Read Answering to Him (Old-Fashioned Husband) for Free Online Page B

them turned toward me, seeming irritated at me for interrupting their game. “What, Mom?” Jonah groaned.
    “Don’t talk to your mom that way,” Oliver said immediately. I was pleasantly surprised by the way he came to my defense, and for the fact he made Jonah apologize.
    “You know there’s no video games on a school night,” I chided him, giving my husband a sidelong glance. He was the last person I’d expected to find playing video games.
    “I’m afraid that’s my fault, Alicia ,” Oliver shocked me further by saying. “I asked Jonah to show me a few things on this game of his. It’s pretty fun, actually.”
    Normally, my heart would melt at his boyish grin—it was so unlike him—but all I could think about was the fact he would rather play games than be with me. “You know the rule,” I told him, just as sternly. I saw Jonah’s eyes go back and forth between the two of us, waiting to see what Oliver would say. I waited, too.
    “On most nights you’re right,” Oliver replied evenly. “But it’s only eight, and Jonah has already done all his homework. Isn’t that right, bruh?”
    Jonah rolled his eyes, even as a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “Not cool, Dad. Not cool.”
    “Sorry,” he replied with a shrug. “I’m not going to keep him up late, honey. Probably another hour here, and then we’ll get off in plenty of time for him to shower and get to bed on time.”
    I shook my head at him. “Bedtime isn’t what I’m concerned about here. I—”
    “Give us a minute, bruh bruh.” Oliver put down the controller and stood, moving toward me.
    “Dad!” Jonah protested loudly.
    Oliver was smiling at our son’s indignation, but it faded when he reached the doorway. “Can I have a word, honey?”
    I was surprised by the question as much as the authoritative, even tone he said it in. I knew it wasn’t really a request. Still, I followed him to the bedroom, and sat down when he patted the space beside him.
    “What’s going on?”
    “I… it’s a school night,” I said, lamely.
    Oliver was giving me an eagle-eye look, and I knew he was trying to ferret out the truth. “Really, Alicia? Does that really matter right now? You’re always telling me to spend more time with him, and then when I do, you try to pull me away. What kind of message do you think that sends me? What about our son?”
    I looked down at my hands. I hadn’t thought about it like that. All I knew was that I had been burning up like I had a fever ever since I’d had that dream. I wanted to know what it meant and why it was driving me to the loony bin, more with each passing day. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”
    If I’d expected to see his frown melt away and be replaced with his normal accommodating smile, I would have been sadly mistaken. The furrows in his brow only deepened. “What is going on with you? I want the truth.”
    “I don’t know… ” I muttered miserably.
    “You’re not acting like yourself, and I want to know why. You’re not normally so snappish and short-tempered. What happened to my sweet wife?”
    I shook my head at him—if only I knew! “I’m sorry,” I replied, sounding pitiful even to my own ears.
    “You can’t give me an explanation?”
    I shook my head.
    “Alright then. I’m going to go back to Jonah, and like I said, we’re going to be playing for another hour. When I come back, I expect us to talk. Since you don’t know why you’re behaving this way, I want you to stay in here and figure it out.”
    My eyes flew to his face, searching for a smile, or laughter in his eyes. Something, anything that would tell me that he was kidding. I found none. “What? Are you… are you grounding me?”
    I expected him to fold at my astounded voice, but he just nodded. “I guess you could look at it like that, if you wanted to.”
    “But—” I wanted to say that he seemed awfully calm for someone who’d just transported back in time to the days of the Neanderthal, but