My wife and I have a four month old son.
She woke up early six months ago. I told her it was her turn to check on the baby. I didn’t know what else to say. I couldn’t tell her he was cold and blue when I checked on him five hours earlier. She didn’t say anything to me, just got up and went to his nursery. I kept waiting for the scream. There was none.
She simply walked into our bedroom holding his body, still wrapped in his blanket, and sat in bed next to me. She didn’t cry. I didn’t either. We didn’t speak at all. I went to make coffee. She stayed in the bedroom all day. Our son unmoving in her arms.
I was making dinner when she finally came out, still holding our son. She had him cradled in one arm, a shovel in her other hand. She looked at me and walked into the backyard without speaking.
Neither of us has spoken yet. We fell into a new routine. I make coffee in the morning, she spends the day outside in the backyard. I spend the day at the dining room table. I sit there all day. I can’t bring myself to get up until dinnertime. We eat. We silently go to bed.
She won’t look at me anymore either. We coexist in this strange no contact household now. We eat in silence. The TV stays muted. The only time we are in the same room is when we are eating or sleeping.
She came in from the backyard covered in mud today. A mud soaked blanket was cradled in her arms. She looked at me for the first time in 3 months and smiled. Walked into the bedroom silently.
I followed her in. She set the blanket down on the bathroom counter and took a shower. I went to bed. I. The morning the blanket was gone and the shovel was leaning against the back door.
I was finally ready to talk to her this morning after last night’s incident. I spoke for the first time in six months. She couldn’t hear me though. She was cold, and blue. A blanket cradled in her arms.
I got up and made coffee. I sat at the dining room table until dinnertime. I went back to the bedroom. My wife was still there, unmoving. I unwrapped the blanket in her arms. A small skeleton tucked neatly inside. I went to the backyard and got the shovel.
It has been two months since I buried them in the yard. I still have not spoken. I wake up and make coffee. I sit outside in the yard all day. I eat dinner. I go to bed.
I put away my son’s nursery today. Boxed everything up and put it in the shed outside. I also put all of my wife’s belongings away too. The shovel was missing.
I woke up today and made my coffee as usual. I went to the backyard and dropped my cup, shattered on the concrete. There was a giant hole in the middle of the yard, with a blanket next to it. I heard someone speak to me from inside. A baby was crying.
“Honey, it’s your turn to check on the baby.”