Well, Whatis had the most wonderful day! In the morning I was leaving to head out to a shopping mall to do some Xmas shopping when STBX called, she was ranting about D14 again. Apparently D14 had not been talking to her the past few days and when they began to talk again D14 pulled the old "I need to buy..." STBX went on and on about things and I was wondering to myself "WTH are you calling me for?" She finally said she just needed to vent after we agreed on the items we were willing to purchase with D14 and what we were not. After she hung up I decided to go over to STBX's house, as she was not there yet, and break the news to D14 myself. I decided that it was not fair to STBX that she is always the bearer of bad news, I'd take my turn. So I sat down with D14 and told her what we were willing to buy and what we were not. STBX came home and joined us while D14 sat and cried. Finally I went over to D and asked if I could hug her and she jumped up and put her arms around me. Afterwards STBX asked me what I was planning to do for the day and I told her I planned to have lunch with her and the girls and then accompany them to the mall for the shopping trip, STBX said "OK, that's great!" and for the first time in a long, long time I got the impression she really was happy to have my company. We drove to this huge shopping mall that I'd never been to and the drive took about one hour, the whole way STBX was talking with me, listening and initiating conversation. We all spent five hours at the mall together and had a wonderful day together, we shopped and laughed and really enjoyed each other. At one point late in the day, after telling D14 that we are only going to one more store, she says to me "this is why I hate coat shopping because you people are always rushing me!" and I said "excuse me, we've been here for almost five hours looking for a coat for you" Ahh, teenagers! After we left we drove home and STBX continued chatting the whole way home (you can't imagine the last time that ever happened!), we stopped and bought a pizza and went back to her place. We ate pizza and watched a movie together. When I left STBX and D14 were sitting on the couch hugging and D was asking mom if she would give her a massage. It was so nice to see them hugging and loving each other again. I sat hugging D11 and had tears in my eyes, our family was really showing love to one another. Yup, it was a wonderful day and I'm proud because my decision this morning made it all possible. My family needed me and I stepped up. That's what it's all about, being there for your family and I know STBX really appreciated that I was there. No matter what, family has to be number one! I'm a happy man tonight.
