That Secret Place
one
"I told you not to blow that money, you idiot! We need that to get things for the house!" Shannon Thompson screamed, throwing the nearest object, a boot, at her husband.
The husband sneered. "What things, Shan? That fucking alcohol?! Oh yeah, what a shame I spent that money. I need to escape too, you know! You've got your drinking problem and I like to gamble sometimes." Mike Thompson dodged the shoe, not the first or the worst thing his wife had thrown at him during an argument.
Shannon gasped. She denied having a drinking problem. A few glasses a day of whatever sounded best did not mean that she had a problem.
"It is not a problem! I need to take the edge off sometimes! Maybe that's just the product of eighteen miserable years married to you. Ever think of that, huh?"
Mike scoffed. "Oh, like being with you has been so great. You don't like to cook, you hardly clean. You have an easy office job answering phones all day. It's not like you do much. I take care of you, I pay bills, I actually work. What kind of edge could you possibly need to take off?"
Mike's anger was getting to be too much, so he got in his car to leave. He wasn't out of the driveway before his wife was outside screaming about how he was surely off to gamble and what a useless waste of money he was. He couldn't believe her sometimes. His job, one that actually required skill, paid most of the bills! Most of her check went to feed her drinking habit.
He thought about what she had said, about her being miserable throughtout their entire eighteen years of marriage. He knew that wasn't true.
In the beginning, they were both so happy. It was just the two of them for a while and things were great. Mike's job paid the bills and Shannon still cooked and cleaned. They were so in love. Nothing could ruin it. That is, until Shan learned that she was pregnant.
When she first found out, the couple was ecstatic. A precious infant, a perfect third part to the perfect family. Things were better than ever, until reality set in. Shannon had a very real creature growing inside of her. A creature that would cost them time and energy, huge amounts of both. Shannon's pregnancy symptoms set in and she couldn't stand long enough to cook some days. She wasn't in perfect physical condition anymore; she had a huge, swollen stomach and stretch marks. The doctors visits cost money, although they had insurance. The couple had to move from their cute one bedroom apartment to a house made for three. And things only continued to worsen once the baby was born. Shannon had to wake up at odd hours to care for the infant and her husband wasn't much help. He usually waved off her attempts at having him assist, with the excuse that he had to work the next day. If she asked during the evenings when he was home, he said he was tired from work. And the weekends were his only time to relax, he'd say. The child started daycare at one year old and Shannon started working as a receptionist in an office building. She hated her job, buy they needed the
extra income. The child needed diapers and food, and daycare, as Shannon just wasn't able to handle caring for a child all day. Going to her lousy job each day was almost a relief.
The more busy Shannon became with work and parenting, the more she forgot things like cooking, cleaning, and laundry. Mike hated this; a wife was supposed to wash his clothes, clean the house, and have dinner waiting when he came home from work. This wasn't what marriage was supposed to be. The longer this went on,the more Mike and Shannon began to fight. To relieve stress, Shannon started drinking and Mike began to gamble. They were both sporting habits they couldn't afford, which caused more fights relating to money issues. Of course, both thought they were right and it was the spouse's fault they had no money left. That was another problem: neither could admit that they were wrong.
After a while, it got to the point that every day was a fight for them. Neither parent thought of what might be best for their daughter, as they were too wrapped in their anger and bad habits.
The husband sneered. "What things, Shan? That fucking alcohol?! Oh yeah, what a shame I spent that money. I need to escape too, you know! You've got your drinking problem and I like to gamble sometimes." Mike Thompson dodged the shoe, not the first or the worst thing his wife had thrown at him during an argument.
Shannon gasped. She denied having a drinking problem. A few glasses a day of whatever sounded best did not mean that she had a problem.
"It is not a problem! I need to take the edge off sometimes! Maybe that's just the product of eighteen miserable years married to you. Ever think of that, huh?"
Mike scoffed. "Oh, like being with you has been so great. You don't like to cook, you hardly clean. You have an easy office job answering phones all day. It's not like you do much. I take care of you, I pay bills, I actually work. What kind of edge could you possibly need to take off?"
Mike's anger was getting to be too much, so he got in his car to leave. He wasn't out of the driveway before his wife was outside screaming about how he was surely off to gamble and what a useless waste of money he was. He couldn't believe her sometimes. His job, one that actually required skill, paid most of the bills! Most of her check went to feed her drinking habit.
He thought about what she had said, about her being miserable throughtout their entire eighteen years of marriage. He knew that wasn't true.
In the beginning, they were both so happy. It was just the two of them for a while and things were great. Mike's job paid the bills and Shannon still cooked and cleaned. They were so in love. Nothing could ruin it. That is, until Shan learned that she was pregnant.
When she first found out, the couple was ecstatic. A precious infant, a perfect third part to the perfect family. Things were better than ever, until reality set in. Shannon had a very real creature growing inside of her. A creature that would cost them time and energy, huge amounts of both. Shannon's pregnancy symptoms set in and she couldn't stand long enough to cook some days. She wasn't in perfect physical condition anymore; she had a huge, swollen stomach and stretch marks. The doctors visits cost money, although they had insurance. The couple had to move from their cute one bedroom apartment to a house made for three. And things only continued to worsen once the baby was born. Shannon had to wake up at odd hours to care for the infant and her husband wasn't much help. He usually waved off her attempts at having him assist, with the excuse that he had to work the next day. If she asked during the evenings when he was home, he said he was tired from work. And the weekends were his only time to relax, he'd say. The child started daycare at one year old and Shannon started working as a receptionist in an office building. She hated her job, buy they needed the
extra income. The child needed diapers and food, and daycare, as Shannon just wasn't able to handle caring for a child all day. Going to her lousy job each day was almost a relief.
The more busy Shannon became with work and parenting, the more she forgot things like cooking, cleaning, and laundry. Mike hated this; a wife was supposed to wash his clothes, clean the house, and have dinner waiting when he came home from work. This wasn't what marriage was supposed to be. The longer this went on,the more Mike and Shannon began to fight. To relieve stress, Shannon started drinking and Mike began to gamble. They were both sporting habits they couldn't afford, which caused more fights relating to money issues. Of course, both thought they were right and it was the spouse's fault they had no money left. That was another problem: neither could admit that they were wrong.
After a while, it got to the point that every day was a fight for them. Neither parent thought of what might be best for their daughter, as they were too wrapped in their anger and bad habits.
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I plan to edit this tomorrow. The idea came to me late at night and I had to get it out. Enjoy!