A second later, he started kicking it, his voice a furious roar. “Anna, what the hell is wrong with you? This is my house! You’ll sleep where I tell you to sleep! Get out here and give Lily the goddamn room!”
I could hear Lily’s voice, sweet and concerned. “Michael, don’t be angry! It’s okay, I can manage! Please don’t fight because of me!”
The kicking stopped. After a few minutes, my phone buzzed. A text from him.
[If you don’t want to be a wife anymore, we can get a divorce.]
I typed back one word.
【Okay.]
4
The next morning, he knocked softly on my door. He was holding a container of expensive medicinal soup.
“I stood in line for two hours to get this for you,” he said, his voice gentle.
06 141
“I know you were upset last night. I was just stressed. I didn’t mean it.”
He sat on the bed and tried to feed me a spoonful. “Come on, open up.”
The soup was lukewarm and the container was half–empty. Thirty minutes. earlier, Lily had posted a photo on her private social media story, visible only to me. It was a picture of Michael, blowing on a spoonful of the exact same soup.
The caption read: My baby daddy woke up at 5 a.m. to get his pregnant princess her favorite soup!
Twenty minutes later, another post. Oops, baby and I are so full! Guess the rest is for the dog!
And then, here he was.
I refused to eat. His gentle facade shattered. He threw the container against the wall.
“Don’t push your luck, Anna! You’re not the only woman in the world who can have a baby! I am trying to be nice here, and you’re throwing it in my face! Lily was right. You can’t be reasoned with!”
He stood up, his face cold. “I’m taking Lily to her hometown for a week. She needs to register for prenatal care, and her birth certificate is with her parents. I don’t trust her to go alone. You can stay here and think about your attitude.”
He stormed out. An hour later, a new post from Lily. A selfie from the
passenger seat of Michael’s car, making a peace sign.
Road trip with my baby daddy to the coast! He said as long as his baby and I are happy, he’s happy!
