As Andrea and I had both known would happen, the Gail and Emma came over to see me not long after she had her talk with them. Both were unhappy and miserable, and wanted to talk to me about what was going on.
I answered their questions as best I could, and tried to get them to understand that Andrea leaving them for a little while wasn't because of them, or anything they'd done or not done. Using some of the things that they'd told me about themselves, I managed to pretty much get the idea across that sometimes people just have a problem that they can't take care of by themselves. I also helped them understand that even though she knew she was hurting them by leaving them with me, she was actually trying to help them — using the example of getting a shot (that hurt now) so that they didn't get measles (which would hurt even more) later, they got the idea. They still didn't like it, of course, but they at least had a different perspective by the time I was done.
For over a week, the girls were saddened by Andreas planned departure before they began to accept it. A couple of times, I had each of them crying on my lap as I tried to console them -
with limited success. But as they eventually started to get used to it, they gradually got their spirits back. That I was actively soliciting their input about what to change about my house to accommodate them helped, somewhat.
With it being just myself, my house wasn't all that big — two bedrooms (the master with its own bathroom), an additional bathroom, living room, kitchen, dining room, and den. Since the two of them were going to have to share a bedroom anyway, I decided to go ahead and give them the master; my thinking was that not only was it bigger, but its private bathroom would help convince any visitors that they had the privacy they "needed" and weren't forced to run around the house half-naked. I didn't figure that anyone would stop to think that they might want to do such a thing…
My office was in the second bedroom; if I was going to sleep there, then I had to move everything into the den — including network wiring, and all the rest. I also opted to go ahead and put a door on the den, so that I could shut it when I needed uninterrupted quiet to work.
Once I'd gotten my office moved into the den, and then my bedroom moved, I got the girls involved in getting the master bedroom and bathroom redecorated to suit them — which helped improve their spirits considerably. With occasional input from me, Andrea helped them figure out how much of what they could bring over from their existing bedrooms; as little as they had, it turned out to be most of it. One change was that they had to settle for single beds at my place, versus the full size they had; both agreed that they wouldn't have enough room, otherwise. Once the beds were delivered, and we'd gotton one of their dressers (each) moved over, they started spending an occasional night.
Andrea did get the job to manage the new office, and as her departure date approached, we started getting more and more of the girls stuff moved over. They also began to spend more and more nights at my place; the last week before Andrea left, both girls were essentially living with me full time, and spending almost all of every evening with Andrea. Having accepted the inevitability of what was happening, they'd settled down considerably. Neither one was happy about it, of course, but Andrea and I had done everything we could to make it as easy and painless as we could.
The three of them spent their last night in the house together — without me, at my request. I knew that Emma and Gail were going to have a hard enough time when Andrea actually left, and I didn't want to get in the way of their last evening together.
Late the next morning, the girls were quietly crying when they came over, which nearly broke my heart to see. Emma told me that their mother had sent them over, and told them that she wanted to see me before she left.
I immediately went to find out what Andrea wanted, only to discover that she was in tears herself, and basically just needed someone to cry on. The front of my shirt was pretty well saturated with tears and mucous by the time she got herself together. I helped her get her little bit of luggage into her car, and we were standing just inside the front door when she told me "I can't thank you enough, Gary. Not just for everything you did after Bill and I moved in here, but how good of a friend you've been since the divorce — and most of all for taking my daughters in the way you have. I could have sent them off to be with one of my relatives, but that only would have screwed things up even more for them; staying here with you, they've at least still got some continuity to hang on to. They've both told me how you've helped them understand that this is something I have to do, and that I'm not leaving them behind like this because I want to. You've been a lot of help and support during all this, and you've given me a lot of the strength I've needed to make it happen. If you ever get married, your wife is going to be one seriously lucky woman to have you. I don't have the words or time to say anything else to you, except… thank you, for everything."
"I'm just glad I was able to help, Andrea."
She suddenly wrapped her arms around me and gave me a fierce hug before letting me go again to say "If you'll get the girls, we can say our goodbyes, and I'll get going."
I did as she asked, and stood off to the side as she gave each of her daughters a hug and spoke with them for a few seconds. After a grateful look at me, she got behind the wheel of her car as Emma and Gail came over to stand next to me. I put an arm around each of them, and both put one around me before taking my hand where it rested on her hip. With a last wave to all of us, Andrea backed out of the driveway and headed down the street. All three of us watched her until she was out of sight.
Emma and Gail were crying, of course, and I had to guide both back into my house because they couldn't see with the tears in their eyes. I got us seated on the couch, and did what I could to comfort them. Even after their tears dried, both were listless for the rest of the day and evening, despite my best efforts to draw them out of their funk. It was when they were ready to go to bed that I had an idea, and told them "If you want to, I suppose it would be okay if you wanted to stay with me tonight."
That was enough to get them smiling as they started back toward their room.
When I went to bed a little later, I found both of them stark naked as they lay next to each other — obviously waiting for me. When they saw me, they moved apart before Emma told me "Both of us want to be next to you, so you're in the middle."
It didn't take me long to strip down to my undershorts; when I saw the looks of disappointment on their faces, I figured "to hell with it", and shed even those before clambering into bed with them. Both quickly fastened themselves to my sides, and I put my arms around them again before telling them "I know it's not going to be the same as having your mom here, but I want you both to know that I do love you, and that I'm going to be here for you — no matter what you need.", and giving each a soft kiss on the forehead. Each tilted her head to look at me, and I could see that they were both comforted and touched by what I'd said.
It was Gail that answered "We know you love us, Gary. No, it's not going to be like if Mom was here, but it'll be close. It's going to take a little time, but we'll be okay here with you — you'll see."
I gave them a gentle hug, and the three of us silently lay there in the dark until we fell asleep.