The Divorce

5|Birth

It was time. The woman's water broke as soon she woke up in bed at 5 am. She felt water trickling down from her legs.

She shakes her husband awake. "Wake up. My water just broke."

The man shoots up out of bed. "Oh my god it's happening."

The wife smiled. "It's happening."

The man helps his wife into his car and he races to the hospital.

The woman's labor took over 8 hours. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

As the nurses began to clean their baby over at the sinks, the man smiles down at his wife. She looked so sweaty and tired.

"She's so beautiful." He tells her.

The wife smiles at him. "What should we name her?"

The nurse smiles at the couple and walks over with their baby wrapped up in a blanket. She hands the baby to the woman.

The man looks down at his daughter. She was crying in the nurse's arms but as soon she was with her mother, her cries stopped.

"You can name her, my dear." The man tells her stroking his daughter's small head ever so softly. "Any name you pick I'll like."

The woman shakes her head. "But I want you to name her. I can't think of any names right now."

"We don't have to decide right now."

"But I want to call her by her name. Please pick a name."

The man thought for a second.

"How about the name Julia? That was my grandmother's name."

The lady smiled and looked down at her baby girl. "Julia. I love it."

The man smiles back and sits next to his wife and daughter on the bed. "So do I."

After the woman was discharged from the hospital the next day, the happy couple took Julia home.

After the woman put Julia to sleep in her crib, she joined her husband on the couch.

"I can't believe we're parents now." The man exclaimed. "And I'm so thankful that she was born healthy."

The woman nods and lays her head on her husband's shoulder. "I know. It's so adult of us."

The man chuckles. "Very adult."

The woman then looks up at her husband. "I know about Claudia."

The man almost chokes. "W-what?"

The woman rolls her eyes. "You think I didn't know what was going on?"

"I didn't sleep with her."

The woman gets up. "Bullshit. She's your ex."

"I swear we're just friends."

"You really think I'm going to believe that? I've seen you sneaking around late at night with the smell of her perfume lingering on your coat."

"We're just friends." The man repeats shaking.

"You look a little guilty there. Would you like some water?"

The man gets up from the couch. "Baby, I swear there is nothing going on with me and Claudia."

"Then what exactly is going on between the two of you? Do not lie to me."

The man was surprised of how calm his wife was taking this. She looked upset, of course, but she wasn't yelling.

"When you were pregnant," the man begins slowly. "I've been stressed out with your constant mood-swings. So I wanted to vent to a friend."

"Your ex?"

"Yes, my ex."

The woman sits back down and studies her husband. "Why couldn't you vent to me? Your own wife."

"It's different with Claudia. She doesn't judge me."

The woman snorts. "Probably because she isn't married to you."

"Excuse me?"

"Look, if you want to be with Claudia I'm not stopping you."

The man sits back down with his wife. "I don't want Claudia."

The wife then begins to cry. "Then why didn't you tell me about her? Why did you keep it a secret if you're not sleeping with her?"

"I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't want you to worry because I would never cheat on you! I love you."

The man starts to wipe his wife's tears away.

The woman's mood started to shift. "Is she prettier?"

"What? No!" The husband gently pulls her face to meet his sincere eyes. "I swear to you, there is nothing going on."

The woman ignores him. "I bet she's prettier."

The man sighs. "This is exactly why I didn't want you finding out."

The woman pushes his hands away and gets up again. "You can sleep on the couch tonight."

And the man did.