Imagine you, Hunter, and your daughter have just now come home from the grocery store. Hunter's completely upset about the fact that you didn't realize that the cashier was flirting with you. You still think it was because the cashier was be nice, besides the cashier had a girlfriend and you were married and you had a daughter.
"Not everyone is nice, Bree! He was flirting with you! Why can't you see that?"
"See what? He was being nice to me, that's all. He was telling me about he wished he was like you when he becomes a father. His girlfriend's pregnant."
"And you believe him? He was flirting with you. I know so many boys like him. He was flirting with you. He doesn't care about his girlfriend."
"Hunter, think about it. The cashier has a girlfriend meanwhile I'm married to you and we have a daughter. He was just being nice and trying to have a conversation with me. The lad seemed like he had stressed day."
"Why don't you go live that random man you just met, Bree? Maybe he'll treat you better than me!"
"You're being irrational! This is rubbish! You know that I would never do that to you!" The bickering went on for a few hours. You were so close into leaving the house to clear your head. You didn't like arguing with Hunter. This wasn't normal and it was scaring you. It was like he looked for a fight with you.
"Mommy? Daddy?" You knew that voice. It was the voice of the little girl that you and Hunter loved so dearly, "Are you mad?"
"No, baby. We're sorry we woke you. Go back to sleep, love," Hunter says as he motions her to go back to her warm bed. You quickly dry your tears before your daughter Brynlee sees them.
"Daddy, are you going?" She asked with tears streaming down her face. Hunter shook his head, "Is Mama leaving?"
"No, baby. We're not leaving," you say as you walk over to pick up your little girl, "We'll be here no matter what. You should go back to bed, love."
"Tyler's mommy left him and his daddy. Joe lives with his mamaw, but he sees his mommy and daddy sometimes on different days," she says whimpering, "I do not want that to happen."
"No, no, no, no . . . Sssh. That will never happen. Mommy and I were just talking. It's okay," Hunter says as he takes his little girl from your arms. He takes her back to her bedroom and you know he's trying to make her understand, as best as he can, the situation. He's not telling her everything, but small details.
You decide to go upstairs to check on them. You're a few centimetres from opening Brynlee's bedroom, but stop when you hear Hunter speak, "Mommies and daddies sometimes don't agree on the same thing. It's like when you get mad at your cousin when choosing a movie."
"I don't want you and Mama to be mad," Brynlee says as she tries to hold back her tears.
"Bryn, it's okay," Hunter says. You can see through the crack of the door that he brings his hand up to her face to caress it, "Mama and I are fine. We couldn't agree on something. We'll be here if you need us. We won't go anywhere. I promise."
"Pinky promise?"
"Pinky promise, little bear," he says after pressing a kiss to her small forehead. You quickly and quietly walk downstairs as he wishes his daughter a goodnight. You walk into the kitchen to boil water in a kettle.
"Bree . . ."
"Do you want some tea? It's to calm the nerves. We both need it," you say as you avoid eye contact with him. You pull two mugs from the cupboard and you hear Hunter mumble that he wouldn't mind have a cup.
"Bree . . . I'm sorry. You're probably right about the cashier. He was probably just trying to be nice."
"It's okay, Hunt. I'm sorry t--"
"You have nothing to apologize for. It's my fault," he says as he grabs two tea bags from the pantry, "Don't apologize."
"Next time this happens, can we talk about it? I don't want us to end up like Brynlee's friend's parents," you ask as you add honey into the mugs after pulling out tea bags from the hot water. Hunter spins you to face him and nods.
"Anything to make sure we stay together. I promised."
"I haven't forgotten," you say as you pull out the necklace that he had given you when he was five. You always wore it around your neck having it tucked under your shirt.
"I'm keeping my promise no matter what. For you and for our Brynlee."