Where’d it all gone wrong

Dinner with the family was interesting to say the least; Damien had meant to surprise the family and brought his girlfriend, Veronica, for Friday dinner. They had started to get serious and well let’s just say if after an explosive family dinner she didn’t run for the hills then she could be the one.

Rebecca sat on her porch with a margarita wallowing in the events of the night. She wanted to text her best friend, but after several failed IVF the last was successful and they were on baby watch and this was her time to enjoy the calm before motherhood. Rebecca broke down sobbing as quietly as she could so her 2 teens wouldn’t hear her. After her first failed marriage she had vowed to herself she would never remarry, sure her 1st marriage was short. She’d gotten married at only 20 years old, her ex was much older and had groomed her for 2 years. The only reason they’d gotten married was because she was pregnant with Damien, which had propelled Rebecca into adulthood. Her 1st husband had been abusive and just like her marriage to Samuel she had been the breadwinner. She had taken a job as a manager for a furniture company, it was there she’d met Samuel and their friendship had quickly developed. Rebecca had confided in him about her abusive marriage and Samuel had been her support when she finally decided to end the marriage.

Shortly after her 1st divorce finalized, Samuel had asked Rebecca on a date. Samuel was everything her ex was not, he was kind, caring, and treated Rebecca like a queen. He left her love notes everywhere, he’d once wrote in the snowy windshield of her car how much he loved her. Back then Rebecca was guarded with her heart, and after years of Samuel loving her intensely she’d broken down her walls and when Samuel had proposed she was excited to have the love she had grown to know. At 25 Rebecca and Samuel wed in a intimate ceremony held in their living room with Damien by Rebecca’s side. After they’d said “I do” Samuel had kissed her with a passion that was sure to last a lifetime, or so she thought.

Michael and Jessalyn were 3 yrs apart and had been the apple of Rebecca and Samuel’s eyes. They’d tried for years to get pregnant, so when Rebecca called Samuel to let him know she was pregnant he was over the moon. A stark contrast from her pregnancy announcement with Damien, Sam doted on her the entire pregnancy. He was over the moon when they’d found out it was a boy, sure he loved Damien in a fatherly manner but he would finally have a son who bared his resemblance and had his last name. Sam had stepped up as breadwinner, insisting Rebecca stay home with the boys. At first Rebecca was elated, she’d always dreamed of being a wife and mother, to be cherished till her dying days. Rebecca had taken her new role seriously, she cooked 3 meals from scratch every day for her family. She baked bread for Samuel to take sandwiches to work, churned butter every Sunday and made fresh buttermilk pancakes for the boys. She was a vixen for Sam when he wanted it, and had molded herself into a perfect wife. When she found out she was pregnant again she expected the same level of enthusiasm and support from Samuel as he’d given with her pregnancy with Michael. Instead she was met with anger and resentment, Samuel had even suggested an abortion. Rebecca stood firm and had told him she was having the baby with or without him. She was caught off guard by his sudden change in personality, however as the pregnancy progressed Samuel came around and when Jessalyn was born she had Sam wrapped around her pinky. Rebecca let go of her heartbreak of the way Sam had treated her during her pregnancy with Jessalyn, but Samuel was never the same towards her no matter how hard she tried to please him.

Shortly after Jessalyn’s birth Samuel suffered a stroke and Rebecca lost the last bit of the Sam she’d fallen in love with. She had convinced Sam to recover at home and bond with his kids while she went back to work after a 5 year hiatus. Sam had scoffed that she would never be able to bring in enough money to support the family. Her therapist had suggested that Samuel should seek therapy for himself as he was angry about what the stroke had taken from him. Rebecca ran with this notion and had switched gears to the breadwinner and primary caregiver to her entire family. Samuel did the bare minimum at home, expected Rebecca to cook dinner every night, and was unsupportive. He blamed his shift on depression yet refused to make any changes. Rebecca had told him I love you enough for the both of us, so please take the time to heal yourself and when you’re ready I’ll still be here with an open heart. They fell into a normal routine, one that left Rebecca exhausted from working 45 hrs a week and the caregiver of 3 children and her husband. But she held on to hope that Sam would return to her; something she thought had happened when she’d went for a mammogram and was told her results were highly suspicious of cancer.

She still remembers laying in bed that night and turning to Samuel admitting how scared she was. That night for the first time in a long time Samuel was the man she fell in love with, he held her while she cried. He kissed her softly and made love to her like he hadn’t in a long time. Rebecca woke the next morning feeling like Sam had returned to her. He insisted she cut her hours and he started looking for work after years at home. She thought this was it, he was finally healed enough to be the old Sam. Everything was falling into place, or so she thought until Sam took a job at a grocery store where he’d met Luigi…