“Where's mommy?” You froze with the toy block in your hand as your 3 year old son, Michael, went from random babbling to asking the one question that you never had an answer to. He also stopped building, waiting on you to answer him. You could either lie or tell him the truth, and right now lying was definitely looking like the better option.
“She's working buddy, you know that.” You felt slightly guilty as he accepted your answer as fact and went back to building. You bit your lip as you thought more about his question. It was saying a lot that he noticed Demi was never around, considering his attention span happened to be incredibly short.
Was she really working? These days it seemed like she was never home and she never told you where she was going. When you agreed to be a stay-at-home mom, you assumed that Demi would help out. And she did too, at least until a few months ago. She started leaving early in the morning and not coming home until late at night. You were actually surprised that Michael even remembered who she was, considering she was rarely home when he happened to be awake.
You never asked her if anything was wrong, sensing that she was already on edge. Having Demi was the last thing you wanted. You thought you heard the front door open, but dismissed it as your mind playing tricks on you. After all, it was only 4 pm and Demi didn't come home until you were already in bed. For that reason, you flinched when you felt someone kiss the top of your head.
“Hey baby. What're you guys up to?” You couldn't help the smile that came to your face when you realized it was Demi. She walked over to Michael and picked him up as he squealed in happiness and wrapped his arms around her neck. “Just playing. Why are you home so early?” Demi paused for a second as she put Michael down, sitting down next to him. “I had some free time and decided I would come home and see my wife and son. Is that so bad?”
You sighed and shook your head, not wanting to argue with her. “Are you hungry? I was about to make dinner” you said, hoping to change the subject. “That sounds like a great idea, I'm actually starving!” She smiled at you but you just felt like it was fake, as if she would rather do anything than have dinner at home.
You got up and went to the kitchen without saying anything else. You actually had no idea what you were going to make, so you just set up a pot of water, waiting for it to boil before adding a bag of macaroni. It was one of the few things Michael ate without complaint, but you still felt guilty for not making something better than macaroni and cheese for Demi.
When it was ready you went back upstairs, but stopped just outside of Michael's room when you heard Demi talking to him. You leaned on the wall next to his door, just out of eye-shot. “Don't wanna move” you heard Michael say. That didn't make any sense to you at all, so you waited for Demi's response. “I know Mikey, and I'm working hard so we don't have to.” That was apparently the end of whatever conversation they were having, because before you could make it seem like you weren't eavesdropping, Demi was standing right in front of you.
You made eye contact for several long seconds before talking. “Dinner can wait. Why were you talking about moving?” Demi shrugged as if it was no big deal, moving to go downstairs. “Demi, come on. What can you tell a 3 year old but not me?” You felt slightly offended when Demi let out a laugh. “A lot of things actually. Do you really want to know why I talked to him about moving?”
You thought you had made that pretty obvious, but you couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. Regardless, you nodded. Of course you wanted to know. “I'm broke.” She stated it with no emotion, just staring and waiting for you to reply.
“Broke? But...how?” You peeked in and saw that Michael was still playing with his blocks, so it was okay to be talking in the hallway. “How do you think? I mismanaged my money.” You were still in shock as you had no idea about any financial problems. “Why didn't you just tell me?” Demi didn't have an answer right away, since she took a few minutes to come up with a response.
“I didn't want you to worry or feel like you needed to get a job. We agreed that you'd stay home with Michael and I would keep doing the music thing, remember?” You silently agreed with her before realizing something else that you had talked about before Michael was born. “We did, but we also said I'd get a job if it ever came to that. So what exactly have you been doing while your gone all day?” She sighed and rubbed her temples, but you still expected an answer.
“I've been in the studio. Royalties aren't enough to cover our bills, but a new album means touring and merchandise, which will bring in more money. I've been working my ass off everyday trying to write the best songs I can. What did you think I was doing? Cheating?” You were used to Demi's argumentative nature, but it still bothered you that she accused you of assuming that she was cheating. Honestly, it had never crossed your mind. You knew that she loved you too much to ever do that.
“No, I never once thought that. It would've been nice to know that there were some financial difficulties though. I'm not completely useless Demi. I went to college and have a degree, but you're the one who wanted me to stay home. I wouldn't mind getting a job.”
You were about to walk away from the entire conversation but she stopped you by gripping your hand. “I don't think you're useless. You're the one that's here raising our son. That means more to me than anything. Y/N, if anything I'm the useless one.” You couldn't believe she thought of herself as useless. “How can you say that? You just said you're doing everything you can to make money. I don't know what you're definition of useless is, but it's wrong. Money problems are nothing to be ashamed of Demi.”
She smiled hesitantly as she loosed the tight grip on your hand. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I really just didn't want you to worry. You can get a job if you want, I'm sure my mom or yours would be more than happy to watch Michael during the day.” You pulled her in for a hug, placing a lingering kiss on her lips. “I want to. Next time just tell me this stuff, I would never be ashamed of you. For richer or poorer, right?”
