CHAPTER ELEVEN
EMMA
I slammed the washing basket onto the kitchen counter. The sound cracked through the house like a gunshot.
Dan barely flinched. He was by the fridge, sipping a can of Coke like he lived in a different universe. One where PE kits magically appeared and nobody woke him up at 2 a.m. to find a missing dinosaur nightlight.
“Are you actually kidding me, Dan?” I snapped. “You forgot PE day again?”
He sighed, rubbing his face like I was the unreasonable one. “Again? It happened once.”
“Twice!” I cut in, sharp enough to slice air. “Two bloody times you’ve sent Oscar in his uniform on a PE day. Do you know how embarrassing that is? The teacher had to dig out some crusty kit from lost property. He came home smelling like someone else’s feet.” I jabbed a finger toward the washing basket. “I’m washing a stranger’s sweat out of my child’s clothes because you ‘forgot’.”
Dan scoffed, rolled his eyes.
That eye roll. That casual, effortless dismissal.
Something in my chest sparked white-hot.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Emma,” he said. “I’m sorry, alright? I just forgot! It’s not the end of the world.”
I let out a laugh so dry it could start a fire. “Not the end of the world? No, Dan. You forgetting the bins again isn’t the end of the world. You leaving socks on the floor like some kind of feral gremlin isn’t the end of the world. But this?” I gestured at the chaos behind me…the calendar, the forms, the endless reminders. “This is basic parenting.”
He slammed the Coke onto the counter, fizz spilling over. “Oh right, because you’re the perfect parent, aren’t you?”
“I’m not perfect,” I said, voice tight. “But I know what bloody day it is.”
The air between us thickened. This wasn’t about PE day. Not really. PE day was just the cherry on the cake.
This was the pile.
The pile of tiny indignities and swallowed resentment. The pile of invisible work. The pile of me running this house in my head while he wandered through it like a guest.
Dan ran a hand through his hair, looking away like he needed a second to gather himself. “I do plenty around here. Who gets up with Ruby when she won’t settle? Who does the school run when you’re running late…”
“Congratulations,” I cut in, throwing my hands up. “Do you want a medal? Because I do all of that too. And I also keep track of the calendar while I’m doing it.”
His jaw tightened. “Here we go. This is what you do. You run yourself into the ground and then hold it over my head like some bloody scoreboard.”
“Because I have to,” I said, and my voice cracked at the edge. “If I didn’t, everything would fall apart.”
He stared at me. For a second, I thought he might soften.
Instead, he went quieter. More dangerous.
“You know what, Emma?” he said. “If I make you so miserable, why are we even doing this? Why don’t you just leave?”
My heart thudded, heavy and fast.
And before I could stop myself, before I could pull the words back into my mouth where they belonged, they flew out.
“Maybe we should get a divorce. I’m basically a single mum anyway, just with an extra person to look after who happens to be a grown man.”
Silence.
It dropped into the kitchen like a brick.
Dan’s face didn’t change much, but something in his eyes flickered. Not anger. Not relief. Something like… shock. Like I’d slapped him with the truth.
