Jim woke up on the sofa like usual, his head pounding. He checked his watch.
6.34am.
He groaned and realised Sarah would still be in the house. She usually got up at 6 and left by 7. He didn't want to have to face her disappointed look again. He knew last night was messy like most other nights and the morning after was always uncomfortable for them both. He preferred the mornings where he slept later and missed her all together.
He looked over to the coffee table and saw a picture of him and Sarah on their wedding day. He remembered that day well; she had worn a white dress and let her dreadlocks hang lose. He had worn a suit that was uncomfortable as hell. They had been happy that day. He reached out a hand and put the picture face down.
He closed his eyes and tried to listen to work out where Sarah was in the house. He heard a few clings and realised she was in the kitchen. He sat up and contemplated going to see her.
He knew she'd come into the living room before she left to check he was still breathing. At first she always came to check on him to make sure he was alright, but now it was more out of habit than genuine care. As a telepath she could always tell if he was or wasn't sleeping, he'd learnt that the hard way when he had tried to pretend he was asleep to avoid her.
He pushed himself off the sofa and onto his feet. He closed his eyes as his head recovered from the sudden movement. He motivated himself to the kitchen that Sarah was in with the promise of pain killers.
He pushed open the door gently and saw Sarah busy preparing some type of food. He saw she was dressed in a plain blue dress and her dreadlocks were pulled back off her face. He used to like that dress on her, it clung to her in all the right areas, but now it, and the memories of him touching her in it, annoyed him. He was at least impressed it hid the pregnancy weight she was istill carrying.
She turned her head as she heard the door, she gave him a neutral look that lasted no more than a second and continued cutting some fruit.
Jim saw their daughter was sat in a baby chair by the table. He looked at her for a moment before heading towards her. He placed a kiss on the baby's head and then headed for the cupboard with the headache pills.
Sarah heard Jim kiss their daughter and she wanted to yell at him. She wanted to yell at him for touching Karol when he'd shown no interest in doing so in weeks and she wanted to yell at him for not picking her up and showering her in love.
Jim pulled the box of pills from the cupboard and pulled out the small foiled covered pack from inside it. He popped out two pills and threw the box back in the cupboard. He was surprised when Sarah placed a glass of water down beside him.
He looked at her but she had already gone back to making her breakfast. He knew he should say thanks but he didn't and swallowed the two pills down with the water she'd given him.
Sarah finished preparing her breakfast of fruit and yogurt and sat down at the table. The burn mark on the wooden table from Jim's cigarette caught her eye for a minute but she ignored it.
Jim heard Sarah munching her food and found it irritating, but he was impressed she was sticking to her diet at least. Jim understood women gained weight during pregnancy but he didn't think it suited Sarah; he was used to seeing her in perfect toned shape and that suited her. He was happy with her increased bust size however, the one part of her body he was actually still attracted to. He hate to say it but he found her more attractive as the Queen of Blades. She'd lost most of her confidence since then and it showed in the way she carried herself.
Sarah tried to push Jim's thoughts away from her and stabbed at the fruit in her bowl with her spoon, pretending it was Jim's head. She didn't know if he'd looked in the mirror lately but he was hardly perfect.
Jim walked to the fridge and opened it, hoping there was some supplies for some kind of fried meat sandwich. He looked inside and was disappointed by what he saw. A few bottles of baby milk, fruit, half a lettuce, yogurt, and 3 eggs. He glared at the back of Sarah's head, annoyed she hadn't been shopping.
She wanted to tell him to go do his own shopping.
He saw the empty whisky bottle was still on the counter and realised how good a glass of what would be right now. He picked up the bottle and threw it in the bin. 'Such a waste' he thought. He took his glass of water and sat down at the table opposite Sarah. He angled his body towards Karol and stared at her.
"You can pick her up," Sarah said hoping he'd take some interest in their daughter.
He looked coldly at Sarah, "I don't need your permission to hold my daughter." He looked back at Karol and reached a hand out to her. The baby grabbed his fingers and smiled at her father.
Sarah saw Karol respond positively to Jim and felt angry. She was angry that their daughter wasn't angry at him like she was. She was angry that their daughter didn't realise her father had ignored her for weeks. She was angry that their daughter could easily smile at a little bit of attention from him. She was angry that their daughter could get attention from him.
Sarah had pushed Jim away every time he tried to touch her since she was about 7 months pregnant. It wasn't that she didn't want Jim to touch her, but she could hear his thoughts about how much he hated her larger body. Jim's thoughts about her had gotten worse since the birth to the point she wouldn't even let him see her naked. She barely remembered there even was a time where the very hint of her clevage would have sent Jim into a lustful frenzy.
"We have to go," Sarah said as she saw the little girl enjoy her father's company. She stood and picked Karol up.
Karol started to cry at being picked up and taken away from playing with her father's fingers.
Jim watched as Sarah did nothing to soothe the baby's cries. He wondered if he should step in and take the baby from her, but he realised he was as bad a parent as she was.
Sarah heard his thoughts and they hurt. She wanted to shout at him but she knew he was right. She held Karol closer to her and rubbed her shoulder. "Don't cry," she whispered to her softly as they left the room.
'Bitch' Jim thought as she left. He looked over to Sarah's half eaten breakfast and frowned at it. He figured he'd grab something on the way to work, maybe pick up a bottle or two to replace the one Sarah emptied last night. He'd have to find a new hiding place.
Sarah heard the 'bitch' comment as she walked into the living room and then she saw the turned over photo on the coffee table. She left it where it was as she left their house with Karol.
Note: Karol was the name of Jim's mother.
