Closed Let Her Go

[Cameron Kingsley]

Cameron Kingsley knew that this talk had been a long time coming, but he was still dreading it. The former Minister had not wanted to give up on his marriage, but it was completely broken. Things hadn't been the same since Kiera died. The pressures of his office on the family and his refusal to use his connections to take Jemma from Carter had contributed to the growing tension in their relationship. Letting Noah switch schools had been the final nail in the coffin of their marriage. The entire last year had been mostly for appearances sake. Cyndi had made that crystal clear to him over Christmas break. Cyndi and Cameron had made the decision weeks ago, but they had been waiting to tell the children until the break was almost over to keep a sense of normalcy. Cyndi would return to school, and Cameron would stay at the home with Eleanor. All that was left was to tell the children.

Cameron sat down at the end of the dining room table with dinner spread out before them. He had picked up food from their favorite Chinese restaurant. Noah was already at the table, and he could hear Eleanor running down the stairs with Cyndi's familiar footsteps right behind her. Tension was clear in his shoulders. He still loved Cyndi. As much as he ever had, but none of that mattered anymore.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Watching as her daughter ran down the steps ahead of her, singing a little song, Cyndi felt like a monster. In moments, she was going to be responsible for wiping that glee off of her daughter's face. And that didn't count the looks she knew she would get from her sons. Would they be entirely surprised? She wasn't sure. Tense had been the default atmosphere in the Kingsley household for as long as she could remember, certainly since her sister-in-law had passed away well over a year ago. That had been the beginning of the end, and even reading her letter when she had arrived home as the school year ended hadn't helped. If anything, it had made her even more angry at Cameron, her efforts to fulfill what Kiera had asked before she'd even known it was being asked of her squashed. She and Cameron had managed to be civil during the winter break in spite of this though mostly because she had accepted any and all reasons to get out of the house.

Cyndi would always love Cameron Kingsley. He was the father of her children and a wonderful man, but he had hurt her deeply. The woman entered the dining room quietly, her gaze falling on the food at the center of the table. The stage was set, their favorite meal ready to be eaten and a perfectly good night ready to be ruined. What made her feel worse was the knowledge that she was the only one who truly wanted this, that Cameron would probably fight as hard, if not harder, as he had for the Ministry position for her if she'd give any indication that was what she wanted. Sadly, it wouldn't make up for what he had done. Cyndi opened her mouth, a frog in her throat cutting off her voice. She tried again. "Where's Jakey?" He replied from just behind her as he trudged into the dining room and sat at the table. Cyndi made her way to her usual seat, across from Cameron and for a while allowed them to be a normal family, forcing herself to laugh as Eleanor shared her latest knock knock joke and talking to Noah about his NEWTs. Finally, she put down her fork and glanced at Cameron. "Your father and I would like to speak with the three of you" she stated quietly.