Frankie awoke at the sound of his alarm. What he had thought would be a nice relaxing morning without the girls had been ruined after his disastrous date night with his wife the night before.
He rose from the bed and stretched, then grabbed the pair of jeans that hung over the back of a chair in the corner and pulled them on. He considered waking Marie, but after the disaster the previous night had been, he didn’t want to talk to her. Besides, she had said she hadn’t been feeling well, so getting more rest was probably in her best interest.
After stopping off at the bathroom, he went down to the kitchen to start the coffee. As he reached for a box of cereal from the cupboard, it hit him: the silence.
Sure, he was used to his quiet mornings before work, but this was different. He didn’t hear Marie moving around upstairs. Didn’t have the anticipation of getting ready before the girls got up.
Frankie wasn’t sure that he liked the quiet. The chaos of having two small kids in the house became too much sometimes, but he was realizing that the noise was actually comforting.
After breakfast, Frankie went back upstairs to shower. The time alone allowed him to think over everything that had happened between him and his wife the night before and the part he played in the bad date.
By the time he turned off the water, he decided to apologize to her and support her. She was clearly going through a hard time. He needed to be there for her and support her through it.
He returned to their bedroom to dress, then went over to Marie’s side of the bed and gently shook her shoulder.
“Honey,” he said in a soft tone.
Marie groaned and then rolled onto her back. She squinted her eyes as she looked up at him “Huh?”
“Hey, I’m leaving in a few minutes for work, but I just wanted to remind you to pick up the kids from my parents’ house this morning.”
She stared at the floor, not acknowledging him.
“Do you want me to see if they could keep the kids for the day so you can have a day off?”
Marie gently shook her head, but didn’t say anything else.
Frankie smirked. “Do you need a minute to wake up?”
She didn’t say anything.
He took her hands and smiled. “Honey?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you still asleep?”
She stared off into space for a minute and then shook her head, as if to clear the cobwebs. “Uh, yeah. I guess so.”
The look on her face when she met his eyes concerned him. This wasn’t Marie being tired. This was something else entirely.
Then another thought occurred to him: since when did Marie ever sleep in? But then, without the girls, what point was there to wake up early with him if she didn’t need to get the girls up and ready too? Sure, she had to go pick them up, but that wouldn’t be until nine or ten. She had time to sleep in and enjoy her slow morning.
“Did you hear me about the kids?”
Marie nodded. “Yes. You told me to pick them up from your parents’.”
“Right.” He studied her. “Are you okay?”
Her eyes met his, not really seeing him. Finally, after another few seconds, she nodded and smiled. “Yes, I’m fine.”
Frankie eyed her, not believing that she was perfectly okay. But he wanted to be supportive and give her space, which is what she clearly wanted. “Okay. Then I’m going to head out here shortly. Are you getting up or are you sleeping in a little longer?”
“I might lay around here a little bit longer. It’s still early yet.”
He nodded. “Okay. Just don’t forget Samantha and Kathy.”
“I won’t. Now, go.” She smiled at him, but something about it didn’t sit well with Frankie. “You have a job to get to.”
He leaned in and kissed his wife. “I love you.”
She fussed with the blankets as she got comfortable again. “You too.”