One Wish

I simply nod my head and let him lead the way, my focus solely on putting one step in front of the other.

It’s in the car that I let the tears fall. Why would Eli not be happy with this news? Did I somehow miss a conversation where he explicitly told me that he never wanted kids? I can’t see Eli being the type to be this cruel to someone. My tears quickly turn to anger at the possibility that he’s running away from something so monumental.

He may have needed time away to think about all this, but what about me? I’m the one carrying his baby. I’m the one completely on her own after only just learning of this major, life-changing moment.

The emotional turmoil bubbles, wrecking my insides. I want to scream and shout, but my only outlet is still a ten-minute drive away.

Those minutes. They go so slowly that I wonder if time is standing still.

“We’re almost there, Ms. Banks.”

Craig’s voice startles me somewhat. He must have been watching me… sensing my urgency.

“Thank you,” I whisper back.

Finally, through the gates, I step into the house and to the kitchen, where all I find is the teddy we won propped up on the chair like it’s waiting to be fed.

I drop my cardigan on the counter and proceed to look for Eli in the living room. It’s there I find him sitting deep in his seat, a glass of amber liquid in his hand as he rests it on the arm of the chair. His eyes are downcast, his lips almost curling into a snarl.

“Why did you leave me there all on my own?” I snap, angry that he’s angry with me—for whatever reason that is.

He breathes out a sarcastic breath through his nose before downing the whole drink and setting it on the coffee table.

“You know, you really did have me there for a second, Kendra. I can at least congratulate you on that.”

Totally confused and still angry, I shake my head. “I… I don’t understand.”

He finally looks up at me, but I’m not met with the loving, kind eyes I had the pleasure of seeing just three hours earlier. Instead, is this bitter, twisted monster.

“I think I understand perfectly. What was this plan of yours all along? Did you know you were pregnant and deliberately changed your personality overnight to suit me so that once you had me in your lair you could trap me with a baby?”

Gasping, I step back. This is not the Eli I know. Surely, he wouldn’t be this callous? Is this the reason why I treated him so badly? Is this why I sought comfort in other men and focused solely on my career—because of the neglect I was receiving from my own husband?

Surely not. I would have left him a long time ago. My head hurts, my stomach churning at his spiteful words.

“How can you be this cruel?”

The sarcastic laughter leaves his lips again. “Seriously? You’re asking me that question?” He points a finger to his chest, his anger rising. “The game is up now, Kendra. Just come clean and tell me why you’ve concocted this elaborate scheme to make me think you’re this super loving wife.”

My blood pumping through my veins, I growl back, “I am your loving wife.”

Eli’s posture becomes rigid, his fists clenching to his sides as he stalks towards me. “Please tell me, then… how can a loving wife get pregnant with another man’s child?!”

I’m so taken aback by this that I almost stumble.

“Oh, come on, Kendra. Why do you look so surprised? You know as well as I do that we haven’t had sex in at least five months. Nine weeks is not five months! I’m not stupid, either. I would have found out your game the moment the baby is born two months earlier than scheduled, but comes out looking full-term.”

No, no, no, no, no… this can’t be, my head screams repeatedly. Surely, he’s mistaken. But is he? I have evidence of the fact that when I woke up to pool boys and waiters trying to sleep with me it certainly wasn’t a first-time thing, but surely, I would have used protection with them. And then the worse thought comes to mind. If it’s not Eli’s baby…

Whose is it?

“There’s got to be some kind of mistake,” I voice out loud, my mind racing to find answers.

The sound of Eli’s laughter hits my ears, but I’m too engrossed in this news, that for a moment, I feel somehow distant from him.

“The mistake is, I should never have let you in. I should never have thought you could love me, and I should certainly never, ever have thought that for the first time in my life, I could genuinely love my wife back. You had me fooled, but no more. I want a divorce.”

Those last four words snap me out of my panic. Seeing that my husband is disappearing from the living room, I quickly scramble to pull him back. It’s gone too far now. I have to tell him. I thought I would lose him if I did, but it seems I’m going to anyway.