I would collapse into bed by 10 PM and Atlas would pull me to him, wrap me in his strong embrace, and kiss me sweetly. That would usually lead to us making love.
Wrapped in his embrace afterward, I felt exhausted but lucky.
Caring for my husband and sons gave me joy.
I felt loved.
Now… I feel invisible.
After my long shower last night, I turned my morning alarm off. Atlas was still downstairs watching TV, but I was mentally drained from the day. I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.
Atlas must have come to bed at some point, his side of the bed rumpled from his big body, but he was already up and gone when I woke up around 8.
I took my time getting dressed, pulling on a comfortable Mercy Ridge sweater, leggings, and my white sneakers, before heading to the Market.
"Lazy Sunday?" Mabel asks.
I narrow my eyes playfully as she props a hand on her hip.
"You keeping tabs on me, Mabel?"
"Please," Mabel harrumphs and pushes her glasses back up her nose. "You come here at the same time every Sunday,Gwendolyn. It's not hard to learn your habits."
The use of my full name makes me grimace, as it always does. Mabel does it out of genuine lighthearted teasing, but my mother always refused to call me by my preferred name of Wendy.
"Guess I am rather predictable," I mutter. Mabel studies me a little closer, and I try not to shift under her gaze.
"Just trying to mix it up a bit," I say, maybe a little too cheerfully because Tyler blinks at me, and Mabel raises an eyebrow. "The boys are at Diane's. Slept in today."
Mabel's eyes light up at the mention of my boys, her lips quirking into a grin. "How are those little angels?"
"They're bottomless pits now, hence the—" I gesture to the belt of groceries Tyler is currently making his way through, scanning.
"They're growing boys," Mabel chuckles. "They need their protein."
"Tell that to my wallet," I joke, before my smile drops.
Not my wallet, not my money, not really.Another reminder of what I need to do today when I get home—look for employment.
Unfortunately, my options might be limited. I’ll need something that fits with school pickups, something that still allows me to drive Noah to art class and Liam to basketball practice.
Something that will give me a good, steady paycheck.
Does such a job even exist?
I help Tyler bag the rest of my groceries, loading them into the cart while I hand over the coupons I clipped this week.
"Uh, that'll be... $167.74," Tyler tells me, but I frown at the total, having already calculated everything.
"It should be $164.53," I correct him gently, already scanning the cart, the screen, and the stack of coupons in his hand.
It's not that big of a big deal, but when you've stopped feeling like the money you're spending is really yours, every penny counts.
“Uh…” Tyler says, looking like a deer caught in headlights.
"Here, let me see," I say, peeking around to see the screen. "Okay... $10 off the family pack of paper towels. Buy-10, save-5 mac and cheese. $2 off the oatmeal bars when you buy two.Eggs markdown to $5. Bread BOGO... oh, here. The detergent coupon didn't scan."
Tyler flips through my paper stack. "This one?"
