A baby-care manual.
I left him one clean outfit and basic toiletries.
I wanted him exposed.
Not stranded.
On top, I placed another note.
You survived six weeks by leaving every difficult part to me. Congratulations.
Then I closed the suitcase.
The following morning, Callum kissed my cheek and wheeled it toward the door.
“Try not to remain angry for the entire time I’m gone.”
I adjusted Maisie’s blanket.
“Try not to mistake consequences for anger.”
He frowned.
He did not check the suitcase.
Then he left.
At four that afternoon, he called screaming.
“You really did this to me?”
Miles had almost finished his bottle.
Callum’s voice echoed through what sounded like a hotel room.
“Dean and Oliver saw everything.”
“I know.”
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“You had no right to involve my friends in our marriage.”
“You invited them on the trip you claimed was private.”
“I told them I needed a break.”
“You told them I requested that you leave.”
“That is not what I said.”
“Oliver repeated your exact explanation.”
Callum moved away from the telephone.
Dean’s voice sounded behind him.
“You told Alina she wanted you gone?”
“Stay out of this.”
“You said she had help,” Oliver added.
“This is between my wife and me.”
“Then perhaps you should have stayed home with your wife,” Dean said.
Callum lowered his voice.
“You don’t know what my house is like.”
Dean answered:
“That is the problem. You don’t know either.”
I heard a suitcase zipper.
Callum turned away from the telephone.
“Why are you packing?”
“I’m leaving,” Dean said.
“What?”
“My wife struggled when I returned to work, and we had one baby. You left Alina with three.”
Oliver spoke next.
“I’m leaving too.”
“You are choosing her side without hearing me.”
“We heard enough,” Dean said.
A door closed.
Callum returned to the call.
“They walked out on me.”
Mara began crying in her bassinet.
“Now you have the solo vacation you wanted.”
“I will stay the full two weeks simply to prove you cannot control me.”
“That is your choice.”
“You cannot stop me from returning home.”
“I am not trying to.”
I lifted Mara.
“But when you return, you will not move back into the spare room and continue living as though you are single.”
“It is my house too.”
“Then return and live like it.”
“Alina, listen.”
“Maisie has been changed. Miles has eaten. Mara needs me.”
I shifted the telephone away from my ear.
“I do not have time for your tantrum.”
Then I ended the call.
My hand shook after I put the telephone down.
I did not feel brave.
I felt terrified.
But fear was not the same as helplessness.
Two days later, the front door opened.
Callum entered carrying a duffel bag.
He stopped when he saw Oliver placing containers of food inside our refrigerator.
“What are you doing here?”
“Bringing dinner.”
Oliver closed the refrigerator door.
“Someone needs to help Alina.”
“You left me there and came here?”
“Yes.”
Callum looked at me.
“You invited people into our home to judge me?”
“They came because you left.”
Oliver picked up Miles’s prepared bottle and held it toward Callum.
“Your turn.”
Callum accepted it automatically.
Oliver picked up his keys.
“I will bring more food tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
When the door closed, Callum placed the bottle on the counter.
“I’m sorry things reached this point.”
“Things did not reach this point.”
I looked at him.
“You brought them here.”
“I was overwhelmed. I was not handling fatherhood well.”
“You were allowed to feel overwhelmed.”
He looked surprised.
“You were allowed to be tired, frightened, or uncertain.”
I continued:
“You were allowed to admit you did not know what to do.”
“Then why are you treating me like an enemy?”
“Because you were not allowed to make me carry your share while telling everyone it was my choice.”
His eyes dropped.
“I want to fix this.”
I removed a sheet of paper from the counter.
“What is that?”
“A schedule.”
He read the list.
Evening feedings.
Bottle preparation.
Laundry.
Overnight shifts.
Medical appointments.
Specific periods for me to eat, shower, rest, and sleep.
