My wife's friend
It was a very strange situation. He had little contact with that pregnancy and was not particularly enthusiastic about having a child with Alice. However, he never thought about the death of that child, especially now that he knew it was necessary for an heir to be born from the union of both families to maintain their connection.
He always looked down on both of them and left them locked in that house, unaware that he might need them. His father had reached an agreement with the Taylors.
"Why didn't he tell me something like this?" He would have paid a little more attention to Alice or her pregnancy. Could it have been his fault? Did it have something to do with the way he treated his wife the night before? Could it be possible?
"No, it can't be my fault. She must have done something wrong to lose our child. If there's anyone to blame, it must be her, she was the one who was pregnant. It can't be my fault," he told himself to avoid carrying that burden. He walked to the hospital where she was, already feeling the responsibility of having to visit his wife after the loss of their child. He was feeling guilty for taking so long to go, or for not answering any of the calls.
The heavy rains hadn't stopped since the previous night.
When he arrived there, he found the Taylor family. Sofia stood up to receive him, greeting him with a resounding slap on his face.
"Smack!"
"You damned bastard!" she shouted angrily at her brother-in-law. "How dare you leave my sister alone at a time like this?! Your son died! And you weren't here," she reproached him forcefully, drawing the attention of others.
"I was away on business trips," he offered as an excuse, having no other valid one, because while he was entangled with his lover, his wife was giving birth and their child was dying.
"And to hell with that, Robert! You have a lover, and that's clear to all of us. Do you think I haven't seen you with her? You kept my sister locked up, while you paraded her around the whole damn country, shamelessly holding her hand. But I swear to everything I hold dear, you will pay for what you've done!" she threatened.
"I want to see my wife, where is she?"
"Now you have a wife?" she arched an eyebrow and twisted her mouth as she spoke, hearing that ridiculous statement from Robert. "Now she's your wife, isn't she?"
"Alice has never stopped being my wife, Sofia. And see if you can tone it down when you talk to me. Stop being so rude to your brother-in-law."
"You can't see her now, she's resting," she knew that Jared was still with her and wanted to give them privacy, knowing that Robert's presence was not needed at the moment, especially if it interrupted the moment between Jared and Alice. She wanted them to have more time together, because it had been a long time and Alice hadn't asked him to leave the room, indicating that she was very comfortable with Jared by her side.
"Now is when I can see her, I have to travel again."
"Of course." She turned around, arms crossed. "You mean, to be more clear and direct, that you're only here out of obligation, right? Did you finally realize you messed up and came to see if you can fix something? Go back where you came from, you weren't needed now. Your son had a few hours of life, and even then you couldn't meet him. And in case you're interested, his name was Ethan. A beautiful baby, who you certainly didn't deserve," she approached Robert and placed a hand on his chest. "Give my sister the damn divorce, I know I don't know what happened. You locked her up in that damn house! But I swear... I'll make sure my sister leaves you!"
"In which room is my wife, Sofia? I have to see her," he asked impatiently, tired of his cantankerous sister-in-law's words, who even dared to hit him. He didn't believe her threats because a divorce didn't depend on her, and the Taylor gentlemen had already made it clear to Alice that she had to continue with that marriage.
"That's enough, Sofia," Mr. Taylor complained, seeing the way Sofia treated his brother-in-law. "Show a little more respect and let it be his wife who reproaches him for missing a moment like this," he said. "It's that room," he indicated.
Robert walked over, touching his cheek where Sofia had slapped him.
"They still think they're superior," he said quietly. Arriving at Alice's door, he opened it carefully and silently, seeing the sight that gave him a lot to think about. His wife was lying against the chest of his best friend, Jared, while both looked very relaxed, with their eyes closed, he was caressing her hair and she had her hands on his chest.
"But what the hell is going on here?!" he asked in a scandalous manner, startling both of them with the shout he let out.
Immediately, Alice focused her eyes on him, showing anger at his presence.
"What are you doing here, Robert?" his wife asked.
"That's the question I have to ask Jared. What are you doing here? Why are you cradling my wife like this? Why are you on her bed? What the hell does this mean? What are you doing here?"
"Nothing, it doesn't mean anything at all, Robert," Jared replied, immediately stepping away from the bed and leaving Alice on it. "I realized that Alice had given birth and I wanted to come visit all three of them, but then... I realized the baby had passed away. We were talking and we may have both fallen asleep."
"In that position? What the hell kind of talk was that? Why was my wife in your arms? I just don't understand!" he pointed at the bed, where he had just seen both of them.
"Did you know that Jared and I are friends?"
"Ah, of course! My wife's friend! He's also my friend, and I think long before he was yours. Alice," he walked towards his wife and forced a kiss on her lips, which she didn't expect, leaving her face stuck to his, forcing her not to finish the kiss and making Jared turn away, giving them privacy. He continued with that forced kiss for almost an eternity.
"Don't you think you should show a little more respect for my wife, Jared? Those aren't the ways to console a married woman, especially without her husband's presence. What do you want me to think?" he asked after finishing the kiss.
"He never disrespected me, Robert, but what the hell are you saying?" she wiped her mouth, avoiding looking at either of them. She knew how uncomfortable this situation was for Jared.
Why was Robert arriving at just that moment? She didn't want him there, she didn't need his presence.
"You stay silent, it's a conversation between my friend and me."
"I didn't disrespect him, Robert. But like I said, Alice is also my friend, I had to come here, not just for you, but for both of you."
"Now she's my wife, and I beg you to focus only on your friendship with me and keep your relationship with her to a minimum. I tend to be a jealous man, although, of course, it's funny to think that Alice would have any chance with you." He observed his wife's swollen belly, noticing that it still looked large, as if there was still a baby inside. Her face was still as round as he remembered, and those arms filled with fat. No, she wasn't attractive to him. Occasionally, he wondered how he could have slept with her and gotten her pregnant. But she was his wife, right? She pulled the sheets up over her body and hid herself, feeling the critical gaze her husband gave her about her appearance. For a few brief seconds, she felt small and insignificant, very ugly and worn down, but then she remembered Jared's confession, and she knew he felt the same way, even though she hadn't confessed her feelings, only listened to his.
"Could you leave us alone? We have a lot to talk about."
Jared headed towards the door in silence, without looking back.
When they were alone, Robert took a seat on the bed at her feet.
"Your presence wasn't necessary, Robert," she said grumpily.
"I'm sorry, about the baby," he said. "What did you do wrong?"
"What did I do wrong? Do you think I did something bad?" She began to cry, thinking about that possibility. "I did nothing wrong. I loved him as much as myself, maybe even more. I took good care of him, and then, after holding him in my arms... he was gone. Ethan had left."
"You even gave him a name without my permission," he observed.
"He was my son, mine!"
"He was mine too."
"I was with him the whole time! Where were you? He lived for hours, maybe also hoping to meet his father, but... you weren't here, Robert. You weren't here."
"I have more responsibilities than you can imagine. But we'll recover from this loss soon."
"What? What do you mean, Robert? How do you mean, recover?"
"I mean I want us to try to have more children, hopefully ones that live, that are born alive and stay alive."
Ethan's body hadn't even cooled, and Robert was already talking about other children, and that saddened Alice greatly.
"I couldn't, I don't want to."
"You have a responsibility to me, to the Grahams, and to the Taylors. Our marriage has to bear fruit, and those fruits can only be our children, Alice. Once it's possible, you have to get pregnant again. And I want it to be clear to you, I don't like your friendship with my friend. And if I don't like it... you have to stay away from him. I don't want him here, unless he comes with me, not on his own as if he had anything to do with all of this. How dare you get close to another man?"
"He's my friend!"
"Not anymore!"
"It won't be like that just because you say so, Robert."
"Wanna bet? I control every part of your life, and I'm telling you right now, Jared is my best friend, not yours. Make it clear to yourself. He's my friend! Not yours. Your friendship with him and any other man ended when you married me, Alice Graham. My wife doesn't have friends."