It’s my turn to exhale a breath. “Something you probably don’t know is that some of these bottles in this bathroom cost a fortune.”
I ignore the look on his face that tells me he’s very aware of this fact. Right. He knows more than I give him credit for. Moving on.
“So, throwing out even one percent of what’s in them is costly. That’s why I don’t do that. And there’s plenty of space in here for them all.”
I ignore the new look on this face that tells me he doesn’t agree.
“Milk, on the other hand, takes up room in the fridge, and honestly, Hyde, one sip of milk isn’t worth keeping. Clear that bottle out of the fridge and put it in the recycling. I’m not sure if you really do want to keep that one sip for later or if you’re just being lazy. And that’s what I mean when I say it’s the principle of the thing. I don’t know if half the things you do are because you’re just being lazy.”
“How the hell am I being lazy?”
“Well, with this, maybe you think it’s easier just to put the bottle back in the fridge rather than to walk the extra steps to the recycling bin.”
This gets me a look of exasperation. And then, he moves into me, bringing with him a rush of masculine energy that both thrills me and overwhelms me. Whatever he’s got to say, he’s going to lay it down between us in no uncertain terms. All I can hope is that it doesn’t piss me off further, leading us to a bigger fight. I think I’m getting close to being all fought out today.
“Right, sugar, let’s get one fucking thing straight here. I’m not being fucking lazy. Any time I put a near-empty bottle back in the fridge, it’s because the recycling bin inside is full and so is the one outside. I’m never gonna leave milk out for any length of time because it’ll go sour and potentially smell bad.”
“You could rinse the bottle, Hyde. Have you ever thought of that?”
“Fuck,” he mutters. “Yeah, I could, but I didn’t have time this morning.” He pauses before adding, “It’s not my goal in life to piss you off, Monroe. Haveyouever thought of that?”
This causes all my thoughts to tangle and slow down and realign.
He’s right. If there’s one thing I can count on from Hyde, it’s that everything he does in life is geared towards making me and the kids happy. My husband lives for his family. We just come at things differently sometimes.
“Shit,” I say softly, hating that I’ve fought with him over things he didn’t deserve to have thrown in his face. I grasp his shirt and lean into him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it like that. I should have stopped and had a conversation with you about it before just making assumptions.”
He snakes his arm around my waist and pulls me tightly against his body. His eyes search mine. “So, no more arguments about the milk?”
God, I love this man.
I’ve spent today snapping at him over many things and here he is loving me through it all. And not making a big deal out of my apology, but rather accepting it and letting it just be.
“Well, I can’t promise anything. I’d like to, but we both know my emotions get the better of me at times.”
He bends his face to brush his lips over mine before saying, “And let’s clear up the roof argument while we’re at it.”
“Hold on, tiger, that wasn’t all on me. Yes, I should have told you sooner, and yes, I shouldn’t have fought with you over it, but you didn’t need to go all assholey on me.”
“Fuck, I love you, woman. Even when you’re so far off base it isn’t fucking funny.”
“I am not off base.”
“Monroe, you fucking are, but let’s agree to end this fight now and move the fuck on. I’m gonna fix your roof and you’re gonna agree to let me know straight away in future when something needs fixing. Or better still, you’re gonna assign that job to Fox so that you and I don’t have a chance in hell of having this fight ever again.”
I want to keep arguing with him, but that’s only because it’s not in my nature to let things go when I feel like I’m in the right. On this, I do feel like I’m in the right, but I can tell that he thinks he’s the one in the right. And in a marriage, it’s not about one person winning, it’s about the marriage winning.
A marriage can never win if there are no compromises.
The bottom line is that I love this man and he loves me, and we want to be together forever more than we want to be right all the time.
I look up at him and I think about eight years of loving him and what that has meant for my life.
Every one of those years would have been worse if he wasn’t by my side.
I don’t want to win this fight; I want to win his love.
I want to win a future with him.
