Jill had already put the baby to sleep. She smiled softly as she watched her son in the crib and started stroking his thin silver hair. Just like his father, she thought. Jill blinked back tears. Just thinking of her husband made her cry.

He wasn't home yet. She glanced at the clock, 1:00 am. He would arrive in an hour as he usually did these days... She would pretend to be asleep as soon as she heard the creaking hinges of the door that she purposely never oils. If she finished her farmwork early she'd even leave her husband his favorite dish: curry. Once he got home he'd eat it, change out of his clothes, maybe check on the baby for a while, and then crawl into bed with Jill. He'd reek of female perfume and alcohol. In the morning he'd have a hangover and Jill would ask if he was okay. He would stay in bed until noon and blame in on his low blood pressure. Jill is never there when he wakes up. But his lunch and a bottle of aspirin would always be on the counter.

Jill never understood why she stayed with him. She'd cry herself to sleep every night but he would always be too drunk to notice. She knew he was sleeping around. He knew she knew he was sleeping around. There was an elephant in the room but nobody wanted to talk about it.

They had been so in love once. It seems so long ago now. Before they got married they would sit at the edge of the Goddess Pond or maybe even dip their feet in. They'd talk about running away together, getting married, having 2 or 3 kids and many grandchildren, growing old together...

What happened?

Jill was crying now. She barely heard the front door open but she was able to wipe her tears in time.

A silver-haired man sauntered into the room. His hair was all ruffled and messed up and his clothing was hastily put on. He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed Jill.

"You're still awake."

"Overtime at work today, Skye?" Despite her weak attempt at humor, Jill's expression remained melancholic.

Skye shrugged. "Something like that."

"Who was it today?"

"What?"

"I said, who was it today? Muffy? Or Lumina? The whole valley knows how much the girl adores you." Jill's voice was turning to a shout.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Skye's voice was stoic.

"Stop it, Skye. We both know what's going on. Stop pretending already."

Skye exhaled a long breath of relief. "Thank the Goddess! I thought I was going to have to keep this up forever. We can arrange the papers in the morning. You can keep the baby until he's old enough then he can visit me in the weekends. He's still my son aft-"

At this, Jill snapped. She stopped him mid sentence with a slap. Tears were streaming down her face. "You insensitive bastard... Do you have any idea how much I have sacrificed and endured knowing that you were cheating on me? I never said a thing. I was even kind to you! Did you not even feel the tiniest guilt? I kept it together because I knew it was partly my fault. I wasn't enough for you anymore. I was boring you..." She said the last two sentences in a hoarse whisper. "But you know what really made me hold it together? It was the fact that we had a child! Dear Goddess, you of all people should know what it's like growing up without a father! And you want to do the same to our kid?!"

All the shouting woke the baby. His cries filled the momentary silence that fell between the couple. Jill picked him up and rocked him in her arms. She hummed quietly and shushed the baby back to sleep. Skye's eyes followed her every movement. It was a while before Jill was able to put the baby back in its crib. By the time, the two were somewhat calmed.

"Leave." Her voice was shaky but it was sure.

Skye blinked, surprised that she changed her mind so quickly. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again.

"Leave now. Take your things with you and go." Her voice threatened to crack.

Skye didn't protest. He'd gotten what he wanted after all. He managed to jam all his belongings into one bag.

Before getting out, he kissed his son's forehead and nodded to Jill. Then closed the door behind him.

The sun was almost up. Ironic how the new day symbolized hope when he had so little of it left. He stood there for a while, watching the sunrise when he heard the door creaking open. He turned around and saw Jill leaning on the doorframe, looking down on the grass.

"If you ever find that the world isn't as welcoming of you as you expected, you're always free to come back home." She raised her head and looked him directly in the eyes. With a small smile she said, "It won't be too late to live in our own little world like we always talked about."

Skye returned her smile. "Maybe I will."

"That's good enough for me." She replied.

Maybe the new day wasn't so ironic.