She put an arm against the door jam and rested her forehead on her arm. This couldn't be happening. Sure, they were fighting a lot, but they always worked things out. Where had she gone wrong? What fatal threshold had she unknowingly crossed? He said he wanted her to be independent and run her own business, but that wasn't what he actually wanted. If she knew what he wanted, she'd do it in a heartbeat.
As she heard the door to the garage close, a voice passed over her - a ghost from the past.
"He'll leave you. I won't." But Josh was wrong. They both left her and now she was alone with what they both thought she treasured most - the children.
Where would he go? Instantly she knew. He would go to his father's house in Texas. Where else would he take an extended vacation? Did the clinic know why he was going? Not that it mattered. They would know where to contact him. Maybe it was best to let him go and get this out of his system. If he was so upset that he would leave the clinic and his children, he needed time to himself. He'd come back. After all, he said they needed some space. He didn't say he was leaving forever. But then, he didn't deny it either - and he wouldn't say he loved her.
The nausea returned suddenly and she leaned over the sink with a dry heave. The house was silent - dead.
When Felipa returned a few hours later with the children, she stared at Carmen.
"What is the matter? You are sick?"
Carmen nodded and started to cry again.
Felipa ushered the gaping children down the hall to their rooms.
"Go play for a little while. Mommy is not feeling well. I will care for her."
She returned and sat on the window seat beside Carmen, putting an arm around her shoulders.
"What happened?"
She might as well tell her. It would be difficult to hide. She daubed her eyes with a tissue and swallowed a sob - if she could speak the words.
"He left me," she finally managed.
Felipa gasped. "Alex?"
Carmen nodded.
Felipa shook her head. "He would not do this. Why would he do this?"
Carmen blew her nose and grabbed another tissue.
"He said I humiliated him and we fight too much."
Felipa shook her head again. "He is full of this pride. He does not mean it. He will come back."