His Wife,their Daughter

Did He really forget?

A routine begins the next day; he wakes up,leaves the house early,doesn't speak to her,comes home late and when he is off work,he goes to his mother's house. He doesn't eat her cooking and doesn't speak to her.
She cooks and packs up the food over and over. At first his attitude bothers her,then she simply ceases to care.

Two weeks go by; she wakes up  greets him as usual and he responds. She pauses in shock,looks at him and decides her mind is playing tricks on her. She goes to the kitchen and he follows her to enquire about breakfast. She thinks things are back to normal. She's ecstatic and watches him in anticipation. Only for him to finish the food,get dressed and zoom off again.
"What just happened?" she asks herself in disbelief.
" So this man just spoke to me because he wanted to eat food",she mutters to herself angrily as she does the chores.
"Unbelievable!".

Today is her birthday and he makes no mention of it. Undeterred,she goes about her day which is enjoyable by the way as she receives gifts,phone calls,cash transfers and even a cake from her friends and siblings. The day however feels incomplete, for her husband is no where to be found and he does not call or send any texts.

She decides to give him till the end of the day, choosing to believe that he has a great surprise prepared for her which he had gone to get. She prepares fish and chips and has a bottle of wine chilling. Then she relaxes and begins to wait. Hours go by and the day turns to night. Highly disappointed and understandably bitter,she eats all the food and drinks all the wine ensuring there is nothing left except a single piece of grilled fish. She prepares for bed when she hears the key turn in the lock. She looks at the time and it's a quarter past nine. With a hard look on her face,she faces the door and waits for him to get in. She notices that his hands are empty. He has no presents!no takeouts! nothing!

"Welcome",she greets him and he grunts in response.
She goes to the kitchen, brings out a plate of soup from the freezer,thaws it in the microwave and prepares semo for him.
She serves the food and proceeds to go inside. He asks her to keep him company and she obliges.
"Have you eaten?", he asks.
"Yes", she replies.
" Did the plumber show up today?", he asks.
" No", she replies
By the time he asks her the fourth question and she replies in monosylables, he realises that something is amiss and asks her if she is sick.
" I'm fine",she replies; " I need to lie down" and she leaves the dining table.
Suddenly her phone rings and it's her parents calling to wish her a Happy Birthday. Her sour mood evaporates and he can hear her screaming and laughing.

Thirty minutes later,she's watching her favourite show and he sits down beside her. She moves to another sit and he follows her.
" What is it now?Why are you following me?" she asks
"Happy Birthday", he says.
She looks at the time and it's half past ten.
" Thank you", she says quietly and looks away."
"I know you are angry but I was angry too so I did not wish you a Happy Birthday. I'm no longer angry though", he continues.
"I see" she says to him but inside she is fuming "So this man did not forget. No problem oh".
Meanwhile he is still talking but she's no longer listening to what he has to say. She has had enough.
As she tries to leave the sofa,he holds her hand and asks with a smile "So how did your birthday go?"
She opens her mouth wide in shock "Did he seriously just ask me that?",she asks herself.
She composes herself after a few seconds,gives him her biggest and brightest smile and says "Oh my day was okay. I got a cake and I made fish and chips. Oh I also got your favourite bottle of wine".
"Really? Wow", he replies his smile dimming gradually.
" Did you keep any for me?", he asks in a small voice.
" No boo,I ate all the fish and chips. I drank all the wine. So delicious. I didn't see you so I figured you weren't interested in spending the day with me".
" And the cake?", he presses
" There's a little cake left in the refrigerator. I distributed cake to the neighbors",she replies with a false sad face.
"I'm going to bed. The baby kept me busy all day. Goodnight",she continues.
He studies her face for several seconds and says "Babe,I'm really sorry. I promise to make it up to you".
She looks at him and sees the sincerity that seems to shine from his eyes but she refuses to believe him. How many promises has he made and broken?
" I hear you", she replies because he will not be satisfied till she says something.

She picks up her phone and types a message ' DAD I ACCEPT THE JOB OFFER.I WILL RESUME AT THE END OF THE MONTH.GOODNIGHT DAD'

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