~*~Tracie~*~

Kevin was still asleep when I woke up. I laid there and watched him for about ten minutes before I got up. He was sleeping peacefully. I had woken up once last night from him tossing and turning. Whatever was going on he was struggling with. Something was still telling me to leave it alone. Something in his eyes. Honestly, I didn’t need to know. I trusted that he would tell me what he needed me to know, wanted me to know. I’d do what he needed. I knew he knew that, but I’d remind him.

About nine a courier knocked on my door and asked for Kevin or me. I signed for the package and left it on the dining room table. Kevin found me in the laundry room, "Morning."

"Hey you, how you doing this morning?" I put on my best smile.

"I slept good." He walked forward and hugged me, "Thank you."

"Not needed." I rubbed his back.

"Yes . . . it is. Thank you for picking me up, letting me crash here, getting my stuff, and handling today for me. And mostly for not asking."

I backed up and held his hands, "Kevlyn, what ever you need. You know I’ll listen if you need to talk. I’m here whenever."

He hugged me again, "I know you are. I can’t, don’t want to talk about it. Not now."

"That’s cool." I kissed his cheek, "Love you, handsome."

"You too, pretty girl."

We headed back into the kitchen, "Oh, that envelope came this morning."

"Thanks." He sat down and opened it. I started fixing coffee. "I have another favor to ask."

I turned and put my hand on my hip, "You are all full of favors. You’re gonna have to treat me to an amazing dinner."

"Not a problem." He waved a pack of papers at me, "I need you to witness my signature, and get Jessica to sign them."

I flipped through them. Annulment papers. I looked up, "Are you positive about this, this is huge."

"I’m positive."

I signed under his signature in half a dozen places. "She gonna fight me on this? Not that it matters."

"She damn well better not. Fucking bitch."

I was ready to go by about eleven. I wanted to beat her there. "Ok, I’m off, any last minute instructions."

Kevin looked up from the book he was reading, "She gets nothing. Not so much as a q-tip."

Man, he was pissed. "Alright."

"She’s got till five. Anything left after five is firewood." He went back to reading.

"And what’s her rating, zero to ten, what’s she get?" I was bracing for a nice low number.

He never looked up, "She gets a zero."

I got in my car and headed over to his place. I called AJ and asked him to meet me over at Kevin’s. I read the annulment papers while I waited. AJ bopped in the door, "Ok, I bite. What are we doing here? Where’s Kevin?"

"Kevin’s at my place. Has been for two days. I’m meeting Jessica here to make sure she takes all her shit, and none of his and getting her to sign these. I wanted company." I showed him the papers.

"Annulment?" I shook my head, "How is that different than divorce?"

"Means the marriage never happened. Erases it. There has to be some kind of fraud involved. Makes the pre-nup void. She gets nothing out of this. Can’t keep his name. Nothing. The whole thing didn’t happen."

AJ’s eyes were as wide as mine had been, "He can do that?"

"He’s done that. Said she won’t fight it. Then called her a fucking bitch."

"Whoa! What did she do?"

"I don’t know. He’s not talking about it. He’s pretty tore up." I filled him in on the last few days. "I’m guessing that she was never really pregnant, faked the whole thing."

"I’d say that’s a good guess. What did he give her?"

"A zero."

"Very good guess, damn. No one’s ever gotten a zero before."

"I hear one of yours got a ten."

Jessica got there right on time. Michelle came with her and they had a small trailer. I had looked around and saw that she didn’t have a lot here. They brought in boxes and headed upstairs. Michelle started carrying down hanging clothes. AJ hung nearby. I kept my arms crossed across my chest and stayed right on her heels. I sat in the middle of the bed as she started packing things from the drawers. She looked over, "You’re going to stare at me all day."

"Not all day, but for the next five hours of your life I will take pleasure in making you miserable." I spoke with no emotion.

"I’m already miserable." She genuinely looked sad, but I wasn’t buying it.

"That’s handy." I thought for a second, "You know, what I’ve seen the last few days I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, and you’ve dumped it on it my best friend, my family. You don’t get shit for sympathy for me anymore."

"I knew he’d run straight to you and tell you everything." She kept packing.

"Blah blah blah blah blah. Actually . . . I know nothing. I don’t need to. That’s the way it works with me and family. I don’t need the reasons. Blind support is all an outsider will ever see. And you . . . Jessica Kimbrell . . . are an outsider." Used her unmarried name on purpose.

Michelle carried everything out as Jessica packed it. When she took out the last box from downstairs I grabbed the papers, "You need to sign these."

She took them, glanced at them, and wiped away the tears, "He moves fast."

"When he knows what he wants." I handed her a pen.

She cried as she read and signed. Michelle grabbed her arm, "Are you sure you should sign this without a lawyer."

Jessica shook her head and kept signing, "Tell him . . ."

I interrupted and shook my head, "No. I won’t deliver messages. My loyalty is his." I remembered something, "Rings, please?"

She glared at me and handed them over. They left. AJ looked at me, "Remind me not to piss you off, you can be a cold bitch. He told you to take the rings?"

"Nope. But he said she didn’t get to take a q-tip." We both laughed at that.

The next few hours was spent going over the house top to bottom making sure all traces of her were gone. If we thought it was hers we got rid of it. We found her perfume in the bathroom, a pair of her panties in his underwear drawer, and a few other things hidden about. We re-arranged drawers and closets and made it look like she had never been there. We cleaned out the refrigerator and pantry. Anything that Kevin didn’t eat was gone. The annulment erased the marriage, we erased her.