“Natalie Stephens, I won’t live with your son anymoreyou can tell him that,” said Emily.
“And who will you live with instead?” her mother-in-law muttered. “Who’d want a woman with a child? I dont see a queue of princes waiting at our fence.”
Emily packed her daughter Sophies things methodically, ticking off each item in her minda warm tracksuit, shoes. Her own belongings were already in the bag, just the essentials. The rest could wait.
She wasnt crying anymore. The sleepless night had settled ither and Daniel had to separate.
She heard him come home, heard him peek into the bedroom, then push open Sophies door when he didnt find her there. Emily pretended to sleep.
In the morning, before work, Daniel lingered outside Sophies room, shifting his weight, but he didnt dare enter. Hed save the argument for tonight.
But there would be no argument. In half an hour, Emily would call a cab and leave for her parents house with two-year-old Sophie.
After what happened yesterday, she never wanted to see Daniel again.
Shed grown used to him staggering home drunk every Friday. But yesterday was Wednesday. Worse, shed asked him to come home early to watch Sophie while she met a friendBeth had promised to help her find remote work.
Seeing his state, Emily called Beth to cancel. Daniel didnt like that.
“Who the hell are you calling? What meeting?” he snarled.
“Beth and I were supposed to meet, but I cant leave Sophie with you like this.”
“Why not?”
“Look at yourself in the mirror. Go sleep it offyouve got work tomorrow.” She turned toward the kitchen.
“Stop!” He grabbed her arm. “Whats wrong with how I am, huh? Just had a few with the ladsits Daves birthday. Big deal, princess! Ill come home how I like. Got it?”
Emily tried to wrench free. “Let go! Youre hurting me! Have you lost your mind?”
She jerked her arm, and Daniel staggered, nearly falling.
“Oh, thats how it is?” His fist struck her nose.
Emily clutched her face. Daniel, seeming shocked by his own actions, released her and stammered something. But she turned and walked to Sophies room.
“Think youre a princess!” he shouted again before slamming the door behind him.
“Princess” was what her mother-in-law called her. Natalie Stephens had despised Emily from the start.
“Twenty-one and still leeching off her parents. Studying! At her age, I already had one child and another on the way!”
“A husband, a home, a garden, responsibilities! But shes studying! Princess! Youll suffer with her, Danny. Shouldve picked a simpler girl.”
Emilys parents werent fond of Daniel either.
“Why the rush, love? Daniel isnt the last man on earth! Infatuated? Fine, date him, even live togetherthough you know how I feel about that. But marriage? Thinkcan you spend your life with him? Look at his family. Then decide.”
So Emily decided. She realized her mistake within six months. She couldve left. But admitting her parents were right was humiliating. And thenshe was pregnant.
Sophies arrival didnt change Daniel. He still believed housework and childcare were his wifes burden.
Her fatigue, Sophies illnessesnone excused an unmade dinner or untidy flat.
“Cant handle one child? Other women manage! Bet you nap when Im at work!”
“Cant find time to shop or cook all day?” hed sneer.
“Sophies teethingshes fussy. I cant cook while holding her. I ordered takeaway. Cant you make pasta? Or hold her while I cook?”
The rose-tinted glasses shattered long ago. Emily often thought her mother was rightshe shouldve looked closer at Daniels family before marrying.
Shed almost left several times, but Daniel promised to change. Emily believed him, hoped.
Then yesterday happened. The first time he raised a hand to her. She wouldnt endure it.
Yes, facing her parents was shameful. But living with a man whod hit her? Unthinkable. Worseletting Sophie grow up in that home.
Her mother saw the cab pull up, saw Emily step out with Sophie and a bag.
“Paul, lookEmilys here. With luggage. Help her with the bag.”
When Emily entered and removed her sunglasses, her parents frozeher left eye swollen, a bruise spreading beneath.
“Daniel did this?” her mother gasped.
Emily nodded.
“Ill sort him out,” her father growled, heading for the door.
“No, Dad.” Emily stopped him. “Ill punish him my way. Just help me get Sophies things from his flat.”
Her father and uncle retrieved their belongings, then took Emily to A&E.
“If you want to report Daniel, the hospital report wont be enoughyoull need a forensic exam,” her uncle explained.
“Well go tomorrow,” her father said. “Need to book an appointment.”
Daniel returned from work with flowers for Emily and a toy for Sophie. But the flat was emptyno belongings, no cot.
He called Emily. Her phone was off. Then he rang his mother-in-law.
“Yes, Emily and Sophie are here. And dont come aroundmy husbands fists are itching. Shell file for divorce herself.”
Daniel kept calling. Even lurked outside her parents house. But Emily ignored him, only taking Sophie to the backyard.
A week later, divorce papers arrived. Then the heavy artillery appearedNatalie Stephens at the gate.
“Mum, I dont want to talk to her,” Emily said.
“We should,” her mother replied. “Clear the air. Not insideSophies asleep. The garden will do.”
“So, divorcing?” Natalie launched in. “If things dont go your way, straight to the police?”
“Daniel hit me,” Emily said.
“You drove him to it! Comes home tipsydont nag him, let him sleep it off. But noyou picked a fight and got a fist for it. And now divorce? Make your child fatherless?”
“Natalie Stephens, I wont live with your son. Tell him that.”
“Wholl have you? With a child? Dont see princes lining up.”
“Ill manage alone.”
“Then dont expect his flat or child support,” Natalie sneered.
“I dont want his flat. But Ill claim supportand the court will side with me.”
It did. The divorce was swiftthe medical report sealed it. Daniel paid child support, plus four thousand a month until Sophie turned three.
Five years later, a rowdy crowd gathered for the first day of schoolboisterous older kids, nervous first-years clutching oversized bouquets. Sophie, starting Year One, was escorted by her grandparents and mother.
“Will Daddy come?” Sophie asked.
“Hell be here. Just calledhes on his way,” Emily said. Then, spotting him in the crowd, waved.
But it wasnt Daniel. Three years ago, Emily married Alexander, a colleague. Now, they awaited another child.
Daniel, however, remained alone. There were women he fancied, and some who fancied him. But whenever things turned serious, someone always revealed why his first wife left.
The town was small. People talked. And Daniel earned a nickname”Armchair Boxer.”
Maybe someday a woman would overlook it. But not yet. The boomerang effectsome might doubt it, but here it was.
