The Truth Is Finally Out

Steven didn't know what to say or how to comfort his wife. She was angry and bitter, so instead of saying anything, he did what he usually does. The solution to getting out of any situation, he picked up the keys to the car. "I'll be back later," he said in a low-key tone of voice, walked out the door, and drove off.

Camilla had no energy to deal with her husband at that point. She went to her son, who was just waking up from his afternoon nap, put him in the bath, and then put on a change of clothing to get him ready for bed. While he was playing on the mat in the dining room, Camilla prepared something for the two of them to eat.

After playing for just over an hour, Marshall started to yawn, so Camilla took him to the room, laid him down, and read him a story. It took all of about ten minutes before her young man fell fast asleep.

Quietly leaving the room, Camilla went to sit on the settee. Looking at her phone, she saw a message from Steven, "I'm sorry Camilla." The message said. Camilla didn't respond to the message.

Half an hour later, he messaged again, "Answer me." She ignored him again. The pain she was feeling he could and would never understand. She had never done this to him. She honoured her marriage vows and was loyal. Perhaps too loyal. Loyal to a fault.

Meanwhile, back at the bar, Steven was drowning his sorrows in alcohol. "How stupid could I have been to leave that photo in my pocket!" he chastised himself. He picked up his phone and called Lucille. "Lucille, I can't see you anymore," he said, "my wife found the photograph you gave me, and everything is out," he explained to Lucille.

Lucille sighed. "I know," she responded, "your wife phoned me and threatened to tell my husband and said she would even go to your boss about this. It's best we just part ways now."

Angered that his wife had called Lucille out on the issue, he texted her, "Camilla, why did you call Lucille!"

Camilla hesitated a second and then said, "Seriously, you're asking me this?"

Steven didn't answer her question and said, "I'll be home soon." She didn't respond and just ended the call.

It was around 10 p.m. that night when Steven arrived back home, he put his arms around his wife, he buried his head in her hair and said, "I'm sorry, please forgive me, it won't happen again. I've ended things with Lucille. I will also speak to my boss and manager on Monday. They can assign her account to someone else."

Camilla pushed herself back from his embrace, "It's not as simple as that. You've lied to me. You've betrayed me. You've hurt me in more ways than anyone could ever imagine. You slept with another woman for Pete's sake, Steven. Do you think it's as simple as just forgiving you?" She yelled bitterly.

For Camilla, this wasn't just as simple as saying, "I'm sorry", Steven would have to earn her trust back. This was going to be something he would have to work hard at, and she didn't know how hard he was willing to work.

She continued speaking, "Steven, you are going to have to work very hard to prove things to me, but right now, I'm very angry, so please let me be for now." She went to the kitchen, took out leftovers, put the food on a plate for him, and warmed it up.

Handing him the plate of food, she then left and went back to bed. She didn't know how she was going to deal with this or if she even wanted to remain married to him at that point.

Lying in bed, Camilla pondered on what she was going to do. She still wanted to try and see if she could work things out with Steven for the sake of their unborn child and Marshall. Both kids needed both their mother and father in the early developing stage of their lives, but there was this other side that didn't know if she would be able to handle all this. She finally fell asleep.

Steven crawled into bed next to her. He wanted so badly to put his arms around her and draw her in to him, but he didn't dare. He didn't dare, for fear that his wife would push him away. He just lay there, listening to the soft breathing as she fell deeper into sleep. How would he win his wife over again? This was something he started thinking about.

"If she leaves me, it's not like she will need me. She earns her own money and could quite capably raise our kids by herself."

Around 3 a.m., Marshall woke up screaming. Camilla jumped up out of bed and ran to his bedside. Right behind her was Steven. "Go back to sleep, honey, it's okay, I will stay with him," he said softly. Camilla looked at Steven and picked up Marshall. His body was burning. She took out the thermometer to check his temperature. It was 38.9° Celsius. She quickly took out the medicine box, gave him something for the fever and put him in a bath with vinegar and luke-warm water, and began sponging him down. She remembered her aunt had done this once before when he had had a fever.

Steven had never seen his wife move so swiftly and calmly as she had that morning. She remained calm and collected until she was finally satisfied that Marshall's fever had subsided. Steven sat looking at his wife helplessly. He knew little of how to do this because he hadn't been much at home.

After the fever subsided, she said to him, "You can sleep here with Marshall. When I wake up around 8, I will take over, and you can get some rest. He should sleep through for now. Just let him lie in your arms, then if he wakes up, you will feel him stir." Steven didn't dare argue with her or say another word. Camilla went back to bed. Steven lay with Marshall in his arms and thought,

"If she hadn't been here, I don't know what I would have done. She was so swift and capable. She didn't ask me for any help." Steven hadn't realized how much his wife actually did around the place.