Married to Him, Married to Debt

My husband froze when he heard what I said.

"Say that again?" Marcus looked like he couldn't believe his own ears.

I met his gaze and repeated myself word for word. "I said we can't keep living like this. Let's get a divorce."

His expression shifted from disbelief to anger. "Olivia Brown, are you out of your mind? You want a divorce over one month of my paycheck?

"That's my own brother! He's the only brother I've got. If I don't help him, who will? Can you please stop being so unreasonable?"

Unreasonable. Ha.

I repeated the word silently to myself and let my gaze drift to the wedding photo hanging on the wall.

Five years ago, when Marcus proposed to me, he'd promised that once we were married, he'd take good care of our little family and make sure I was happy for the rest of my life.

But five years had passed. Our savings account had hit zero for the fifth time.

We kept putting off our plans to have a baby because we never had enough money. Nearly all my friends my age already had kids. Some were even on their second.

But because of money, I kept giving people the same excuse over and over. "My husband and I aren't really ready for kids yet. We haven't finished enjoying our time as just the two of us. We're not planning for a baby right now. Maybe later."

I'd numbed myself with that excuse for five straight years.

This past New Year, I finally managed to convince Marcus that it was time for us to have a baby.

He'd promised me that this year, he'd finally start saving properly and get everything ready for our child.

But today, our account was back to zero again.

I closed my eyes and sank weakly into the couch. My lower back ached.

"Marcus, we've been married for five years now.

"The first year, right after we got married, your family gave us 10,000 dollars for the wedding. My parents didn't ask for a cent of it back. They even gave us another 14,000 dollars to help us get started.

"You said Ryan was starting college, and without even asking me, you paid his tuition for all four years. Then you wired your mother another 7,000 dollars on top of that.

"The second year, we scrimped and saved until we'd put away 10,000 dollars.

"Then your mother called and said the old family house needed renovating. You didn't think twice. You sent her the entire 10,000 dollars.

"When that still wasn't enough, you kept pushing until I went back to my parents and borrowed another 1,400 dollars. That was my parents' retirement money." My voice caught for a second, but I forced myself to continue.