Arriving home after his class Kobe sighed as he opened the door and the smell of food cooking from the kitchen hit his nose. Shutting the front door behind him he slipped his shoes off and headed towards where the smell was coming from. He wasn't surprised to find his mom pulling out her famous chicken casserole from the oven.

"I love when you make that," Kobe told her as he walked over and kissed her cheek softly. "I don't know what I'd do without you here feeding me," he joked though it was partly true. He wasn't the best cook even after numerous attempts by his mom and past ex's to teach him how to cook.

Jolene turned to look at her son and she laughed, "Sadly neither do I," she said as she placed the casserole down on the stove to cool off. "That's why you need to find you a wife already."

Kobe just shook his head, "I almost had one you know," he told his mother as he walked away to go change clothes. "But she left me for someone else she saw more suitable."

"Seems to be our luck with love," Jolene mused as she watched her son leave. She too had once found someone suitable to marry at one point but then he had left her to go back to his wife. He had left her with a parting gift. Kobehary who was her life and she wouldn't take him back even if being a single mom had been hard.

Coming out of her thoughts as Kobe came back into the kitchen a short while later Jolene rolled her eyes seeing that he had already changed into his pajamas. "It's not even eight."

"And?" Kobe asked as he looked at his mom before grabbing a plate and putting some of the chicken casserole on it. The moment he did he heard his stomach grumble and he knew at this rate he'd probably be going back for seconds.

"And you should go out and be meeting women," Jolene nodded as she fixed her own plate. "You do need a wife one day. You are almost twenty-nine and I would like some grand-babies soon."

Kobe just shook his head, "Oh yes I can see me meeting women and offering to bring them home to the house I share with my mom," he laughed before taking a bite of his food though he found his thoughts drifting to Anne as he spoke. He knew he had overstepped boundaries and he knew that he had been bold with what he said but he meant every word he said. He'd take her on a date though she didn't seem like the type who would have sex on the first date. He'd wait for that for as long as she made him even if it broke her marriage vows. There was just something about her he wanted and when he wanted something he usually made it a habit to get it.

Jolene laughed at her son's words, "Well hopefully you will find your own place soon. I mean you just moved her two months ago from California were you decided to run off and go to college. You're lucky you found that teaching job so soon."

"That teaching job is just during the summer," Kobe reminded his mom though he knew he had the option of being hired full time for main courses that would actually be worth real grades if this class did well.

Jolene shrugged, "I know you baby boy and you'll knock it out of the park and get a full time job," she nodded as she looked at him. The one thing Kobe seemed to inherit from her was her want to get things. That was after all how she had landed his father for their brief time together. He had left his wife and she seized the opportunity because she could. She had just hoped he would stay.

Kobe smiled hoping his mom's confidence in him was right. "I still want my own place before I get the full time job," he said knowing when Anne eventually came to him and gave in to her lusts that he wanted somewhere to take her. He didn't want to have to take her to some cheap motel. Kobe wasn't the type to take women to motels even if sometimes he was the type to have one night stands.

"You will find your own place," Jolene spoke as she gave him a smile. "You are my son and anything you set your mind to you do."

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Tristan sat on his front porch that night after Anne had came to get her stuff. The rest of his day had went by uneventful and after crying he had eventually cleaned up the broken vase and he had even managed to fix himself dinner. He had always known how to cook even if he didn't do it often. He was thankful his mom had taught him early how to cook.

"Want some company?" a voice asked him and he looked up seeing Natalie standing in front of him. The woman who was partly to blame for his wife being gone.

Nodding Tristan moved aside so that she could sit down beside him, "I didn't even hear you walk over," he admitted knowing he had been lost in his thoughts of Anne and what she was probably doing at this moment with the boys. If she was thinking of him like he was thinking of her.

"I wanted to be quite. You almost looked lost in thought so I wanted to give you a few more minutes of that," Natalie said as she sat down beside him after he moved aside.

"I was lost in thought," Tristan answered as he blushed and he was glad that she couldn't see it thanks to it being dark out. "I was thinking of Anne and the kids."

Natalie forced a smile when Tristan told her he was thinking of his wife and kids, "Where are they?" she asked surprised at the lack of a second car in the driveway.

"Not here," Tristan replied back his words harsher than he had meant and when he saw her jump at them he made a face feeling bad. "Sorry," he apologized as he shook his head. "Anne and the kids are at her parents. Anne's going to be there until god knows when but at least I get my kids on Sunday and get to keep them for a few days."

At this information Natalie went silent as her smile fell. She knew if she smiled again it would be real. She hadn't expected Anne not to be home but a part of her had a feeling his precious wife wasn't here because of what she had overheard. "Is she gone because of the conversation we had the other night?" she asked deciding to play dumb.

Tristan nodded at Natalie's question, "Partly and partly because of what she said after as well. She just thinks we need space and that it will do us good," he told her his voice giving away that he didn't agree with this situation.

"And you don't think it is good?" Natalie asked again playing dumb.

"No," Tristan frowned as he laughed bitterly. "I am afraid she may decide she likes life without me and she'll never come back."

Natalie shook her head at his words, "Any woman would be a fool to leave you," she said trying to reassure him though deep down she was hoping that Anne would stay gone.

"You left me," Tristan frowned again as he thought of that. He may have loved Anne now but it had hurt him when she left even if her leaving had lead him to Anne. At the time though he hadn't realized that there was better to come for his life.

"And I was a fool," Natalie replied honestly as she reached over and patted Tristan's leg softly. "I was a fool and I regret it because I lost the man I love," she said before standing up. She hadn't used past tense on purpose. She hoped he got the hint from her words that she still loved him.

Without speaking another words she turned and headed back to her house wanting to leave him with her admission of love.

As Natalie walked away Tristan raised an eyebrow at her words and he couldn't help the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach at Natalie saying she had lost the man she loved. Of course he knew that meant she still loved him. Though he could only hope she meant a friendly love because that's all he could give her now.

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Anne yawned as she laid on her bed that night at her parents house. Turning to look at her sister who had joined her she sighed and rested her head on Zoe's arm. "You were right," she spoke before smirking some. "I mean about the art teacher Kobe. He does like me and I guess he was indeed staring at me during the first class."

"Oh?" Zoe asked as she looked over at her sister. "How do you know I was right?"

"Because today after class he told me if I wasn't married that he'd take me out on a date," Anne blushed as she told Zoe what Kobe had said. As she recounted his words she couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach or the nervous feeling she got every time she found out someone liked her. "I of course rebuffed him."

Zoe laughed at Anne before looked at the ceiling, "But it flatters you that he likes you," she said not even questioning it. "That he wants to take you out on a date."

Anne blushed more but nodded her head, "It does flatter me," she said honestly as she yawned again. "I mean no one's taken me out on a date since I got pregnant with John."

"Tristan stopped?" Zoe asked curiously as she yawned herself now.

"We just never had time anymore," Anne answered knowing that they had just stopped having time for anything that normal couples would do. "It got worse once he got the studio," she said as she sighed and felt herself moving away from Zoe. "I just want to go out on a date again."

Zoe laughed before closing her eyes, "Then let Kobe take you out," she suggested teasingly knowing her sister wouldn't and that it also wouldn't be right since she was married to Tristan.

At Zoe's words Anne couldn't help but contemplate them to herself as she drifted off to sleep.