Laughter echoed from outside the door as the three of them walked away. Then, the door shut and everything went silent after that.
Three years of marriage shattered in an instant. The whirlwind of changes that came with childbirth had caught me completely off guard.
For thirty years, I had carried myself with dignity, cherished my self-worth and approached love with sincerity and caution. However, I had still fallen flat on my face.
A crushing sense of regret clawed at my chest and the closed room seemed to press down on me and make it hard for me to breathe.
I had no idea how long I had been unconscious. When I woke up, my phone was ringing.
When I picked up the call, I heard the other end sound, "Hello, Miss Taylor? When do you plan to check into the postpartum care center?"
Postpartum care center .…
As my consciousness crept in, my mind cleared up. I took a sit, straightened my body and gripped the phone tighter.
"Three days. I’ll be there in three days. However, change the name on the reservation," I finally answered. "Oh, and switch the package to one for a single mother. No baby."
The person on the other end seemed surprised but didn’t ask any questions.
After hanging up, I updated the reservation under my best friend Christy Anderson’s name.
Then I called Christy. When she picked up the call, I said, "Cissy, I'm going to file for divorce. Help me find the best divorce lawyer."
She immediately asked what had happened. I gave her a brief rundown.
Christy let out a long sigh. "We all got fooled by that scumbag, Mario."
I did not reply to her statement. Instead, ended up comforting her.
I grabbed a wooden stool from the floor and smashed it against the bathroom’s glass door. The glass shattered and I reached through to unlock it from the outside.
I was sure Mario would not return home today, so I started packing. I boxed up my essentials, called a moving company and had everything sent to Christy's place.
After finishing all the work, I passed by the bedroom and saw the tiny baby squirming on the bed. My heart softened.
He had spent nine months inside me. Every single day for nine months, I had talked to him. I truly looked forward to his arrival.
However, after all of this, I was suddenly told he was not mine. The pain and inner turmoil had been unbearable.
Yet, I could not just abandon him. My sense of responsibility would not allow it. At the very least, I had to care for him until Mario and others returned.
Sighing, I changed his diaper and made him a bottle.
I was so busy that it was not until the middle of the night that I finally dozed off from exhaustion.
The next morning, I was woken by the sound of movement outside and to my surprise, Mario had come back alone.
He acted as if nothing had happened. When he walked in, he called me “wife” like he always did and reached out to hug me.
A thick wave of perfume clung to him. It was sickly sweet and overwhelming. So, I instinctively dodged.
"Are you still angry at me?" he asked.
"Look, I sent them away, didn’t I? Don’t be upset, okay? Yesterday was my fault." Then he added, "Look at this, I even bought you your favorite seafood chowder."
Mario jingled the bag in his hand. On his face, he attached a sheepish grin to appease me.
Men were all the same. No matter how unforgivable their actions, they would just play like they were dumb and pretend nothing had happened.
They thought all it took was a little sweet talk to smooth things over with their woman. What if that didn’t work? He would sleep with her. If that still didn’t work? Then start throwing tantrums.
I glanced at the seafood chowder and took a deep breath before saying, "I'm not supposed to eat seafood chowder during postpartum recovery."
Mario’s expression stiffened. Frustrated, he slammed the seafood chowder down on the table.
He scolded, "Kelly, it seems you're just making an excuse to make a fuss. I know women in coastal cities eat crab right after giving birth."
I did not argue. Instead, I quietly looked down, focused on tending to the baby and said without touching the subject he asked, "I’m moving into the postpartum care center the day after tomorrow. Only one person is allowed to stay with me, so I asked Cissy."
Then I added, "As for you, you should just stay with your daughter and ex-wife."
