"Why are you always gone? Who are you with? Who are you REALLY with?" she hissed at him, her eyes glaring.
"I'm with my friend Mark! I told you this!" he answered, his voice cocky as he withdrew and went to lay down on their bed.
"I'm sick of this crap!" she retorted, following him into the bedroom. "You're always gone! And you say you're with Mark but I don't believe you!"
"Well, believe it," he snapped at her. "I'm done talking."
Deep in her heart, she knew it was a lie. She stood and stared at him as he rolled over on the bed and faced the wall. It was 3:00 in the morning. He had been gone all night just like the night before and the night before that. It had been going on for weeks.
"You don't work, you don't help out at all! I'm the only one trying!" she stated, her voice shaking.
His lack of response was customary. He lay with his face toward the wall with his eyes closed.
She turned, her baby crying in the next room. She went to her daughter and picked her up out of her crib.
"Watch her while I take a shower," she said to him as she walked back into the bedroom and lay her daughter next to him.
"I'm tired," he told her, his voice icy.
"I don't care! You've been gone all night again! Take her!"
He rolled over and grabbed his daughter and pulled a blanket over them both. She continued to cry.
"She wants a bottle. Go make one," he informed her.
She turned around and went to the kitchen, making a bottle. Then she brought it back to him and he fed the baby.
"I'm taking a shower."
She walked into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it behind her. She turned on the water and sat on the toilet and cried. Her tears fell on the floor in puddles and her heart ached. She wanted to end her life, but she knew her daughter needed her.
"Why?" she asked quietly between sobs. "How did I get into this situation?"
Everything around her became blurry as she focused on her tears dropping on the floor. "I just want to be happy. That's all."
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Can you relate to this scenario? Do you need a change in your life? Do you feel the need to escape? If so, don't give up. Happiness is attainable. Just change your focus and resolve to make your life better. You are only in charge of yourself, you can't control the actions of others.
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She wiped away her tears and blew her nose. "I can do this. I can do anything I set my mind to." She whispered the words to herself, allowing them to sink into her heart. "Tomorrow is a new day. A day to start fresh."
As she left the bathroom and stared in on him sleeping with their daughter, she decided that this was the first day of the rest of her life. If he didn't repent of his actions, she would make sure he left. She had to be strong for herself and her daughter. After all, she was her daughter's example.