The next day was a busy one. I'd volunteered to go on a field trip with the twins' class. I was assigned a group of five kindergarteners. By the end of the field trip I was completely exhausted. I didn't know how their teacher did it. The kids had had fun, though, so it was worth it.

In the afternoon I was running around, meeting with people and doing some errands in between. I returned to school around 3:00 to pick the younger kids up since Cam had plans after school. It had been go-go-go all day. I began cooking dinner when a text message came through.

It was a picture of Lin, in a compromising position, with our neighbor Sofia. My heart immediately dropped and I felt bile rise in my throat. The message read, 'your husband is an amazing lover'.

I gaped and didn't know what to do. I immediately tucked my phone away. Lin wouldn't have cheated on me, would he? I knew Sofia had been coming on to him and he'd had to rebuke her several times. Had he finally given in?

I basically beat up dinner as I made it, waiting for Lin to get home to question him. When he finally arrived around 6:30, I immediately told him we needed to talk. He looked at me quizzically, but didn't seem to have any idea what I was talking about. I called Molly to watch the dinner for a few minutes, then we walked back to our bedroom. I pulled out my phone and showed him the photo.

"What the hell is that?" he asked, taking the phone from me.

"You tell me," I said, crossing my arms. He looked at me like he didn't believe I was questioning him.

"Pippa, that's not me," he said, handing back the phone. "She must have photoshopped it or something."

"Didn't you tell me that she promised America would leave Cam alone if you slept with her?" I accused.

"Yes, but I would never do that, Pippa!" he exclaimed. "You know me. I can't believe you'd think I'd actually do it."

"Well, the photo evidence is pretty convincing," I said, angrily tossing some clothes into the hamper.

"Pip, she's a conniving little wench," he said, following me. "Why don't you believe me?"

"I don't know, Lin," I said honestly. "This is just...really getting to me. I'd like to think you'd rebuke her, but sometimes I'm not so sure."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Lin, we haven't slept together in weeks," I pointed out.

"So? We've been super busy."

I torqued my jaw, still pissed off. I wanted to believe him, but Sofia was being very persistent. Lin stared at me, exasperated.

"I can't believe you'd believe her over me," he said, shaking his head in disgust. "I love you, Pip, and I would never ever cheat on you. Come find me when you've got your head on straight."

With that, he left the room, leaving me alone. I collapsed onto the bed and started crying. I didn't know what to believe any more. Lin and I had always had a strong marriage, but this year had been rocky. We'd had the fight over Raina's treatment and now this whole mess with Sofia.

I cried for a few minutes then composed myself. I decided I needed to go straight to the source. I marched out our apartment, past Lin who was taking over dinner, and down to Sofia's. When I knocked she answered, looking glamorous as usual.

"Pippa," she said, crossing her arms. "I thought you might be coming to see me."

"You're lying," I said, glaring at her. "Lin would never cheat on me."

"Are you sure about that?" she looked me up and down. "You saw the photo evidence. It happened last night. Your husband is...well endowed."

"He was asleep in bed with me," I told her.

"Are you sure? The whole night?"

"Listen, you conniving little bitch," I stepped towards her. "Stay away from my husband or we'll get a restraining order. And tell your daughter to stay away from Cam. Go throw yourself on someone else."

I stormed back home and slammed the door. Lin looked up at me and I could tell he was still pissed I'd questioned him. He stared at me as I stormed back to the bedroom. I laid on the bed, trying to breathe deeply to calm myself. A while later, I heard a hesitant knock at my door.

"Mommy?" Molly called me.

"Yeah? You can come in," I told her, though I really didn't want visitors. She saw that I was upset and laid down next to me on the bed. She threw an arm around me and cuddled up.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing," I told her, not wanting to involve her in adult drama. "Just a hard day. How was school?"

"Okay," she said. "I got a solo on violin for the concert."

"That's great!" I praised her. "I can't wait to hear you. When's the concert?"

"Not for another month," she said. We chatted a bit more as we cuddled. About fifteen minutes later, Lin pushed the door open, still looking serious.

"Dinner's ready," he told us. I kissed Molly and she got up. Lin waited at the door for me.

"I think we should get a restraining order," he told me. "This is getting ridiculous."

I nodded slightly, my arms crossed. "Lin...I know you didn't do it. I'm sorry. It was just...upsetting to see."

"Yeah, it was," he agreed. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him. He kissed my head and we rocked back and forth a little. "I love you so much. And I don't wanna see you hurting."

I sighed and rested my face against his. I can't believe I doubted him even for a minute. We pulled back and shared a sweet kiss. We then walked down the hall together, hand in hand, and joined the rest of the family for dinner.

____

The next morning, Lin and I both dropped the kids off at school, then went to the police station. We filed a report about Sofia and paid for a restraining order. We considered making one against America as well, but hoped this would shake them. We were told the papers would be delivered some time that day.

We both tried to go home and relax. I had phone calls to make. I didn't want to leave Pippa home alone in case there was an altercation about the restraining order. We stayed close all day. There weren't any text messages or knocks at the door. We both blocked her number.

In the evening, Lin and I both put the twins to bed after giving them a bath. I checked on Molly, who was hard at work on her homework. When I pushed Cam's door open I saw her tuck her phone away immediately.

"Hey," I told her, sitting on her bed. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, just some homework," she picked up her pencil and started to get back to work.

"How are things going with William?"

"Fine," she blushed, writing in her notebook.

"He's not pressuring you into anything, is he?" I asked her seriously.

"No, Pippa," she said. "We're just kissing. And texting a lot."

I nodded, knowing I still needed to keep a close eye on her. She was way too into this boy and I didn't want her doing anything stupid. "I want you to be safe," I reminded her. She rolled her eyes a little but smiled.

"I know," she said. "You already had the talk with me, remember?"

"Of course," I said, thinking it was time now to have the talk with Molly. She and her friends were starting to talk about their crushes at school. "William just seems like the kind of guy who might try to pressure a girl."

"He's not," she said, but I didn't really believe her. Teenage boys all thought with their crotches. Cam was too neat of a kid to get taken advantage of. I told Cam not to stay up too late and then wandered back to the living room, where Lin was working on his laptop.

I poured us both a glass of wine and settled down next to him. We were just starting to relax when an email popped up on Lin's screen from an .

"Shit," Lin said as he clicked on it.

What we saw next surprised us both, and not in a good way. On the screen, there was a picture of Cam, making out with William somewhere at school, and Cam was partially undressed. The message read, 'do you know what your daughter is doing'?

"What the hell is wrong with this woman?" he exclaimed. Since the photo had been taken at school, obviously America had taken it. I couldn't believe they were still trying to get at us.

"Should we tell Cam?" I asked him, and he sighed.

"I don't know," he said, scrubbing a hand through his hair. "Her privacy's obviously been violated. She doesn't need to know necessarily. She'll be crushed."

"What if America sends it to other people? And maybe she already has?" I pointed out.

Lin sighed, considering the possibility. It would be better to find out from us than some random kids at school. Lin called out for his daughter and closed the laptop lid halfway.

"Yeah?" she asked hesitantly as she walked into the living room.

"Come sit down," Lin said, patting the seat next to him. She complied and he turned to her. "Sweetheart, I just got an upsetting email. It involves you. I wanted you to hear about this from me instead of some kids at school. America must have taken this picture of you and William."

I opened the screen and Cam looked at it. She flushed with embarrassment. "What the hell? How did she take this?"

Lin sighed, crossing his arms. "Her mother sent this to me, so I'm worried that America might send it out."

"Can you delete it?" she asked, looking away.

"Not yet," Lin said. "I need to show the police."

"The police?" she asked..

"We filed a restraining order against Sofia today. We might have to file one against America too, after this."

"What is the matter with them?" she asked as I closed the screen.

"I don't know, baby," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But now I'm also concerned with what you're doing at school. When was this?"

She looked away, embarrassed. "Um...at school today?"

"And where were you supposed to be?"

"Lunch," she said.

"Don't let it happen again," Lin told her, raising his eyebrows. Cam bit her lip and nodded. How embarrassing for her. She stood up and went back to her room. We decided it was best that he not respond to the email. He pulled out a detective's card from his wallet that we'd gotten that day. Lin forwarded the email and then shut down his computer.

"Alright," he said. "Enough of this. More wine."

He took my glass and went to the kitchen, filling both of them up. We tried to forget about the drama of the day as we drank and kissed. Hopefully this nightmare would be over soon.