She blinked back tears, realizing just how true the words were.  She did love her husband, but it seemed to be so long since she had really talked with him…hell, talked to him.  So long since she spent quality time with him, since they’d seen each other besides the time when they were rushing to or fro, or even catching up on a moment’s sleep.  She couldn’t do it anymore, the longer she thought about it, the longer she listened to the heartbreaking song, the more made up her mind was.  And the news she’d received two days before was just the icing on the cake.

        She quietly got up and started putting things in her suitcases, quietly packing up everything that held importance to her.  She stopped in the middle of her packing and hurried to her daughters’ room and packed up their things, everything fitting into one of the larger suitcases she possessed.  She set their suitcase downstairs in the foyer and felt tears spill over on her cheeks as the cuckoo clock struck four.  She hurried upstairs and finished packing her things, bringing the suitcases downstairs and bringing them to her four by four in the garage.  She loaded the luggage in the back and then left open the back door as she hurried back inside to get her daughters.  She picked up Alyssa and had a sudden flash back to two days prior.

        "Mommy, does Daddy have yellow hair or black hair?"  Alyssa asked as she shuffled through her crayons.
        "He has blond hair, baby, don’t you remember?"
        "No, I thought his hair looked like Uncle Kevin’s."

        She settled Alyssa in the backseat of the car, in the toddler seat, and buckled her up.  Alyssa had slept through the short trip downstairs and to the garage, clutching the doll her father had bought the day she was born.  It was slightly beat up, but she loved that doll.  She was always proud to say that Daddy had bought it for her.  But what use was that if she couldn’t even remember what her father looked like?

        She wiped away more tears as she climbed the stairs again and picked up Isabella.  She looked just like her father, thick blond hair and clear blue-green eyes, with the personality to match.  She was typically the more energetic one, the twin that would keep you occupied for hours on end.
        "Shh, its ok, baby," she whispered as Isabella started to whimper in her sleep.  Isabella calmed and she placed the child in the toddler seat, buckling her in and covering her with her blanket.  The one he’d gotten her when she was born.  Her and her blanket were inseparable.

        "One last thing," she said to herself as she walked back into the kitchen from the garage.  She wrote a quick note and left it on the kitchen counter, hoping he would be home sometime that week to stop in the kitchen for food and see it.  She fought a break down as she walked back out to her car and got in the driver’s seat.  She started the car and backed out of the driveway, coming to an almost abrupt halt as his sports car nearly rammed into her.
        "What’s wrong, babe, where are you going?"  He asked as he got out of his car, running around to her window.
        She shook her head.  "I need to leave."
        "Why, what’s wrong?"  He asked, trying to reach for her through the window.  She backed away as more tears fell and she saw his face turn slack as he saw his daughters and the luggage in the back.
        "Why are you leaving?  Where are you going?"  He asked, almost emotionless.
        "I can’t do this anymore.  Alyssa doesn’t know what her own father looks like, Isabella can’t even say Daddy anymore without wondering exactly who he is, if he’s the man that comes to help Mommy with the cleaning every week or if he’s the pizza delivery man.  And me…" she took a deep breath.  "I don’t know my husband anymore."
        "Baby, I'm your husband.  I'm the same person I was five minutes ago, five months ago, hell, five years ago.  I haven’t changed," he pleaded.
        "Yes you have, I wake up each morning without you, I go to sleep each night wondering if you’ll make it home all right.  I can’t keep doing that, I can’t keep up a charade that I don’t even know the answer.  I need to leave," she repeated.
        "But, honey-"
        "Nick, please!"  She cried, finally looking at him and letting the tears flow.
        He was silent, looking at her face, in her eyes, worry creasing his soft, flawless complexion.  "Baby, don’t cry," he finally whispered, wiping away the tears.  "Come back inside and we’ll work this out, please.  Just help me bring the girls inside and put them back in bed.  We’ll talk this all out, I won’t leave until we do," he begged, tears coming to his own eyes.
She was about to give in.  About to break down and agree, following him inside with the girls and forgetting she ever did all of this.  Forgetting that she ever thought to leave him.
        "No."  She swallowed a sob as she saw the heartbroken look appear on his face.  "No, I can’t do it.  This isn’t just for me, its for my girls," she said, looking away from his blue eyes.  ‘And for my baby,’ she thought as she glanced down at her lap, taking a deep breath, deciding against telling him.
        "What?"
        "I said no.  I'm not going to let your job ruin my life and my girls’ lives.  I know the second we get inside, you’ll get another call about another earth-shattering decision, or about the next tour, or about a new artist one of your employees found.  No, Nick, I can’t do it."
        "Emily, please, baby, I love you," he pleaded, tears coursing down his face.
        Emily shook her head.  "Goodbye, Nick," she finally whispered.  She gently pushed his arm out of the car and rolled up the window, backing out of the driveway and driving away.  The tears flowed harder as she turned the corner.  She hit the power button on the CD player next to her and lowered the volume, waiting as it warmed up and started where it last left off.