“Then tell me what you want me to say,” he said.
I looked at him.
He was wearing the tie I picked out. In five minutes, he was supposed to become my husband.
And I couldn’t think of a single thing he could say that would make this okay.
“I want you to tell me why you did this,” I said.
Seth leaned back against the table.
“I was trying to help my sister.”
“By giving her my time?”
“By helping our family.”
“She’s your sister. They’re your niece and nephews. Why aren’t you the one staying home with them?”
He frowned.
“You know I can’t just stop working.”
“Neither can I.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“I make more money.”
That was true, mostly. Seth’s a licensed electrician. He works a lot of overtime.
But I support myself. I have health insurance through my job. I have a retirement account. And I love what I do.
I spent years learning insurance billing. Scheduling. Personnel issues. A thousand little things that keep our office running.
He was throwing all of it away like it was nothing.
“And what happens to my health insurance?” I asked.
“You’d go on mine after the wedding.”
“My retirement contributions?”
“We’ll figure that out.”
“My promotion?”
“Natalie, people change careers all the time.”
“I don’t want to change careers.”
He sighed.
“You’ve always said you wanted more time with family.”
“I meant our family. Someday. When we decided it together.”
“That’s what this is.”
“No, Seth. This is something you decided without me.”
His patience snapped.
“Heather is struggling, okay? Do you have any idea what she pays for daycare?”
“Yes. She’s told me.”
“Then you know how much we could help her.”
“We?”
He looked away. “You know what I mean.”
And suddenly I noticed how much he kept saying we.
We could help Heather. We could sacrifice. We’d manage.
But I was the only one giving anything up.
I pictured Monday morning. Heather pulling up at 7:30 with Maddie, Ben, and Owen. Seth leaving for a job site. Me making breakfast. Changing diapers. Wiping up spilled juice. Trying to get three kids down for naps at the same time.
Every single weekday. For a year.
And then Seth coming home at night and telling everybody how much we were helping his sister.
“I’ve watched those kids before,” I said. “You know I have.”
“Exactly.”
“For a few hours. When Heather asked me, and when I was free.”
“So what’s the difference?”
His question stunned me.
“The difference,” I said, “is that I said yes.”
He didn’t say anything.
Sophia Rivers is an experienced News Content Editor with a sharp eye for detail and a passion for delivering accurate and engaging news stories. At TheArchivists, she specializes in curating, editing, and presenting news content that informs and resonates with a global audience.
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