Fragments of Love

Despite being the father of my child, Charlie ignored all the messages I had sent to him and he even refused to answer my phone calls.

I stayed in the hospital for three days. During that time, not once had he ever contacted me. Only when I was on the way home, he finally called me.

"Where are you? Why aren’t you home? Pick up some chili peppers on your way back and be hurry about it," he said.

I parted my dry lips to respond, "Are you coming back?"

All I got was the sound of the call being ended.

So, I did not bring any chilly with me when I arrived. Seeing I returned home empty-handed, Charlie's face darkened with displeasure.

"Where are the chilies that I asked you to buy?" he asked. "Did you forget?"

Before I could respond, he irritably tore off his apron and said angrily, "Did being pregnant make you stupid? Are you having the memory of a goldfish? I could not believe you’re still holding a grudge at me over something so trivial like that!"

He headed for the door, but I stopped him immediately and said, "I can’t eat spicy food, so I didn’t buy any."

Yet, his steps did not falter. It was as though he did not hear me.

I collapsed tiredly onto the sofa and stoked my aching belly. The doctor had warned me that I could not have extreme emotional fluctuations, or it would slow my recovery.

In the beginning, Charlie and I had made an agreement that once the baby was born, we would get our marriage certificate and hold a wedding.

When he returned home, he was not alone. I was in the middle of taking some stuff when I saw her. I froze and at that very moment, I lost all the thought of marrying him.

Seeing my expression, Miranda shivered in fright and greeted me with caution, "Hello, Miss Jennings."

Charlie looked at me with displeasure and scorned, "Tone down your look. You’re scaring her."

Then, he got down to his knee and held Miranda's ankle. With one swift, practiced motion, he lifted her foot and changed her shoes. As I watched, I was fascinated and heartbroken at the same time.

Miranda then plopped onto the sofa and casually turned on the TV to find something to watch.

I furrowed my brows and followed Charlie to the kitchen.

"Didn’t she go out for sketching practice? Why is she back?" I protested. "Why were you helping her change her shoes? Don’t you understand anything about boundaries?"

Meanwhile, Charlie kept washing the vegetables. He did not even spare me a glance when he said, "She came back with me to grab something. She’ll leave in a couple of days. Why?" he asked. "Are you going to throw another one of your pointless tantrums?"

I choked back my words. An overwhelming sense of despair came over me. Then I asked, "So, in your eyes, am I nothing but a senseless, irrational person?"

He didn’t answer. He simply cast a cold glance my way before continuing his task.

I closed my eyes, tears slipping down my lashes. Yet Charlie acted as if he didn’t see it.

The reason he acted like this was because of what happened on our last trip.

A month ago, when I found out I was pregnant, Charlie was ecstatic about it. He immediately arranged for me to take early maternity leave from the principal and planned a vacation for the two of us.

However, when we were about to leave, Miranda said, "Wow, Mr. Peterson. You’re so lucky to go on a trip! I’ve never even left this city. How pitiful of me."

As a result, without a second thought and consulting me, he paid for her plane ticket out of his own pocket. Just like that, what was supposed to be a couple’s getaway turned into a three-person, teachers-student trip.

For seven days and seven nights, they acted like a newlywed couple. Charlie spent the whole trip taking pictures of Miranda and teaching her to find angles for her painting.

Meanwhile, I wandered the streets alone to go shopping and eat or was being the third wheel while trailing behind them.

In those seven days, he and I barely exchanged a few words. The trip ended with me being the only one feeling miserable. Afterward, Charlie laughed it off and gaslighted me.