What About Us

DARKNESS | FIVE

The next day went by with a blur, I barely acknowledged Eric because he was being stubborn as usual and didn't want to apologize to me for not giving me space. Today he has to work and I'm off for the day, so I spent my time cleaning the house and spending quality time with London.

As the kids took their nap, I texted Four. I was still extremely pissed at Eric and Christina was taking care of Delilah since she was coming down with something and didn't want it to spread. So, that left me with Four who was more than happy to listen to me rant on about how I would like a break for once and how Eric doesn't understand the meaning of being leveled with me.

When they woke up, London had a ton of energy and Camryn was whiny and clingy to me. So, while I watched London pour the taco seasoning packet over the ground beef, Camryn clang to my chest, peering down at her older sister. In the midst of texting Four back, the front door opened and slammed. I rolled my eyes while glancing at the time on the stove, he decided to come home early today.

"Daddy!" London squeals, running towards Eric with a big smile on her face. Camryn turns her head to Eric and gives him a small grin. "I mit you!" London giggles as Eric peppers kisses on her face.

"I missed you too." Eric says with emotion that doesn't quite match his voice. He takes Camryn out of my arms and presses a soft kiss on my forehead. I continue to combine the seasonings with the meat. "Hey," Eric whispers to me, his large hand sliding across my waist and I sigh. How can I never not be mad at him, Will and Christina fight and some nights Will would call me in a mess and I would let him sleep here until he could talk to his wife without her slapping him.

Couples fight and we're one of them, not everyone deems to have a happy relationship like in books, even if they crave it more than anything. It's just like that. Eric just needs to understand that he can't get everything he wants because he has a short temper and is seen to be dominate. No, I will not tolerate that and he needs to be even across the board.

"Hey." I greet my husband, he leans down to press a kiss on my lips but I flinch away from them. I shake my head at him will returning to the rest of our dinner, "We still have to talk." He shoots me a small glare and let's out a sigh before turning around with Camryn in his arms, stalking away. See, that's why we have problems, he can't handle the truth.

+++

"Ma-Ma?" London looks at me and I raise my eyebrows at her, she snuggles into my chest and let's out a yawn, "I sleepy." It seems as if London only needed to get food in her system and watch Princess and the Frog once more before she was tired. Eric is in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes. . . surprisingly.

Camryn is blabbering away at the mouth to herself as the holds her favorite set of colorful plastic keys. I press a kiss to London's head and I cut the television off, I pull her to my chest and hum softly and before I know it she is asleep. I glance at Camryn before I place London in her bedroom and I return to see Camryn in Eric's hands, she just plainly looks at him while he stares at her in an almost shocked frenzy.

"I'm about to get ready for bed, I gotta feed her," I hold my hands out. Thoughts of me telling Eric that we have to talk later jumps in the forefront in my mind and I don't know if I should bring it up or leave it alone. I take a deep breath before choosing the obvious, "But not after we talk."

Eric let's out a grunt and I fight the urge to roll my eyes at him, I grab one of Camryn's blanket and I remove her pants before bundling her up in the blanket, "We need to talk about yesterday--" Eric cuts me off as I latch Camy on my breast to get her dinner. I don't want her waking me up tomorrow morning because I have a long day at work. We're supposed to go over our drafts before finalizing everything.

"--About that, thanks for falling asleep while I was still talking to you. I can tell you really had a great time with your friend yesterday."

I take a calming and cleansing breath before opening my mouth, "Eric, you always call me and tell me that your going to stay at the office at the last minute. You call me and say you're going to the bar, why is it different when I decide to just spend a few minutes to relax," I roll my eyes, glancing down at my child, "I'm the one who cleans the house, I'm the one who feeds the kids and I'm the one who never gets a break. It's tiring."

"Right! You're the one who knows how to do that stuff, I don't. I didn't even know that I would be in this type of lifestyle!" Camryn continues to eat and I stay calm, I don't want to stress myself out and make her uncomfortable. For a second I forgot she was here.

"You don't like this type of lifestyle?" A pang of hurt goes through my chest and I find it hard to breathe. This whole time Eric didn't want to be tied down and look after two young girls, "So let me guess you thought we would be together as boyfriend and girlfriend and just sleep with each other. Now the darkness is coming to the light, you don't want to be tied down with kids because you want to drink and not have a curfew. You want to be with other girls. It's sickening. Screw you!" I stand up and walk towards Camryn's room and I shut the door.

I can't believe that he felt this way the whole time.