"Don't thank me. Don't thank me for something I should've been doing all along."
"I thought you were having an affair," she suddenly blurted out.
My head reared back in shock. "What?"
A soft pink colour painted her cheeks. "That's why I went over to Mum's today. You'd changed so much, I thought youwere seeing someone, and that your guilt was making you act differently. To throw me off the scent."
My breath hissed through my teeth. Bloody hell…she wasn't used to me acting like a considerate human being, so her mind instantly jumped to the most extreme option.
"Christ, baby. I would never. Other women don't even exist for me."
"We also…we haven't had sex in a while," she murmured, her voice thick with uncertainty. "I mean, I wasn't in the mood to have sex with you anyway, but you usually initiate it. I thought…"
"Sex comes easy for us. I wanted to show you in other ways that I care. That I love you. It wasn't easy;believeme," I quipped. The hardest part of all of this—apart from the fear of Zara leaving me—was trying to keep my hands, and my pecker, away from my sexy wife.
Red touched her soft cheeks, making her look adorable. "Oh."
I shook my head, still reeling from something so ridiculous. Having an affair? Impossible.
"Will you forgive me? Will you please give me a chance to prove that this isn't a one-off? That I'm willing to put in the effort to make this marriage truly beautiful. To make it the best version of what you deserve."
She lifted her hand to cover mine. "You do know that it's okay for you to go out with your friends, or to go to the pub after work or play golf."
I nodded. "I know. Just don't take the piss." Don't stay out later than planned without letting her know. Communicate and help out more around the house.
Zara's mouth curved. "Right."
"I'm so sorry for not seeing you, Zar. This has been a massive wake-up call. I'll never let you down again."
I bent down and placed my forehead against hers. "I love you."
I felt the tension leave her body; the relief palpable.
"I love you, too."
***
Two Weeks Later
Zara
I sat down on the couch, clutching my bowl of popcorn. A breath hissed beside me, and I tried really hard not to roll my eyes.
James shifted around, wincing and groaning in his loose sweat pants.
"Must you be so dramatic?" I tossed a few kernels into my mouth.
His breath puffed out in a small laugh before he groaned again. "Stop it. It stings when I laugh."
I carefully slid closer to him and softly put my hand on his thigh. "Thank you for getting it done."
He groaned again, and it was really a test of patience not to remind him that I was in labour—epidural-free—for sixteen hours.
"Baby, don't thank me for something I should've done years ago. We both made the decision to have kids, but your body and your dreams were the sacrifice."
"It's not a sacrifice –"
"Yeah, no. That's not what I meant, sorry. I just meant, you shouldn't be the only one giving things up for our family. This…" he gestured towards his genital area. "I mean, this isn't even a big deal compared to what you've done."
