“What?! Where are you going? Don’t tell me you’ve got someone on the side too!” Michael said, suddenly wary.
“Only parasites get ‘picked up,’ and I prefer to get rid of them. Good luck to you. Don’t forget, Ethan needs to be at school by eight, and Lily at daycare.”
“Emily, don’t be stupid. I can’t stay with the kids!”
“I can’t either. I don’t have a separate apartment, and my conscience won’t let me drag the kids out into the unknown in the middle of the night.”
“Conscience?!”
“Yes, conscience. You were right—I can’t juggle kids, work, and family duties. So starting today, your perfect mistress can take my place. I’m going to live on my own and think about my behavior. I’ll be a ‘Sunday mom.’ Good luck.”
Emily walked out, each step heavy. Her heart ached, but she knew she couldn’t keep living like this.
Her family had long stopped being united; everyone lived their own life, yet somehow blamed Emily for everything. Maybe she was at fault, at least for not stopping this chaos sooner.
A few days later.
“I’m not eating this! I want oatmeal! I want pancakes! I want Mom!” Lily screamed, shoving her breakfast off the table.
“Michael, calm your bratty daughter! I can’t take this anymore!” Ashley, Michael’s new girlfriend, was already regretting moving in with him.
Ethan had called her a nasty name and locked her in the bathroom while Michael was out. Their stupid dog chewed up her new shoes, and Lily, that little demon with an angelic face, screamed so loudly that Ashley was tempted to run away.
At first, Ashley fed Lily only candy and kids’ yogurt, but when Lily got a stomachache, she started demanding real food. Ashley didn’t know how to cook and had no intention of becoming a maid. She hadn’t moved in with Michael for this.
“Michael! Make her breakfast yourself! She’s your daughter, deal with her! I’m done!” Ashley yelled.
“You’re the woman, not me,” Michael sighed heavily. They’d been living together with the kids and Ashley for just a couple of weeks, but it felt like an eternity.
“This is driving me nuts!” Ashley snapped, storming out of the kitchen.
“Mom! I want Mom!” Lily kept sobbing.
Michael struggled to get Lily to daycare.
“Lily’s been crying nonstop, saying she misses her mom. What’s going on with Emily?” the daycare teacher asked cautiously.
“Everything’s fine. She’s just a bit sick, had to go to the hospital,” Michael replied grimly.
“Send her our best and wishes for a speedy recovery. Now I understand why Lily looks so disheveled. She shows up in wrinkled dresses, tights on backward, and has allergy rashes on her cheeks. Tell your wife to come back soon and take care of her daughter. She looks much better with her. And you, by the way, look rougher than usual,” she added, noting Michael’s wrinkled, stale shirt. Ashley hadn’t thought to prepare fresh clothes for him the night before.
“I’ll pass it on,” Michael muttered, trudging to his car.
Twenty minutes later, Ashley called him, throwing a fit.
“I’m not coming back to that apartment while your kids are there,” she declared, furious that Ethan had skipped school. “It’s them or me. I hope you’ll drop them off with your wife tonight so we can live normally.”
“I hear you,” Michael replied sharply, annoyed by her ultimatum.
He hung up but didn’t go to work. Instead, he drove to Emily’s office to talk.
“Is Emily here?” he asked.
“No,” the receptionist said, surprised.
“Where is she?”
“She took time off to go to her daughter… at daycare.”
“I was just there. Did something happen while I was driving?” Michael asked, growing anxious.
“No idea,” the receptionist shrugged.
Michael called Emily, but she didn’t answer. He sped back to the daycare, breaking every traffic rule.
“Where’s my daughter?” he asked the teacher.
“She left with her mom. I don’t know what’s going on with you two, Michael, but for the kids’ sake, I suggest you sort it out with your wife.”
“Where did they go?”
“I think they mentioned the park. Probably nearby. Lily talks about it a lot.”
“Thanks.”