pulled out his phone to do so. Sarah turned her head as he did so and Dan quipped, "Gotta remind Sean to check my front porch on Saturday, expected a delivery from Amazon that didn't make it by this morning and Porch Pirates have become the scourge of Des Moines lately." 

   Sarah nodded her head in agreement, saying, "Yep, a couple of the neighbors have been victimised here, too. The holidays bring 'em out like ants to a picnic."

   The couple continued to share small talk as Sarah drove southeast on the 30, and Dan relished the half-hour of stress-free, uninterrupted conversation, a very welcome respite from the stressful surreptitiousness of their weekday conversations. 

   Two young children ran excitedly out of the front door when Sarah pulled into the driveway. Big beaming smiles greeted their father as Dan stepped out of the vehicle. 

   "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" They both exclaimed as Dan bent down to receive them into his wide-open arms. "Come here you two munchkins!" Dan shouted in reply, grasping them tightly as they filled his arms. 

   The excitement, joy, and energy of that greeting seemed to last the entire three days of his stay. Each morning he and Sarah were awakened by Gleason and Blaine jumping onto their bed and bouncing around the both of them until they got out of bed and allowed the two to lead them downstairs in order to get breakfast going. And each morning he swore to himself he wouldn't trade anything in the world for that experience.

   However, each day he also was reminded of his other obligation by either a text or a voicemail from Sara or one of the four children he shared with her. They all knew by now that he was always dreadfully busy when he was away and learned not to expect immediate responses, if a response at all, yet they all persisted in the odd text message and/or voicemail regardless.

   Over the years he had only received one message that was of a serious enough urgency that he had to reply with haste, but as luck would have it he was out of the house at the hardware store when he had to return that message with an actual phone call, and it required not much more than twenty minutes of his time to resolve the small crisis.

   The morning of the last day went just like all the mornings all the last days had gone over the past few years. The kids begged him to stay at least one more day, and Sarah again broached the subject of him quitting the job in Des Moines and finding a job in Pittsburgh so he could be with his family full time.

   Dan was an expert at deflecting the questions Sarah asked and had long ago let her know he was only going to leave the company when his retirement was fully vested and they would be financially secure.

 Sarah, who had chosen to be a stay at home Mom at least until Blaine was a senior in high school, begrudgingly accepted the situation, and had long ago realised that her relationship with Dan was far better than what most of her friends had with their husbands - distance, she repeated to herself as if it were a mantra, does indeed make the heart grow fonder.

     As Dan packed up his suitcase for the trip back to Des Moines it occurred to him that he had not thought of an answer to the Lenny situation that Sara had gifted him with just before he had left for Pittsburgh. "Damn," he muttered under his breath, "why does life have to be so complicated?"