26 February, Military Base, City K

Ten minutes after the rest of Dominic's class departed the military base, Lexi and Dominic were being shown into Mathew's on-base accommodations.

How dramatic were the differences to Matthew's villa. A well-proportioned but easily usable kitchen for a family with an eat-in dining area, a lounge, formal dining room, study, four bedrooms, bathrooms and a playroom. It felt homely, like her apartment in France. It felt as if it was meant to be lived in by a young family, rather than it being a showpiece designed to show wealth.

Dominic, quickly started to run around the house, and on entering one of the bedrooms called out "Mummy come here."

Heading towards Dominic's voice, Lexi said "What is it?"

"You have to see mummy."

Lexi eventually located where Dominic was, and realised that this was a bedroom that had been set up for a boy of Dominic's age. How, in the world did this room get in place to echo that he had in Matthew's Villa?

"It is so good Mummy, almost like my room at home."

Crouching down to look at Dominic in the eye, Lexi said "It does. But id there anything you want to change?"

"No, it is so nice mummy."

Before Lexi could respond further, a doorbell rung, and Lexi stood up before hurrying to answer the door. As she opened it on her doorstep were Jessica, Monica and Sarah. Sarah quickly said, "I think we should come in rather than standing here."

Nodding, Lexi moved to allow them to enter. They quickly headed towards the kitchen area, and Lexi then noticed they had grocery bags in their hands. As she followed them, she said "How did you know we were here?"

"Our loud-mouthed husbands," laughed Jessica. "How in the world they have the jobs is a miracle, given they cannot seem to stop telling us things."

"Seriously though, when we heard you were coming here, we figured that you would need a few basics so we picked them up for you, as we knew that there would be little here for you," added Sarah.

Lexi moved and looked at the bags on the bench and knew that they were speaking the truth.

"Thank you.."

Monica interrupted and said "There is no need to thank us. There was another reason we came over. Our children will soon be back from school. We are lucky that the school has an after-school program with various extra-curricular activities for them, as well as activities for young children as well. But there is another reason we are here. As our husbands have been based together for years, each couple agreed to take the other's children for one night during the week and some time on the weekend to allow the other couples to have time to themselves. Joseph and I are set to have the other children tonight, and wanted to see if Dominic wanted to join them for a sleepover.."

From behind Lexi, she heard Dominic say "Can I mummy. I have not had a sleepover for a while with anyone."

Lexi turned and looked at Dominic "You do?"

"I want to go mummy."

Observing Dominic Lexi realised that he was excited about going, so in a resigned voice she said "I guess you can go, but you need to promise me that if you do not want to stay you will call."

"I will mummy," and with that Dominic ran out of the kitchen. Lexi figured that he was going to pack a bag with a few things to go away.

Monica responded "Do not worry Lexi. Joseph and my house is only a few doors down, and we never take the kids off base when they are with us overnight. If he wants to come home, I will call you."

"Are you really sure?"

"Stop questioning yourself Lexi. The three of us are not stupid, and neither are our husbands. We all know something is not right between you and Matthew and have known it for a few weeks. Given you opted to stay here, you can look at today being a fresh start for the two of you. It is likely that you will only be here a night of two, but that can make a huge difference in starting to deal with whatever is the problem for you. Take the chance we are giving you."

"Monica is right. You have been married before, and we all know that not dealing with a problem in your relationship allows it to get worse. And the three of us can tell you not addressing small matters with your spouse who is a military officer early can lead to a challenging situation. They forget that we are their spouse and end up trying to deal with the situation through orders. That is not a pleasant experience," added Sarah.

Jessica added, "Lexi, taking a chance to work through things will make things easier for Dominic. You would know as much as we do that children pick up on conflict between the a.d.u.l.ts in their life.."

With that Lexi burst into tears. While she knew that they were trying to be helpful, but they had said the one thing she knew that the situation had done. Dominic had picked up on the conflict between her and Matthew and more than likely he was still hurting from it.

Seeing this, Jessica stopped, and gathered Lexi into her arms, before quietly saying "I am sorry, I did not mean to upset you."

After taking a few deep breaths Lexi pulled back, but before she could say anything, she heard Dominic say "Who upset my mummy. That is not nice."

Lexi turned around and said "It is nothing to be worried about Dominic. I just realised that you will not be here to enjoy your first night staying here,"

"Who cares about that mummy. I am going to have fun."

Lexi shook her head and laughed, before saying "I sometimes wonder about you Dominic.."

"I know mummy, you tell me that often, but I do things without you," interrupted Dominic.

"True, so you are going to have fun?"

"I am mummy, and I promise if I miss you or Daddy Matthew, I will ask to come home."

Seeing the determined look on Dominic's face, Lexi said "Go, enjoy yourself."

Looking at Sarah, Jessica and Monica, Lexi added "Please take care of him, but I will take your advice on board."

With a nod of heads, Monica took Dominic's hand and said, "Come on Dominic, you are coming to my house tonight, and very soon everyone else will be back."

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