Restoration

Chapter 09

Both my kids are walking in victory now. My heart is filled with joy and everything feels complete. Now, it's just Steven. If I can get him to God, our marriage will be restored. Yes, I want our marriage to work out. I want to start new with him.
"Kids, I want to talk to your dad privately tonight," I tell Sean and Andrea while cleaning the table. They've just had breakfast and it can be messy sometimes. "Can you two watch a movie upstairs or something? I'll order pizza for both of you."
"Okay," Andrea nods happily and looks at her brother. "Can we rather play PlayStation or something? I'm dying to at least win one match against you."
"Dream on," Sean chuckles and nudge his sister's shoulder. "But that sounds good by me. Is everything alright?"
"Yes, I owe your dad a big apology," I giggle and rest my cheek in my fist. Their smiles run away slowly. "I want us to be a family."
Andrea gets up from her seat and goes to the refrigerator. Something feels very off. There's an awkward silence in the kitchen. Sean just stares at me fiddling with his fingers.
"What?" I ask worriedly.
"Are you ready?" Andrea ask her brother. Sean gets up from the table and grabs his school bag from the floor. "Bye, mom."
"Bye kids," I give them each a tight embrace and a typical embarrassing mother's kiss on the cheek. Sean laughs awkwardly and leaves with his sister. Their reactions are something to think about, but I don't have time. I need to go shopping.

Steven likes a nicely baked chicken with rice and potatoes. I like rice with sauce, not dry rice. To me, it's plain torture. I got a whole chicken from the shop with a few odds and sorts since I have most things at home. I put the bags in the back of my car and stand up straight. I'll let Andrea and Sean order pizza from home. What else do I need? My attention goes up to the boutique over the road.
"Thanks, Holy Spirit," I giggle and lock the car running over the road towards the shop. It's been a long since I've ever bought myself something.
The bell rings as I enter the shop. There are quite a lot of clothes everywhere for men and ladies.
"Hi, can I help you?" a lady asks approaching me. Her hair is made in a pony and she's wearing a red button shirt with the name of the boutique on it. Must be french or something.
"I'm looking for something nice I can wear on a date," I tell her. She nods with a sweet smile and scans my body.
"I'd suggest a nice dress that can show off a few curves," she winks at me. Okay, this sounds dangerous, but I guess it's worth it.
I've spent most of my morning in town doing shopping, so all I have to do now is go home, make dinner and then get ready for my husband to come home. I can't wait for it all to happen. I walk out of the boutique and look around me. To my surprise, Steven's car is standing nearby just next to the boutique. I walk towards it and look around. Does it mean he's here nearby? It's in front of a restaurant. Maybe he came to grab lunch and I can go and tell him to come home. I look into the restaurant. My heart sinks into my shoes. My face warms up and a deep dark feeling of disappointment fills up within me. My husband is having lunch with another woman, holding hands and...and laughing. My body feels weak and it feels as if I can go in there and strangle them. Can I really blame, Steven? I take my phone out of my pocket wanting to take a picture, but somehow I find myself calling his number. He looks at his phone, sits back, and answers it.
"Hello?" he answers.
"Hi," I reply with a lump in my throat. "Where are you?"
"Uhmmm, I'm at the office," he lies. Damn, so much of a husband, right? "Why? Is there something wrong with the kids?"
To be honest, he sounds nicer over the phone that he is with her. Still, he's my husband.
"No, I just...come home tonight, okay?" I say to him and inhale deeply putting my left hand on my forehead, the shopping bag nearly hitting me. "I need to talk to you."
"Okay," he replies short and cold. "Bye now."
He hangs up the phone and turns back to the woman. He shrugs his shoulders at her and leans forward touching her shoulders. My eyes can't handle this, and neither can my heart.

Who do I go to when everything gets too overwhelming. To the pill, wine, or straight to bed? Before, both. Now, none of those, and that's what hurts the most. I run into Natasha's home where she sat at the table.
"He's cheating on me," I sob with my hand placed on my face.
"What?" Natasha asks and gets up from her seat and approaches me. Her hands rest on my shoulders.
"Steven is cheating on me. I went into town to get a few things and I saw him having lunch with another woman and they were holding hands. What hurt me the most is when I called and he lied to me. He said he was at the office!" I go down on my haunches hugging my head. "Please God, don't take him from me. I was wrong and I'm sorry."
"Ellie," Natasha comes down as well and put her arms around me. "I don't know what to do. For the first time, I'm helpless."
"I drove him away," I say and look at her. "I couldn't be his wife and now somebody else is. I wanted to have a romantic dinner with him and spoke everything through...but now, I can't even face him. I lost him, Tash. I failed."
"No, you're going to make his favorite dinner, dress yourself up and you're going to sit and wait for your husband to come home," she says giving me a serious look. I nod my head and hug myself all over again.