2: 2
All it took was Kay crying.
My best friend, Alison Whitney, came rushing over to my place in the middle of the night.
The three of them sat on my couch, Kay in the middle.
Taking turns, one line after another, coaxing her into a smile.
I sat in a chair off to the side like an outsider, watching.
And it was this, finally, that made it click.
It had always been like this.
Any time the four of us were together, it played out exactly the same way.
Before we went out, I'd be the one with things to buy.
But in the end, whether it was my husband, Jayden, or my best friend, Alison,
they'd both start picking things out for Kay.
We'd go see a movie, couldn't get four seats together.
The odd seat out was always mine.
And the three of them would sit together.
One feeding Kay popcorn, the other passing her a cola.
When the movie ended, the three of them would chatter and laugh about it.
Completely forgetting me, sitting alone.
Every time, I was the one chasing after them.
Every time, I was the one forcing my way back in.
But this time, I didn't want to do it anymore.
In the end, the two of them finally got Kay to laugh.
Both of them let out a breath at the same moment.
Then Alison turned to me, her patience gone.
"I think you owe my sister an apology."
Even Jayden joined in. "Babe, you really did scare Kay."
"She's timid. She can't stand watching people fight."
"Just say you're sorry."
I didn't understand what I'd done wrong.
Fighting with my own husband in my own home, what exactly was the problem with that?
If anything, it was Kay who'd barged into my house out of nowhere.
When I said nothing, Alison's face darkened.
"Do you have to make such an ugly scene?"
"We've been friends all this time. You can't even apologize to my sister?"
Right.
Just because Kay was my best friend's older sister.
I'd apologized to her more times than I could count.
She saw the wedding photos in my house and cried.
So Alison wanted me to apologize.
Because I'd reminded her of her own failed marriage.
Not only did I apologize, I put away every wedding photo in the house.
Kay saw me buying baby things for the child in my belly.
And she cried again.
Alison said I was showing off to her sister that my child would have both a father and a mother.
I apologized.
And that still wasn't enough. Alison said, "Maybe you just shouldn't keep the baby."
"Otherwise, every day from now on, my sister will have to watch your child grow up with a father."
"And then she'll ache for her own child and cry her eyes out day after day."
Even Jayden, after hearing that, fell into thought.
As if he found what Alison said reasonable.
Back then, I only thought Kay was pitiful, so everyone pitied her.
But now I finally understood.
They only cared about Kay, and me they ignored completely.
I laid a hand over the slight swell of my belly.
And I was more certain than ever that I would divorce Jayden.
I couldn't let them go on bullying my child after it was born.
Just because Kay's child had no father to pity.
That was no reason to hurt mine.
I unclenched my fist, my palm full of nail marks.
And repeated in a low voice, "I want a divorce."
When Alison heard it, her expression changed in an instant.
She got up, and together with Jayden, took Kay back home.
When Alison reappeared in front of me, her face was hard.
"What is it you think you're doing?"
"All because Jayden took out my sister's trash and changed a light bulb."
"You want a divorce over that? And you had to say it right in front of my sister?"
Beside her, Jayden sighed. "This time you really were being difficult."
"You let your temper loose, shouting all over the house, and you scared her."
