The telephone rang once… twice... thri—
"It is getting annoying, really," Morticia Addams murmured to her husband, Gomez Addams. The telephone rang again.
"Don't answer it, Cara Mia," he replied with his hand tightly tied on their torture wheel. Then again, it rang.
"It is disturbing my concentration, Mon Cher," she replied softly touching his bare, bloody, muscular chest. Then she started to move towards his office desk to answer the ringing telephone. But somehow, he managed to take grasp of her arm. He pulled her closer but then her free hand picked up the phone.
"Addams residence," she said to the caller as he nuzzled his nose on her neck and jaw.
"Oh! Thank goodness, someone answered the phone. I was about to go," a lady on the other end answered with a very perky voice instantly irritating Morticia.
"What did you call for?" she asked.
"Untie me," whispered Gomez to her other ear. And she absently did. Then he grabbed her waist and brought her down on the floor. She groaned.
"Please hold for a moment," she instantly said to the lady and cupped her hand on the mouth piece. "What are you doing, Gomez?" she hissed at him.
"Making love with you," he replied pointedly as if it wasn't obvious. Then he kissed her on the lips but she broke away quickly.
"Can't you see I am on the phone?" she replied as pointedly as his previous reply.
"Of course, I can see that," he replied kissing her jaw. "And I told you not to answer it." Then he kissed her neck lovingly.
"Gomez! Stop it!"
"I won't" he muttered under his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing, Cara,"
She narrowed her eyes on him and returned to her call. "I am sorry about that,"
"It is okay, I guess," the lady replied.
"What did you call for?" she asked again.
"Oh! Yes! I would like to speak with Gomez Addams, please?"
"Gomez? My, my… I think Mr. Addams is not available at the moment. He seems quite busy at this time. Would you like to leave a message?" she looked at him who happily nodded his head and kissed her shoulder.
"Well, this is an emergency," the lady replied impatiently.
"Emergency?" she questioned raising her eyebrow at him. He shook his head in which she smiled at. "I am afraid that he is very busy with some… uh… I should say business with his wife." She answered with a misleading gleam in his and her eyes.
"Very clever, my darling wife," he murmured and kissed her mouth that parted in a smile.
"Hush!" she whispered against his mouth.
"Wife?! He never told me that he has a wife," the lady replied with a surprise tone in her voice.
"Excuse me?" she replied raising again her eyebrow, though this time much higher. He gave her a questioning look but she pushed him away with anger that he thought was just mock.
"No, he hasn't. Now will you get him for me?"
"My Love, what is it?" Gomez suddenly blurted out loudly making the woman on the other end gasp loudly in surprise.
"'My Love'?! Gomez, who are you calling 'My Love'? I thought I was the one you love?!"
Looking incredulously at him, Morticia asked, "Gomez?"
"What are you talking about? Tish, you believe her?" he took the phone from her hand. "Who are you?"
"What kind of question is that? I am Jenifer! The one you slept with a month and a week ago! The one you told that you love! And I have good news! I am pregnant! Remember when you asked me if I will marry you? Well my answer is yes!"
That was all he need to hear, he slammed down the receiver back to its hook. He looked at his wife who was still under him. She never looked shocked in her life. She heard some glitches from the conversation due to the extreme excitement of the lady that made her shout in happiness.
"Tish! That wasn't true!" he said holding her shoulders. But she slapped it away with real anger which surprised him.
"Get away from me!" she cried. With great force, she threw him away from her.
He stared at her with big eyes.
"You told me that you were in a business trip then. But now, I know that you were just lying to me!" she said quietly as tears slid down her eyes. "Now tell me, since when did you start to do that?"
He walked closer to him and he tried to wipe her tears but she pushed him away. "Morticia, stop this nonsense!"
"You call this nonsense, Gomez? You are betraying me and still you call this nonsense?"
"Morticia, you are the only one that I ever loved! I will do anything for you!" he walked closer again to her. "I will DIE for –"
SLAP!
She slapped him hard on the cheek. His first ever since. His first since they got married. They did have heated words, they did have arguments, but she never ever had slapped him. Now he knew the feeling of being slapped by a wife that was usually being talked about between him and his friends. He was so proud to say that he hasn't been slapped and thought that he'll never get to be. But now, he officially has been slapped.
What even kills him was the parting words of Morticia before she walked out on him, "Where is your loyalty, Gomez?"
She left the library and started to go towards their bedroom when she collided with Wednesday.
She wiped her tears and smiled at her.
"I am sorry about that, darling. I am just a little preoccupied. How was your day?"
"It was exceptionally fantastic, Mother," she replied. Then she eyed her mother. "You have been crying. Is there anything wrong?"
"No! No, everything is fine," she paused for a moment. "I shall now go to my room. Excuse me, darling."
Then she left her puzzled. Wednesday looked around the room and saw her father following her mother's movements with his eyes by the library door. She looked more closely at him and noticed that he was shirtless and his chest was blood streaked.
She gave him a questioning look but he just shook his head and went back inside the library and slammed the door shut.
She frowned and again scanned the room. She saw Thing and stood next to him.
"What is going on?" she asked him. She gave him a sheet of paper and a pen for him to write on.
The decapitated hand wrote: Gomez and Morticia fought. She slapped him.
"'Slapped him'?!" she incredulously repeated. "Mother slapped Father?! This is unspeakable!" she looked back at the hand. "Do you know why they fought? What happened entirely?"
I don't know why they fought. All I heard was the slap and Morticia crying.
"Something terrible happened that made Mother cry and slap Father. But what might it be?" she looked back at him who tapped the table as if to shrug. Then she looked up the stairs that her mother mounted through, then back to the closed door of the library and she sighed in frustration. Finally, she gave up and went upstairs to her room wearing a frown on her face.
She stayed there until dinner time. At last, she decided to go down and eat with her family.
At least, that was she though. As she entered the dining room, she saw that her parents weren't on their usual chair, nor in the room. She sighed to herself and settled down to the chair next to the empty one which belonged to Morticia.
No one seemed to notice the absence of her parents. Well, not until two hours passed and food wasn't served yet because they were waiting for them.
"Where are they?" asked Pubert.
"Do you think maybe we should start dinner now without them?" asked Fester. "It is getting late."
"Maybe they are busy right now," suggested Granny. "You know… the usual thing they do?"
"No they are not," Wednesday found herself saying.
"Do you know what is happening, Wednesday?" asked Fester curiously.
"Thing told me," she replied. Then everyone looked at Thing who hid under the table in surprise. Seeing that, everyone looked at Wednesday with questioning looks.
"What happened," asked Granny.
"Well, as Thing told me," she began. "Mother and Father were in the library when he heard Mother slap Father then she was crying. I suppose they were arguing about something. Then I collided with Mother on my way upstairs and she really was crying. And she told me that she was preoccupied. Then she climbed the stairs to her room."
Silence filled the room as Granny served their dinner. Nobody actually ate except ate except for Pugsley. Wednesday played with her food while all the adults thought deeply. Pubert, on the other hand kept murmuring, "Mother slapped Father" irritating his sister.
"Excuse me," she finally said. She stood up and left the room. She passed the library. The door was slightly ajar and she saw a glimpse of her father. She was about to knock when she realized that she doesn't know what to ask so she just took her hand in and went upstairs. She thought of going to her mother and decided against it.
Morticia, on the other hand, stayed in her room all through out the night. She lay there, crying hard. She never thought that Gomez will ever betray her. She didn't notice time go by. She just let her eyes produce tears after tears. Finally, she fell asleep.
She woke up very early the next morning than she expected. And the moment she opened her eyes, the yesterday's thoughts came flooding back in. Then for the second time, she cried again.
Time passed again and neither Morticia nor Gomez came out of their as if hiding places worrying Granny and Fester. However, they tried to hide it for the children's sake.
"This is very unlike Morticia and Gomez. They do not stay mad at each other for so long," Fester told Granny once they were alone. They were sitting inside the den with the doors closed, though no one would hear them since the children are already at school and since Morticia and Gomez never left their places.
Dementia stroke his back with great sympathy.
"Indeed!" agreed Granny. "I have a feeling that this is not an ordinary fight. Morticia would never lose her temper and slap Gomez if it is a regular argument that couples experience.
"Neither of them appeared since they fought. It is getting obvious for the children," he added.
"Well, maybe by dinner tonight, they would already back in each other's arms," suggested Dementia.
"Maybe…" said Fester although he is not counting on this.
"… And maybe not," finished Granny uncertainly.
"Mama, is Mother already here?" Wednesday asked as soon as she arrived home with Pugsley and Pubert.
"Yes, she is here…" Granny slowly replied.
"But…?" she pressed.
"But she is still inside your parents' room," she finished at which Wednesday nodded at.
"I will go now to my room," she said feeling depressed. Her brothers went up the stairs on her heels and went to their own separate rooms.
As she went down the stairs, Wednesday braced herself on the thought that her parents would be once again absent in the dining table. But as she entered the dining room, she realized that her thought was completely wrong – at least half wrong – she braced herself for the wrong reason. There, sitting on his usual chair, as if nothing happened, sat Gomez.
She sighed in relief and went to her own chair. But abruptly stopped when she saw that the chair beside her is still empty. She scowled and sat down.
"There is no need to scowl, Wednesday," a cold, familiar voice said seeing her expression. Everyone around the table looked up and saw Morticia standing by the doorway, her figure framed by the open door.
Wednesday smiled a little out of satisfaction that they will be eating as a whole. Her mother crossed the room just to be seated beside her father, obviously avoiding him.
The family had dinner together with a silent note, which was rather unusual since the heads of the family are not speaking at all to each other, which blew the unexpected happiness of Wednesday on the thought that her parents are already in good terms.
Somewhere in the middle of the dinner, the telephone rang.
"I will get it," volunteered Morticia, who was glad to have a break from seeing her husband. She crossed the room to get the ringing telephone. Gomez watched her movements wordlessly.
"Addams residence," she said picking up the telephone.
"I would like to speak to Gomez," a woman's voice that is a bit familiar to Morticia on the other end said.
"Who is this?" she asked feeling a small creature inside her chest be outraged.
"Jenifer,"
"Oh! Jenifer!" she said a bit forcefully. "Please do hold on for a moment. I will call Gomez for you, Jenifer," she said sarcastically before putting the receiver down and went back to the dining room. "Gomez!" she called surprising most of the elder family members for she addressed him though they are still not in speaking terms. She leaned on the doorway as she continue, "The call was for you. Your mistress, I think, is calling. She said she wants to talk to you. Although she didn't mention whether it was emergency or not."
The room silenced hearing her sarcastic taunt.
"Mi – mistress?" Wednesday incredulously repeated in a whisper. She looked at her father in surprise.
"Tell her… tell her I am not here," Gomez replied.
"Oh! So you are commanding me to tell your mistress –" she emphasized the word, "that you are not here when you are? Are you not commanding me to lie for you?" she retorted.
He put his head on his palms momentarily. Then he stood up and walked out the room.
He stopped just beside her and said, "Morticia, please –"
"Your loving mistress is waiting," she interrupted rudely. "Maybe to talk about your upcoming baby. Go on!"
He stared at her but on the sight of her cold eyes; he felt hurt and looked down as he walks to the awaiting phone to answer it.
Meanwhile, Morticia returned to her seat feeling a bit sad.
"What mistress are you talking about, Mother?" Wednesday asked, finally breaking the long silence.
"Do not ask me, Wednesday, I do not know much about that topic. You better ask your father to get more accurate answer."
"I do not care about having an accurate answer, Mother. I simply want answers, no matter how inaccurate they are."
"I told you, I do not know much of that topic,"
"MOTHER! PLEASE! ANSWER ME!" she cried alarming the rest of the family.
Morticia looked at her daughter and sighed. "Your father is having an affair with another woman. Her name is Jenifer –" she saw Wednesday made a face at the name who mumbled, "What a name." "And she is pregnant. With your father's blood running through his or her veins."
"She… she is not my mistress," Gomez said appearing by the door. "And I am not having an affair."
Morticia looked up at him and stood up. "Is there any other Gomez Addams in this place? As far as I know, you are the Gomez Addams here. Then who else is that Jenifer talking about? Tell me."
"I told you many times, Tish, I was in a business trip during her said date!"
"You think I will still believe you?"
"Is there a reason not to believe me?"
"You answer your own question,"
"Well for me, there are all means for you to believe me.
"Did I smell like I've slept with another woman when I arrive? Don't you think I've been faithful with you for a long time? And besides, why on earth should I be unfaithful? After all these years?!"
"Precisely! After all theses years…" her voice faded. Then after a minute, she continued, "Then if it wasn't you –"
"It was not me! Never!" he cut in.
"Let me finish," she snapped impatiently. "If it wasn't you, then who is that Gomez Addams she is talking about?"
"I don't know and I do not care. Not a single thought! I don't care because I haven't slept whit her!"
She looked at him intently in the eyes. "Prove it then," she simply said. Then for the second time, the room was filled with silence.
"How am I supposed to prove it?" he asked finally.
"I do not know, you are the one lying."
"I am not lying!"
"Then as I've said, prove it! Prove that you are not –" her words were interrupted by his kiss on her lips. However, she pulled back and pushed him away. "Do you think I will fall for that, Gomez?"
"You told me to –"
"I told you to prove that you were not lying to me, not kiss me,"
"The letters!" he suddenly commented out loud.
"What letters are you talking about?" she asked with her eyebrow raised.
"The letters I sent you during my trip."
"Stop being ridiculous, Gomez! You sent me no letter."
"I did! I even sent packages for the children, for Mama, Fester and Dementia, Thing, Lurch, and of course, for you!"
"We did not receive anything, Gomez," Fester suddenly said surprising Gomez.
"You promised me that you will buy me a chemistry set, Father," added Pubert.
"And a box of TNT," supplied Pugsley.
"Impossible!" he cried.
"Preposterous, isn't it?" Morticia said. Then she sighed. "I thought so. I thought it was impossible for you not to send even a single little letter for the family. I thought it was impossible for you not to give anything for the children. But you know what the most impossible thing is? It is that you betrayed me. Even worse is that you are having an affair with another woman. She must be younger, isn't she? Of course, yes. It just proves that you now do not desire me because I am now just an old useless ball and chain! Too rusty to be used, and far too much used. Excuse me," she said in one breath. She looked searchingly at him before walking out of the room.
He looked at his family who are staring back at him. "That was not true," he said carefully but they just ignored him and stood up to go.
Wednesday stayed behind and murmured to her father, "Are you not accusing Mother for lying with that statement?"
He was taken aback by her accusation. "No! Of course not!"
"Then what do you mean by 'That was not true'?" she simply asked. "I think that simply means that you are having a conviction that what Mother was telling us is not true, or otherwise known as lie. Excuse me, Father," she finally said and left him inside the room, completely in ruins.
Weeks passed and Morticia's attitude towards Gomez never changed. The children, instead of being frustrated with their parents' acts, somehow learned to ignore it and grew into it. Gomez, however, moved back to the space beside his wife on the bed inside their bedroom, thinking that maybe, things between him and her wife would work out with them together. But obviously, Morticia is not looking forward on being together with him, she spent much of her time tending her garden of carnivorous plants and avoiding him.
One day, the telephone rang. Gomez was already awake on their bed and heard it ringing. To let nobody to be woken up by the telephone, he answered it himself, not knowing that his wife is already awake.
"Addams residence," he said.
"Hi! It is me, Jenifer! Is this Gomez?"
He had the thought of lying but stopped himself in time. "Jenifer," he sighed scornfully. "Will you stop calling me?"
"Why would I?" she asked chuckling a bit. "You are the father of our child!"
"Listen to me, okay? Listen to me intently,"
"Sure!"
"And keep quiet!" he almost screamed at her. "I am not the father of your unborn child! I never slept with you! I was in a business trip on the date you said I slept with you."
"Bu – but, you said you are Gomez Addams!" she replied sputtering,
"I am Gomez Addams, but I never slept with you! And you know what happened the last time you called? My wife got mad and slapped me hard on the face! Up until now, her ire did not vanish! She would not even talk to me! I love her with all my heart, but how on earth could I prove that I never slept with you if she is not talking to me?"
"B – but, I did slept with you! You kissed me! You told me that you love me! You even asked me if I will marry you," then she started crying. "You told me that your name is Gomez Addams."
"Don't cry," he said feeling a bit sorry for her. "Tell me, how did the man you slept with looked like?"
"He's tall, blonde, has strong hands…"
"Does he have chest hair and mustache?"
"No and no."
"See? The man you slept with wasn't me!"
"His nose was perfect," she continued ignoring his reply. "His eyes are somewhat Chinese- like and he has fine, thin lips."
Gomez grabbed a sheet of paper and pen and drew out an artist sketch of the person Jenifer was talking about. "How do his eyebrows and ears looked like?"
"He has thick bushy eyebrows and long eyelashes. His ears? A little pointed, you know, like elves. Oh! And he has a little heart earring with an engraved 'M' on it on his right ear. And! I almost forgot! His blond hair was on the messy side."
Morticia noted the sincerity in his hurt sounding voice. Very slowly, she turned around to face her husband, who is oblivious of her at the moment. She saw what he was sketching looked horribly familiar, like as if she once had a horrible moment with the man. She stared at it for a while as he stared at it as well.
"Nicholas Nicholson," she and Gomez gasped out at the same time. A chill ran down her spine remembering the threatening time she was with Nicholas.
He looked beside him at her in surprise.
"I… I did not notice you were already awake," he stuttered unexpectedly.
"Uh… do… do not worry about it… I… I better go," she replied uncertainly.
"Morticia…" he found himself saying as he placed his hand above hers lightly. "Please don't…"
She found his hand her comfort her deeply. She needed no further encouragement, and stayed on the bed with her hand under his. There was a certain oddity around the room that they both cannot understand.
"Hello? Gomez? Are you still there?" Jenifer suddenly said surprising him.
"Uh, yes, I am still here," he replied realizing that he was still holding the telephone next to his ear. He felt her cold hand under his warm one and felt satisfied.
"What were you saying?"
"Huh? Oh! I have a feeling that the man that you slept with was Nicholas Nicholson."
"You know him?"
"Yes… uh, Jenifer? Can we talk later? Something is going… can I just… uh…"
"Sure… I am going to the doctor by the way. 'Bye." Then the line went dead. He placed the receiver back to its hook. Then he squeezed Morticia's hand before looking at her.
"Was that true?" she asked softly.
"Everything that you heard."
"I am sorry if…if I never believed you."
"You have the right to be mad," he admitted. "Just… don't slap me again." He held her face with both hands. She smiled at him as a single tear slid down her cheek. He wiped the tear away and looked at her intently.
"What was the tear for?"
"You should have known how it hurt me."
"It is nobody's fault really… but Tish, let me tell you something. I don't care if you are an old ball and chain. Because to me, you are always young. You are never useless to me. You are never what you say 'rusty' to me. And I will never, ever betray you." Then he moved his head closer to hers.
"Prove it," she whispered.
"It will be my pleasure," he replied as his warm lips met her cold ones. "I've missed you."
She nodded. "It has been too long."
Months passed and their lives returned back to normal, or what is normal for the Addams family.
One night, Morticia found Gomez by the window staring outside. She stood next to him.
"It is a miserable night," she commented seeing the weather outside. "Couldn't get any worse." She looked at him and he looked at her.
"You've heard the news?" she asked. He shook his head.
"Your mistress' child was gone. She got miscarriage. My greatest condolences," she announced in a cold distant voice. He looked at her in surprise.
"I thought you were…" he started but then saw a small glint in her eyes. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer with a smile. "Don't tease."
Then, they kissed.