Domestic Bliss

Faith walked back into her dingy, two-bedroom apartment and dusted off her hands. With the trash taken out, she only had one thing left on her list of nightly chores. Getting the twins to bed. She turned to where they sat on the couch, watching TV with their father.

“Alright guys,” she said. “Time to hit the hay.”

“But Mom,” said Lucas. “The show isn’t over yet. And it’s Friday.”

“That’s why you got to stay up late already,” she told him. “Chop chop. Go brush your teeth.”

Lucas made a sour face but his brother Owen tugged his arm. “Come on. Let’s just listen.” Then, having proven that he was a sweet little angel who always did as he was told, Owen turned back towards Faith and asked in a sad little voice, “Can we at least read some comics before we go to sleep?”

That one was going to be trouble in a year or two. He was way too comfortable trying to manipulate her. It’d be bad news if he ever got any good at it. “Bedtime is bedtime,” she told him sternly. Then, with a sigh, she threw him a bone. “But you can have fifteen minutes before lights out.”

“Let's go,” Owen exclaimed, jumping off the couch with his brother in tow. The pair raced to the bathroom, intent on not wasting their grace period with such pointless tasks as brushing their teeth.

“That boy's got you wrapped around his finger,” Dennis, her husband, chuckled.

“They’re almost teenagers,” she replied. “Pretty soon you’ll wish it was this easy to get them to do what we want.”

Dennis grunted, conceding the point.

Faith sat down next to him on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder. She was lucky. Dennis was a good man. A good husband and father. And they’d done better raising their boys than maybe they should have, all things considered. “I was thinking,” she said, “we should do something fun this weekend. Get out of the house. Maybe we could take the boys to Pit and Put. Lucas loves the go-karts.” The idea was only partially for the kids. If she was honest, Faith was going a little crazy stuck in the house doing chores all day. Something to break up the monotony would be a welcome change.

Lucas licked his lips and turned away from the TV, pulling his arm back from around her shoulders. “Faith, listen…Jerry cut my hours again. Money may be a little tight for the next few weeks.”

“Oh…” she said, doing a poor job of hiding her disappointment. “Alright.” She knew better than to pry. Dennis did alright supporting them as a plumber, but the business had been struggling. His boss had been **** to limit the amount of time he kept people on call. It hadn’t been easy, and she knew Dennis was self-conscious about his ability to provide.

“Maybe we could go to the park though,” he offered.

“A picnic could be fun.”

“A picnic then,” he said. “And maybe-“

The sound of glass shattering echoed from the bathroom. A moment later, “Owen did it!”

“Did not!”

An argument ensued. “Stay away from the glass!” Faith called out. “I’ll be right there!”

“Never a moment rest huh?” Dennis said in mirthful defeat.

“Not for a second,” Faith agreed. She kissed her husband on the cheek. “Be right back.”

As Faith went to deal with the evolving crisis in the bathroom she worried about how they were going to cut corners on their spending. There wasn't much fat left to trim. More and more recently she’d been feeling like she needed to catch a break, but there were no vacations for wives or mothers. A pang of guilt shot through her. That hadn’t been what she meant. She loved being a wife and mother. It was enough for her; more than enough.

Rounding the corner she found Lucas glaring at his brother, who in turn stared at the floor bashfully. “Go get the broom,” she told them. “You’re old enough to clean this up yourselves now.”

“Yes Mom,” said Owen as they scurried away.

Faith stared down at the shattered vase her kids had knocked over. She’d figure it out.