While I Was in Labor, My Husband Went to Care for His Ex’s KidChapter 1
My due date was just days away. We were supposed to go to the hospital that night, but my husband suddenly said he was going to Regina’s to babysit because she had to work overtime.
I froze as he put on his coat. “I’m due in a few days and there’s no one here. What am I supposed to do? And how many times have you helped her? Am I your wife, or is she?”
He glanced at my belly. “Staying one more night won’t change anything.” His brow creased with fatigue and his voice turned impatient.
“You told me to report everything to you. I already did. What more do you want? Why are you thinking so dirty? If there were really something between us, would I have told you where I was going?”
That night, my water broke. I called him ten times, but his line was always busy. Regina kept updating her WhatsApp with photos of him and the baby. I was exhausted and didn’t want to go on anymore.
——
After William said he was going to Regina’s, the mood turned tense. I’d lost count of how many times this had happened.
Regina was his ex-girlfriend, now a divorced single mother. Her ex-husband was abusive and William handled the divorce for her.
Since Regina’s divorce, William fixed her leaking pipes, picked up her child from school and cared for her when she was sick.
I asked William with a bitter smile, “Is there really no plumber? Helping with her child once or twice is fine, but every time? If she’s sick, can’t she take a taxi to the hospital? Do you really have to go to her place to care for her?”
William looked at me calmly, without any emotion. “She’s a woman raising a child alone. We should help if we can. You’re a woman too, so why can’t you be more understanding? And I told you everything. It’s not like I went behind your back.”
When we were dating, we agreed he would tell me everything and where he went. So he saw Regina openly and honestly.
What I once thought was sweet now felt deeply ironic. When I looked up, he had already put on his coat and was about to leave.
Before leaving, he turned back and said, “Call me if anything happens.”
There was a loud bang and the bedroom fell silent again. My hands shook as I opened WhatsApp. Regina had updated her status: [The baby keeps crying for William. I’ve tried to calm him for ages.]