It Never Rains In Seattle

I suppose the story is starting to involve enough people that a little Dramatis Personae is in order. The names have been changed to protect the author:

Penny — My wife of ten eleven years, and my girlfriend for four years before that. The mother of my three children. My business partner. My roommate. Unfortunately, our relationship is strictly platonic and business-like, and has been for years. We are soon to be have begun mapping out what our divorce is going to look like.

Natalie — my previous long-term relationship before Penny. We had started dating while at University, and our relationship survived a number of challenges for a few years, but it was not meant to be.

Kyle — a good friend from University. An even better friend and roommate after we graduated. My best man at my wedding. Currently lives in New Jersey, although he has long expressed interest in living out here in Seattle, where it never rains.

Gabe — a good friend from the University-before-the-University, and who also lived here in Seattle (where it never rains) for a while. Gabe died in January, 2010, and her death hit me harder than I’d have expected.

There are also three children who will be mentioned from time to time. I haven’t devised monikers for them yet, however.

As for me, enough readers have taken to calling me “INRIS” that I think I’ll go with that for now. “Never Rains” is fine too. Of course, I will tend to refer to myself as “I” or “me”, but if you notice other people referring to Inris, that would be me.