Her husband returned home and, without removing his shoes or coat, blurted out:
“Emma! We need to have a serious conversation…”
Then, without a pause and with wide, startled eyes, he said, “I’m in love!”
“Well, well,” Emma thought, “looks like the midlife crisis has paid our family a visit. Hello there…” She said nothing and simply looked at her husband very intently, something she hadn’t done for about five or six years (or was it eight?).
They say your life flashes before your eyes right before death. Well, Emma began to recall her entire life with her husband. They met in a very ordinary way – online. Emma had shaved a few years off her age, and her future husband added a few inches to his height. This simple tactic, although not without some difficulty, allowed them to fit each other’s search criteria and eventually find one another.
Emma didn’t remember who messaged first, but she knew his email lacked vulgarity and had a touch of self-deprecation, which she found appealing. At thirty-three, with average looks, Emma knew her standing in the marriage market and understood she wasn’t at the front of the line. She decided at their first meeting to hold her tongue, keep an open mind, wear rose-colored glasses with lacy lingerie, and tuck homemade cookies and a volume of Dickens into her purse.
Their first date went surprisingly well (it’s amazing what the right outfit can do!), and their relationship blossomed rapidly. They enjoyed each other’s company, and after six months of regular dates and pressure from parents who had almost given up on grandchildren, her future husband bravely proposed. They quickly introduced each other’s families, who accepted the couple’s request for a small family wedding, and chose the earliest available day for the ceremony, fearing someone might change their mind.
Emma thought they lived well. Their family climate was mostly mild, with minor seasonal fluctuations. There were no fiery dramas, just friendly respect—wasn’t that happiness? Her husband, a typical straightforward man, quickly shed his role as the “gentle and romantic handyman” weeks after the wedding, revealing himself to be a simple, hardworking man comfortable in his casual clothes.
Emma, a more complex character, slowly loosened her strict corset of the “alluring domestic intellectual” image but accelerated after quickly becoming pregnant. Within a year, she too was happily abandoning her image for a comfortable house robe.
Despite both letting go of their images, neither left the relationship nor made any complaints, confirming Emma’s decision as the right one and strengthening her belief in their little family unit. Daily life and raising two closely born children often shook their family boat, but it never capsized, and when the storms passed, they continued to sail calmly along their family journey.
The happy grandparents helped them wherever possible. Both steadily climbed their career ladders, never forgetting to travel, pursue hobbies, and make time for each other, staying within the range of the average stats.
They had been married for twelve years, and in all that time, her husband had never been caught in infidelity or even a light flirtation, though Emma was not a jealous woman, and he could have gotten away with a harmless flirt without causing a scene. She imagined her husband flirting and involuntarily smiled because the image in her mind was so amusing and absurd. Her husband, after several failed attempts at traditional compliments early in their relationship, had turned to silent (or perhaps ultrasonic?) compliments that Emma couldn’t quite catch. He’d simply widen his eyes like a bushbaby.
Over the years, Emma had learned to read the full range of her husband’s emotions just by the size of his eyes: from wild admiration to mild approval, surprise, confusion, and strong disapproval. She pictured him widening his eyes as he complimented some new fancy, wider and wider…
Emma’s throat went dry as she imagined him transforming into a bushbaby. She nervously smiled and croaked, “So, what’s the name of your new fancy…?”
Her husband’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as, stuttering and flailing, he sputtered:
“How… how did you even… guess it was a pet?! Well, you’re amazing… You see, I couldn’t resist when I saw it… just look at this, how soft and adorable it is… it even reminds me of you…”
He pulled out from under his jacket a small, grey mouse with pink translucent ears, a pink nose, and beady black eyes.
After that, Emma didn’t hear much. She just watched her husband with his new friend, their shared affection, and felt endlessly happy that he had fallen in love with this little creature that so resembled her…
