Since her discovery Adele had set up an extra bed in Maya's room and slept there. Usual "etiquette" for such situations may have been that the offending party had to sleep on the couch, but they didn't have a couch and there was no way Adele was sleeping in her old bed now Harvey had ruined it for her.
Maya had been mostly oblivious to what was going on and was enthralled with her piano lessons, practicing the moment she got home from school. Sam was a willing audience; she may not have progressed that far from scales and chopsticks but taking care of her in this difficult atmosphere calmed him. It wasn't that Harvey and Adele were fighting - they weren't. Everything was back to normal, with Harvey painting and Adele working, but somehow things were chillier than before, the quiet before the storm... or perhaps Sam thought too much.
He quickly discovered that there was one benefit to his parents' fighting and subsequent lack of interest in his activities - he could sneak girls into his room. Not that he was planning to do anything apart from hanging out. He wasn't his brother Tom! He was Just Friends with Miranda King. He loved how they could talk for hours, just talk, about anything and everything. She was so smart! Of course, thoughts of kissing her popped into his head but she was quite a bit younger than him and he didn't want to ruin their friendship.
Age-gaps didn't bother his father half as much. Adele had forced him to give Esther "temporary leave" but that didn't stop him taking her out on dates to restaurants that were far too expensive for the current state of the Darwin family budget.
That situation didn't last too long though. Harvey's business got an excellent review in a local newspaper and an award for Number One Small Business, which he displayed in full view of all shoppers.
Sam decided to bite the bullet and tell the truth about his feelings to Miranda. He called her and they snuck out late at night to a local park.
"What's up, Sam? Why did you ask to meet me here?"
"This is difficult... look, Miranda, I really want to kiss you. I like you a lot. Really like you. But if you don't want to that's fine. I mean, I'm older than you and you've not given me any signals or anything, please don't think this is your fault, you haven't lead me on..."
There was a moment's silence and Sam was about to bolt when Miranda spoke up.
"I'm just quiet. I didn't know how to give you those signals..."
Their first kiss was everything Sam had hoped it would be.
Maya had hit puberty and grown into an elegant-looking young lady. She had grand ambitions for her life, mostly centred around money-making; her biggest dream was to put her cooking skills, as honed on her E-Z-bake oven, to good use and open a chain of cafes and restaurants.
Harvey and Adele had barely spoken for months. Something had to give. Every attempt Adele had made to try and ride this rough patch out and be civil for the children had been thrown back in her face as Harvey went around with Esther, and she finally snapped.
"I'm leaving. I've tried and tried, but you're a selfish pig. Sam's heading off to university soon, he can make his own decisions, but I'm taking Maya with me."
"I - "
"Save it. The divorce papers will be with you before the month is out."
Adele was gone, along with Maya. Sam spent all his time with Miranda. Harvey was alone with only his thoughts and his business. How had it come to this?
Well, that was a question with a very simple answer.
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