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Um…I’m
going to go get Nolan.”
    “ He’s fine, Rita. Just sit
down and eat.”
    “ No. I’m not leaving him in
the family room while the family is in the kitchen.”
    “ Sherita—”
    “ I don’t want to leave him
in there by himself, Des,” Sherita said with a hint of panic and
irritation in her voice.
    “ Okay,” Desmond said, only
because he didn’t want to frustrate her any further. She was
flustered enough.
    Sherita quickly walked to the family
room, scooped up Nolan and said, “There’s mommy’s sweetheart.” She
kissed him on the cheek. He had been playing with one of his baby
rattles – more like drooling all over it – and he wasn’t crying or
making a fuss. He was extremely content.
    Returning to the kitchen, she sat
across from Desmond, glancing up at him. He hadn’t touched his
sandwich.
    “ You’re not hungry?” she
asked.
    “ I am, but I’m more worried
than I am hungry.”
    Sherita took a bite of her sandwich.
“Worried about what?” she mumbled, chewing.
    “ You.”
    “ Me?” she asked, laughing
it off. “Why would you be worried about me?”
    He frowned. Why? What did she mean
why? And why was she laughing? “Okay, Sherita, I’m just going to
say it.”
    “ Say what,
Desmond?”
    “ You’ve been
different.”
    “ Different how?” She took a
sip of water.
    “ Since the babies arrived,
you’re not the same, and I’m not saying this to argue with you. I’m
saying it because I feel it needs to be said.”
    “ So, I’m not the same…” she
repeated. Her face flushed.
    “ You’re getting upset.
Forget it. We’ll talk about it later.”
    “ No. Let’s talk about it
now since you brought it up, Desmond.” She adjusted Nolan in her
lap. “How am I not the same?”
    “ First off, you’re always
in bed. Always.”
    “ That’s a lie.”
    “ Sherita, I took our
children to the park without you because you were in
bed.”
    “ Yeah, I was in bed,” she
snapped, “Because I was up for most of the night!”
    “ Why are you
yelling?”
    “ Because you’re telling me
I’m always in bed
and that’s simply not true, Desmond.”
    “ Then you don’t have to
yell,” he said evenly. “You don’t have to raise your voice to talk
to me. We’re trying to have a simple, husband-wife
conversation.”
    “ Yeah. Simple
conversation,” she said mockingly.
    His forehead creased. “I started off
by saying I was worried about you, remember?”
    “ Whatever.”
    Desmond sighed heavily. Sharply. “I’m
not going to argue with you in front of our children. I refuse.”
Desmond bounced Celeste in his arms. “You’re stressed out. You told
me your blood pressure was elevated when you went in for your
postpartum checkup. That’s why I planned the Myrtle Beach getaway
for us, but even then you seemed jittery and overly
anxious.”
    “ I have two kids. I’m
supposed to be anxious.”
    “ We have two kids,” Desmond corrected. “And it’s okay to feel
anxious, but it’s more to it than that, Sherita.”
    “ You know what…I…I can’t do
this right now. I just want to eat my sandwich. In peace.” She
stood up with Nolan, picking up her plate with her free hand and
walked to the family room.
    Desmond scrubbed a hand down his face.
This wasn’t right. While Sherita claimed she was fine and just
tired from breastfeeding, taking care of the kids and settling into
her new role as a mother to two kids, he knew it was more than
that.
    He stood up from the table and walked
to the family room. When he stepped in, he noticed Sherita had
placed Nolan on his play mat. So he placed Celeste on hers. Then he
sat down on the couch next to Sherita.
    “ Sherita, sweetheart, I’m
not trying to argue with you, and the last thing I want to do is
upset you, but something’s wrong, and I wouldn’t be the man of this
house if I didn’t do something about it.”
    Sherita continued eating her sandwich
like he wasn’t sitting there.
    “ Talk to me.”
    “ I told you, I’m