Summary: You and Ron made a mistake when you got married. Kids only complicated the issue, but you are able to find a compromise.
TW: female reader, divorce
Word Count: 740
A/N: I have a writing challenge. This is for the Splitting Up Together and the dialogue Prompt. This is really terrible, but let me know if you want a second part!
Masterlist
“This isn’t working,” you say suddenly. You were sick of pretending like you were happily married. You didn’t want to get a divorce, you had children to think of, but you couldn’t stay married.
Ron doesn't even bother looking at you. “Well, what’s your plan? Tear the kids away from a stable home?”
You roll your eyes. “Of course not, but we can’t stay married.”
“Well, what do you want me to do about it?” he snaps, turning to you.
“We’ve got the shed in the back. Turn it into a nice little place that way we can stop living together, maybe even get a divorce, but the kids would have both parents around,” you suggest.
Ron considers it for a moment. Nothing would change for the kids, really, but the two of you wouldn’t have to be together like this anymore. “How would we decide who got to live in the house?”
“Maybe we could switch weeks. Like one of us lives with the kids for a week. The other lives in the shed with no responsibly for what happens to them?”
“That could work.”
The two of you sit in silence for a few moments, letting the realization of what you are doing sink in. Finally, Ron speaks up. “We’re getting a divorce!”
You smile widely. “We’re getting a divorce!” And, for the first time in a long time, you feel happy. Truly happy.
It wasn’t that you didn’t like Tom, but you never should have married him. The two of you drove each other insane with how you lived together, how you talked about each other, how you looked at other people. It felt like you were always trying to make the other angry.
But now, signing the divorce papers, you felt a weight lift off your shoulders.
The two of you left the courthouse with huge smiles on your face before getting in separate cars and driving home.
When you get home, your kids and Ron's parents are waiting for you. You told them that you had news and you were waiting to tell them until it was certain.
Ron's parents were convinced you were having another child, already making bets on if you were having a boy or girl, while your children were telling their youngest brother that he was going to have to move away.
“Ready to tell them?” Ron asks, ready to open the door.
“Wait!” You rush back to your car and pull out a poster board that explains your plan, complete with pictures of the newly renovated shed and a calendar that indicates which parent will be in the house when.
Ron laughs at you, shaking his head. “I’m so glad we’re divorced.”
You give him a playful glare before walking into the house. You are quickly stormed.
“How far are you?”
“Do you have names yet?”
“Please don’t sell me. I’ll be good. I promise.”
“We were only teasing.”
You pry your youngest, Jason, off you. “What? No, we’re not selling you. We’re not selling anyone, and we’re definitely not adding someone else to the family.”
“Then why did you leave?” your oldest, Amanda, asks. Then, noticing your poster continues, “What’s that?”
“Your mum got a bit too enthusiastic and made an overly complicated chart,” Ron explains.
Your middle son, Finn, takes the post from you, as everyone gathers around him to look at it.
“We’re divorced!” you and Ron announce in unison.
Ron's parents stare at you, a million questions running through their heads. Before they can ask any of them, though, Jason starts crying.
“This is because of me!”
You and Ron immediately bend down to comfort him. Jason leans into your touch, crying into your chest. “No, sweetheart. This isn’t because of you. Or any of you. Mommy and daddy were just unhappy with each other, but we love you so so much.” You look up at your other kids, making sure that they know they are not at fault. Those kids were the best things to come out of your marriage. “Not much is going to change. We-” you gesture between you and Ron “-aren’t going to live together, but if you need one of us, we’ll just be in the shed. Promise.”
You watch as everyone in the room processes what you told them. One by one, they come to accept it.
You set Jason down. “Well, it’s dad’s week. I’ll be in the shed.”
