Diane Peters sat on the couch in the living room. The couch was brown with fluffy pillows and a microfiber texture to the fabric. The living room is medium size with glass coffee and end tables. They have a 42" flat screen TV sitting on a black stand with glass doors underneath. Their modest two story home is quaint in appearance. The front door is a heavy oak door stained a dark brown with a rot iron knocker. The entryway has a set of stairs directly head of you with a hallway on the left leading to the interior of the house. The first doorway off of the hallway on the left is the living room which connects to the dining room. At the far end of the hallway there are two doorways. The left hand is the kitchen, the right is the half bath they have down stairs. Up the stairs has a hallway running left and right. At the top of the stairs is the full bathroom. Left leads to the two kids rooms. And the right leads to master bedroom. She didn't like her bedroom anymore. It felt so lonely in there. Mike had stayed at work all night again. She knew he was so close to a revolutionary breakthrough in time space metaphysics. But it still hurt her to sleep alone. She folded her long legs under her 5'9" frame. She tied her ebony hair in a bun in the top back of her head. Her deep blue eyes and petite nose complemented her full lips, but her eyes looked tired right now. Over the past year and a half she had developed insomnia, so sitting there in the dark watching time slip by made the pain even deeper. She still loves her husband, and she knows he loves her and the kids with all his heart. She just can't understand why he lets himself get wrapped up in his work so tightly. Well at least he remembered to call and say goodnight to her and the kids last night. He doesn't always remember that simple thing.
She looks down at the books and papers spread out on the seat next to her. He knew she understood his research, so he would give her copies of his data for her to go over. His way of staying connected to her. She understood all too well the implications of his work. What it would mean for mankind and for their family. He would become rich and famous and give them the life he always wished he could. The life he always told her she deserved. But didn't she also deserve to have her husband with her? Didn't she deserve to feel appreciated? Didn't she deserve to feel she was just as important to him as his work? These questions plagued he every time he wasn't there. She knew the answers, but her heart wouldn't allow her to feel they were true. So she did what she knew she had to. What she knew she was going to do. She stayed up all last night debating the pros and cons of what she was going to do. She knew in the end her actions would be completely selfish, but she didn't care. Her love is her driving force. Her love for her husband and for her children is what compels her to take actions. Because what use is having everything you ever wanted out of life when the person you love the most isn't there to share it with you.
Diane looks at the clock on the wall, its 7:30 am. The kids will be getting up for school soon. She heads into the kitchen to start breakfast. As she walks around the island in the kitchen her oldest son Tom startles her. She didn't hear him come downstairs. "I'm too preoccupied with my own thoughts" Diane thinks to herself. Tom sees he surprised her and apologizes. He's a junior in high school now. When Diane looks at him he looks so much like his father. He has his father's hazel eyes and his father's shorter height. He has her dark hair and nose, but the rest is his father just a younger version, same intelligence but with a more athletic build. Mike was the all-around geek growing up as he put it. But Tom if anything is more like his best friend Jerry. Brain and brawn all in one package.
Diane sees that Tom is now really looking at her. He notices the tired bags under her eyes, the sunken eyeballs, and her red bloodshot eyes. He knows she's been up crying again. Tom is a very strong boy emotionally. He knows there is nothing he can say to make her or the situation any better. But he does know he can show her he loves her and that she can count on him for anything. And this is what he does, he walks over and just hugs her. He holds his mother tightly for her sake and for his own. This double surprise of his presence and then his emotional fortitude is not what Diane needs right now. Then as she allows herself to just embrace the moment, she realizes its exactly what she needs. Instead of falling apart and crying she feels her resolve growing more firm. Her decision no long seems selfish to her but imperative. When she lets go and looks down at her son he sees a new woman. She has life and fire in her eyes once again. Diane doesn't know how he knew but by the expression on his face that is the exact reaction he expected to see.
Nodding to himself as if to say job well done Tom hurries off to his room to get ready. Diane looks at his retreating form a little confused, but very proud of the son she has raised. She yells up to Tom to wake up Stacy. Stacy is thirteen and already as tall as her mother. She has her father's sandy brown hair but her mother's stunning blue eyes. She is smart but hid it behind her witty attitude and sarcastic ramblings. But she couldn't hide it from her parents. Tom hated how she was already taller than he was. After fixing breakfast and lunches and seeing the kids off to school Diane sits back down on the couch to go over the last notes in Mikes research journal. Something in there caught her attention last night but she was too unfocused to get anything out of what she was reading. Turning to the page she read it out loud to herself," If we can meditate and focus our complete consciousness we would then be able to awaken our minds eye." Something about this was nagging at her. There was a connection here with something else if she just could put her finger on it. Then it hits her! Diane just sits up and says "Then that means..."