Eli Goldsworthy slammed the front door shut and tossed his keys on to the table. He turned around and slammed his hand into the wall behind him, leaving a hole in the plaster. Shit, he hissed, trying to shake the pain from his hands.
"Honey, what in the world is going on?" His wife appeared from the kitchen, and Eli winced. Her car must have been in the garage. He didn't know that she had been home. If he had known, he wouldn't have punched the wall.
"It's nothing," Eli shook her hand off his arm, "Just…leave me alone."
"Eli, talk to me. What happened at work today?"
Eli sighed and sunk down to the floor in the entry way, "Clare…I lost my job today."
"What?" Clare asked on a breath. She sat down on the floor across from him, her forehead creased with worry, "What happened?"
Eli shook his head, the anger still flaming in his eyes, "Apparently when the company got bought out, the new management decided to 'clean up' and make some 'cuts' in the employment."
"Eli…"
"I don't know what we're going to do," his green eyes met her blue, and Clare noticed the tears brimming, "This can't happen right now. It just can't."
"Eli," Clare placed a hand on his thigh, "It'll be okay. We'll get through this."
"Clare," Eli shook his head, "This is bad. Money was already tight. What in the world are we going to do without my income? And we're going to have to pay a lot of hospital bills soon…"
Clare's hand went to her stomach, "Eli, we've gotten through tough times before. We'll get through this too."
Eli sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "You don't get it, Clare. I'm your husband. It's my job to provide for you and to take care of you. I'm failing at that…"
"Eli!" Clare shook her head, "No. You're not failing at anything. Is that what you think? That you're failing at being a husband?"
"Yeah," Eli answered honestly, "That's what I think."
"Well you're not, Eli. You're a wonderful husband. You're caring and compassionate and strong and sweet, and we've gotten through a bunch of stuff before together. We can get through this too."
"I just don't want to fail you…or the baby."
"You never could," Clare brushed a strand of shaggy hair from his green eyes, "Come on, help me make dinner."
"What are we having?"
"Spaghetti, your favorite," Clare smiled, "Come on. We're stronger than you think, Eli – you're stronger than you think. We will be fine. We always get through the tough times."
Eli stood from the floor and helped Clare to her feet, "And boy have we gone through some tough times."
Clare nodded, "And we'll get through this too. Have a little faith, Eli."
"Clare, you know I'm not big on faith," Eli sighed.
"I know. But have faith in us, Eli. Have faith in yourself. We'll be fine."
"I hope so."
"I know so," Clare took his hand and led him into the kitchen, "Our baby is lucky to have you as a daddy."
"You think so?" Eli raised an eyebrow, "I mean…I'm nothing special."
"You're the world to me," Clare told him, "And you're the world to this baby."
"I'm sorry about the wall," Eli blushed.
"It's fine," Clare assured him, "Sweetheart, can you pull out the spaghetti sauce for me?"
"Sure thing," Eli retreated to the pantry and handed Clare a jar of strawberry jam.
"Eli…"
"What?"
"Does spaghetti with strawberry sauce sound at all appetizing to you?"
Eli blushed, "Sorry! You know I am no good in the kitchen."
"Well, you'll be home more," Clare reminded him, "So it'll be the perfect opportunity to teach you how to cook."
Eli groaned, "Remind me to start looking for a job ASAP."
"Eli," Clare dumped the spaghetti sauce into the pan, "I love you."
"I love you too, beautiful girl," Eli pulled her towards him and kissed him on top of the head, "You said that you and the baby are lucky to have me? But it's me, Clare, who is the lucky one."