3 Coins in the Fountain

But as usual, at the worst possible time, something I never expected, happened. And it happened in a way I wasn't ready for.

Neither Nancy, nor I could run or even jog, but we could power walk with the best of them. So there we were, bright and shiny one beautiful spring morning out for a walk. My mom had even joined us.

We were walking our asses off, figuratively if not literally. We marched with our heads held high and our arms pumping. We literally almost got run over by two race cars. Okay, they were miniature race cars, those battery powered things that well off little kids always have.

The kids themselves were adorable. There was a boy who must've been about five and a little girl of about four. They were so busy racing each other that they hadn't seen us.

Despite myself, I found the two of them to be the cutest things I had ever seen. Nancy and my mom were both speechless. "That's why I wanted grandkids," said my mom.

"Sorry, were they in your way?" asked a woman coming up in the direction the kids had been coming from.

I hated the bitch on sight. She looked like one of those super model types. She was probably the live in baby sitter that the kids' father was cheating on his wife with. She was carrying yet another child; this one, an infant.

"Mommy, he's cheating again," said the adorable little girl, sticking her lip out.

I was floored. There was simply no way this woman had given birth three times and kept that body.

She wasn't the thin willowy type like me. She had one of those incredible bodies that are gifted to a very few by genetics and the luck of the draw.

She had very full yet proportionate breasts, a tiny waist and an incredible ass.

Her long shiny black hair hung down in thick waves. Her eyes were covered by huge Stylish sunglasses.

"Those are the cutest kids I've ever seen," said my mother.

"Thanks," she said. "They're a handful."

I noticed then that my mother was staring at the little boy intently. At first I thought she'd lost it.

"His eyes remind me of someone," said my mom.

"Can't help you there," said the woman. "They both have their father's eyes." She held up the baby, another girl. "This one has his eyes his nose and has him wrapped around her little finger."

I had to smile. I knew all about that daddy/daughter connection. Or at least I had until I ruined mine.

"I'm Maria," she said holding out her hand.

"Madelyne," I replied. "And this is Nancy and my ..."

I stopped abruptly because of the look she got on her face.

"Are you ...?" she began but never got to finish.

"Daddy!" screamed the little girl as I watched my husband come jogging up to us.

I went into shock then.

"Oh shit!" said the woman.

"Oooh, Mommy said a bad word," said the little girl. She got out of her car, a miniature version of her mother with her heavy, long dark hair trailing down her back. Reid immediately scooped her up in his arms.

"Daddy, Mommy said a bad word and Kyle is cheating," the pint sized charmer obviously told her daddy everything.

"Later, Pumpkin," he said. "Hi Maddie. Hey Nancy, Hi Mom ... Uhm do I still get to call you that?"

My mom nodded her head and hugged him. "You're all looking fit," he said.

Even as he spoke, she closed the distance between them as if being more than a foot away from MY fucking husband was killing HER. The next thing I knew they each had a kid in one hand while holding the other's hand in their free hands.

I invented a new feeling that day. I was deprissed. It's a combination of depressed and pissed.

I found out from talking to them that they'd been married since the day after my divorce was final. And since Kyle was a bit over five years old, Maria had been pregnant before they got married.

It was as if Reid had walked out of our lawyer's office, the day we signed the papers and just fell into her bed.

Three kids in less than five years told me a lot. I had been in a holding pattern for the past five years, but Reid hadn't been, unless you considered holding his new wife.

She tried to be nice the whole time. But then she could afford to. She had clearly won. She had taken the man I practically destroyed and rebuilt him. He was happier and he had everything he'd ever wanted.

Maria had simply stolen my life and my dreams. She was living my fucking life. And she was doing it better than I ever had.

"Reid do you ever run into Kyle?" asked Nancy.

"He married my cousin. They live in Boston," she said, destroying Nancy.

I have no idea what to do with the rest of my life. But I know what I won't be doing. I finally realized where I went wrong. Those ads on TV are all designed for silly assed teenagers.

"Just do it," they say. "No Fear!" "YOLO!" "Be all you can be!"

Those are great ideas for teen-aged girls with no lives, no responsibilities and no problems. For women who are older it's different. Our sayings are different.

"Just do it," they say. "Just don't," I say. You have too much to risk,"

"YOLO," scream teen aged girls all over the planet.

"YOLE," I scream back. "You Only Lose Everything.

The end