You shouldnt need a wifeyou need a housekeeper.
Mum, Bellas chewed up my pencil again!
Sophie burst into the kitchen, clutching what was left of her coloured pencil. Right behind her, the familys guilty-looking Labrador came bounding in, tail wagging furiously. Anna paused at the hobwhere soup was bubbling and sausages sizzled indignantly on the panand sighed. That made three pencils in a single day.
Pop it in the bin and get a new one from the drawer. Oliver, have you finished your maths homework?
Nearly! drifted his voice from the childrens room.
Nearly from a twelve-year-old translated to scrolling through his phone while the untouched exercise book sat beside him. Anna knew this, but she couldnt deal with it nowshe had sausages to turn, soup to stir, four-year-old Charlie, who was crawling decidedly toward the dog bowl, to intercept, and the laundry in the machine to remember.
Thirty-two years old. Three children. One husband. One husbands grandmother. One Labrador. And she was the solitary cog keeping the machine whirring.
Anna hardly ever fell ill. It wasnt a matter of an iron constitution but simply that she couldnt afford it. Whod feed the family? Whod get the kids ready for school? Whod take Bella out for walks? The answer was always the sameno one.
Anna dear, is supper nearly ready?
Irene appeared in the kitchen doorway, leaning on her stick. Eighty-five, sharp as a tack, healthy appetite.
In the five years theyd all lived together, Anna could count on one hand the times the old woman actually contributed to the household.
Ten minutes, Irene.
The elderly lady nodded contentedly and shuffled off to the living room. Occasionally, very occasionally, shed read Charlie a bedtime storya bit of The Gingerbread Man or “The Enormous Turnip.” The repertoire was small, but the boy listened in wonder. The rest of the time, Irene would sit in her chair, watch soaps, and wait for the next meal.
…The clock on the wall struck half past five just as a key turned in the lock. David stepped across the threshold, looking as if hed finished the worlds most punishing marathon.
Is dinner ready?
Not even a hello. Anna gestured wordlessly to the table shed already laid. Her husband went to wash his hands, then sank into his seat. The TV flickered on as if by magicthe remote may as well have been grafted to his palm.
Sophie got a gold star for reading today, Anna tried.
Mm, came the reply.
And Oliver needs help with his science project.
Mm.
Mm was really all there ever was. After supper, David retreated to the sofa. His workday was finished. Job donehed earnt the money. The rest wasnt his concern.
Later, once the children slept, Anna opened her laptop. Remote work for an online shopprocessing orders, answering emails, sorting deliveries. Not a fortune, but her own money nonetheless. Plus, there was the flat shed been letting out for the last four years.
We really ought to move out, the thought passed, as it always did. So did the usual objections: Olivers doing well at his school, Sophies happy in nursery, shed lose the letting income Anna shut her laptop. Tomorrow. Everything tomorrow.
December brought not only the usual Christmas rush, but also the flu. Fever soared to 39 degrees in hours; her body ached, her throat burned, her head pounded. Anna barely managed to crawl to bed.
Mum, youre sick, Oliver observed, poking his head into her room.
David appeared next, something vaguely like concern passing over his facebut not for her.
Just dont give it to Gran. At her age, the flus dangerous.
Anna closed her eyes. Of course. Irene. How could she forget what mattered most?
The next three days blurred into a feverish kaleidoscope. High temperature, clammy pillow, cracked lips. Not oncehusband, grandmother, nor childrendid anyone bring her a glass of water. Kettle was in the kitchen, ten steps away, but those ten steps she made herself, propping along the wall.
Everyone only worried about Gran. Dont go in there, Mums sick. Put a mask on if you walk past her room. Maybe she should sleep somewhere else?
She meant Anna. In her own house, shed become little more than an infectious danger, to be avoided for the sake of the truly important family members.
A week later, the bug got everyone. Charlie firstsnuffly, feverish, cranky. Then Sophie. Then David, who made a show of collapsing into bed with a dramatic 37.2 fever. Irene was last to go down, but managed it with the most melodrama.
Anna, barely recovered herself, got up. Chicken broth, chemists for medicine, checking temperatures, damp dusting, laundryher usual circuit, now tottering on weak legs.
David, can you mind Charlie for an hour? I need the chemists.
Her husband rolled his eyes in pained surrender, then agreed. Exactly an hour laterAnna checkedhe brought the boy straight back to the bedroom.
Im exhausted. Ive got a temperature too, remember?
Thirty-six point eight. Anna checked.
Spring offered no respite. A new virus, more ill children, more sleepless nights. Charlie whined, Sophie refused her medicine, Irene demanded a special menu. And, in the chaos, Davidutterly healthy.
David, please help with the kids.
Anna, I helped last time, but that was the weekend. Now Im working. Im knackered by the end of the day.
He shruggeda simple gesture that explained everything. Every evening, he came home, sat at the table, waited for dinner. Sick children, a wife at her wits end, the flat in chaosnone of it was his concern.
One evening, with Charlie finally asleep and the older kids doing homework, Anna went to her husband. The TV droned on about football.
Why wont you help me? Why do you never help?
David didnt even turn around. Didnt answer. Just cranked the volume up.
Anna stood behind him for a minute, staring at the back of his head. Everything was suddenly, painfully clear.
The next day, she pulled out the big holdalls from the top of the wardrobe. Childrens things, toys, documents. Oliver watched from the door.
Mum, are we going somewhere?
To Grandma Marys.
For long?
Well see.
Sophie bounced in delightGrandma Mary always baked her favourite fairy cakes. Charlie had no idea what was happening but dutifully dragged his plush rabbit along.
At the very last minute Anna remembered another important family memberBella. The dog was coming too.
David was on the sofa. Bags packed, children in coatsit didnt move him from the TV. When Anna closed the front door behind her, he probably just changed channels.
Mary welcomed her daughter and grandchildren without question. She fed them, hugged them. Fifty-eight, a primary school teacher for thirty yearsshe didnt have to ask. She understood.
Stay as long as you need.
The phone started ringing on the third day. David.
Anna, come back. The place is a mess. Theres nothing to eat. Grans constantly asking for things.
Not I miss you. Not Its hard here without you. Just the inconvenience of daily lifethats all he cared about.
David, you dont want a wife. You want a housekeeper.
What? What are you on about
Have you even once said you miss the kids?
Silence. Long, painfully expressive.
I bring the money in, he finally muttered. What else do you want?
Anna ended the call. She felt a strange but certain lightness. It was over.
Two weeks later, the tenants left Annas flat. She moved herself and the children in that same day. New school for Oliver, new nursery for Sophieit all turned out to be much easier than shed feared.
…Their final conversation was their last ever. All the swallowed resentments, the nights she spent nursing sick children alone, every word left unsaidall of it poured out, unstoppable.
Ive been free labour for you for twelve years! she shouted into the phone. Not onceDO YOU HEAR ME, NOT ONCEdid you ask how I was, or how I was living! Im done, David. Ive had enough!
She blocked his number. And filed for divorce.
The hearing lasted a mere twenty minutes. David didnt argue. Signed the maintenance forms, nodded at the judge, and left. Maybe something dawned on him. Most likely, he just couldnt be bothered.
…That evening Anna sat in her kitchen, in her old-new flat. Oliver was reading in his room. Sophie was drawing, tongue sticking out in concentration. Charlie was sprawled on the rug with his blocks.
Peaceful. Calm. Bella lay at her feet, muzzle resting on her paws.
There were still dinners to cook, washing up to do, work to finish on the laptop. But nowit was for the people who really were her family. And shed be sure to teach her children never to turn out like their father.
Mum, Sophie piped up, putting down her drawing. You smile a lot more now.
Anna smiled again. Sophie was absolutely right.
