The Dutiful Wife [COMPLETED]

1.

Sunday | 11:03 p.m.
October 2, 2016

Antoinette "Ann" Mackey

It's late and Shiloh's been gone damn near the whole day. I can't believe he left me not only stuck in the house with our newborn daughter Shyanne, but that when I called him repeatedly throughout the day and night he just refused to answer the phone. What if I'd been phoning him about our daughter? What if it was a crisis? What if I simply just needed him here because the empty feeling I felt being at home without him was driving me crazy, and I wanted him to just hold me?

If you would've told me that falling in love with my best friend and marrying him would turn out like this, I would've never expressed my feelings towards him when he'd made the first move and said we should give courting each other a try. We'd only been a couple for six months before he asked me to marry him. In my heart, I felt like we weren't moving too fast because we'd known each other for half of our lives. We didn't need to take more time because we knew everything about each other.

The chemistry was right. The timing was right. I'd dated in the past but those relationships failed merely because the men weren't a great fit for me and they came with baggage. Or maybe I picked apart every little thing about them because I was waiting to see if there was a chance for Shiloh and me. As my best friend, he treated me like a woman was supposed to be treated. He respected me, stood up for me, protected me when I needed it, encouraged me, inspired me when I felt uninspired, and loved me for being the nerd I could be at times.

When we'd started dating it was as if things had gotten ten times better. He was attentive, affectionate, passionate, caring, loving. I loved him and there was not a doubt in my mind that he loved me back. I wished I could travel back in time to us just dating. If you'd told me getting married would flip some kind of switch in him I would've never gone through with it. I couldn't say he'd married me just because I was pregnant because I'd found out just 3 days before our wedding day.

Grabbing my cellphone off the nightstand as I sat up in bed, I thought about calling him again but ended up putting the phone back down. I was going crazy worried about him. Was he out doing something illegal again? Had he been hurt in the process? Or had he simply been out with another woman?

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway immediately caught my attention as I sat in bed, waiting like a damn fool. I wasn't one to argue but when I needed answers to anything I expected my questions to be answered. With Shiloh though, being in love with him and having his back for 16 years I didn't fuss much. It was as if being in love with him made me weak. It made me somewhat of a doormat. I hated the feeling but I loved the man.

I guess he hadn't expected me to be awake because the moment he walked into our bedroom he dropped the duffle bag and just stared at me. 

"Why are you up so late? Is everything good?" He asked, picking the bag back up.

"Don't move," I told him.

"I'm not a kid, Ann. Don't tell me what to do or—"

"And don't tell me you aren't a child when you act as if you can't be grown and pick up the phone when I call you. Don't tell me you aren't a child when you leave me and your child in the house all day like you're an unmarried man with no family."

"Listen—"

"Where were you all day?" I asked calmly as I cut him off. "Hit a bank today?"

"I was with my boys and I lost track of time. You know how stressed I've been. I've been cooped up in the house for I don't know how long. I needed a day out." He shrugged, heading for our walk-in closet, but before he could go in I spoke again.