Ryan appeared in the doorway.
“Can you make them stop crying?” he asked. “I have an early meeting.”
“There are three babies and only one of me,” I replied. “Please help.”
He sighed.
“I work all day, Shannon.”
“So do I.”
“You stay home.”
I stared at him.
“What do you think I do here?”
“You’re a stay-at-home mother. The house and babies are your responsibility.”
“They’re your children too.”
Ryan looked toward the nursery but made no move to enter.
“I need sleep.”
“So do I.”
“It’s different. You don’t have to go to an office.”
Then he walked away.
Two days later, Ryan entered the kitchen smiling at his phone.
“Ian found a rental beside the beach,” he announced.
“What rental?”
“For our trip. Ian, Jason, and me. Five days. We leave tomorrow.”
That was when I noticed his suitcase near the front door.
“You booked a five-day vacation without asking me?”
“Jason arranged it weeks ago.”
“Weeks ago?”
Ryan shrugged as though it were unimportant.
I looked toward the living room, where all three babies needed attention.
“Then we need to arrange help for me.”
“Why?”
“Because I cannot care for three infants alone for five days.”
“You do it every day.”
“And I need help every day.”
Ryan became irritated.
“I work and pay the bills. I deserve a break.”
“What about me?”
He laughed.
“Have you earned a vacation?”
The kitchen became completely silent.
I could barely believe what I had heard.
