Chapter 8
"Why is she thanking me for this?" I asked.
David took the phone, read Elaine's message, and his frown deepened.
"I never told her to message you," he said.
"But she knows that money came from me. She has to thank me," I said.
"Sophia, she's just trying to explain so you wouldn't think something's off," David said.
"What exactly am I supposed to be confused about?" I shot back.
He pulled out a chair and sat down, leaning forward like he was about to negotiate something tricky.
"Elaine needed 80,000 dollars for the down payment. Her current lease is up at the end of the month, and the landlord won't renew it.
"The place at Willow Creek Residences is small, and the total price is reasonable. Once she pays the down payment, she'll handle the mortgage herself," he explained.
"Who's the owner on the deed?" I asked.
"Of course, it's in her name," he replied.
"Did you even write an IOU for the money?" I asked.
David paused.
"Come on, we've known each other forever. There's really no need for that," he said.
"So you're not actually lending it to her, huh?" I said.
"Sophia," David said, his tone getting sharper.
"I already told you, I'll put the money back into the joint account," he said.
"When?" I pressed.
"After the company's year-end bonuses come in," he replied.
"And what if there are no bonuses?" I asked.
"The company's doing fine. There's no way there won't be bonuses," he said.
"You've been covering her rent for seventeen months. Are you planning to pay me back for all that too?" I asked.
He stayed silent.
I opened the calculator and started punching in the numbers, 4,000 a month, plus property fees, parking fees, and the 80,000 from yesterday.
148,000 dollars.
And that doesn't even include all those little transfers.
I pushed the calculator toward him.
"We've been married two and a half years, and you've spent 148,000 dollars on your ex-wife," I said.
"That was from my own income," he shot back.
"Your paycheck goes straight into our joint account, and after I stopped working, everything for the house came out of there too.
"You kept telling me there was never anything left at the end of the month, and pushed me to get back to work as soon as I had the baby. Turns out, it wasn't that there was nothing left. It's just that you were spending it all on her," I said.
"Do you really have to count every dollar?" David said, sounding annoyed.
"You already made sure you get your half," I shot back.
He was left speechless for a few seconds, then got up and went to check on Max.
Max rolled over and let out a soft little whimper. David stood by the crib, tucking the blanket around him, and when he came back out, his expression had softened a bit.
"I messed up with the money. From now on, I'll let you know before I touch the joint account," he said.
"From now on?" I asked.
"Elaine's house is taken care of now. There won't be any more major spending for her," he said.
He sat down next to me and reached for my hand.
"Today's baptism was a mess. My mom and Elaine both crossed the line. You just finished your postpartum recovery, and your feelings are sensitive right now. I'm not going to argue with you," he said.
I moved my hand away.
"So you think I'm having postpartum mood swings?" I asked, staring at him.
"That's not what I said," he replied.
"But you just said my emotions are all over the place," I shot back.
"You've been upset about the brooch, the seat, the photos, and now the house payment. Any one of these things alone wouldn't have made you this upset," he said.
I looked at him. "So what am I supposed to do then?"
"Elaine wore the wrong brooch, but she already took it off. She sat in the main seat for a while, but then gave it up. The photographer got the photos mixed up. They'll be deleted. The house money, I'll pay it back," David said, rattling it all off like it was no big deal.
He ticked off each issue, treating them like nothing more than specks of dust he could just flick away.
"Everything's fixable. If you keep harping on it, it's only going to exhaust everyone," he said.
Max suddenly started crying.
I got up and walked to the nursery, David following me.
Max needed a diaper change. I unwrapped him, cleaned him up, put on some diaper cream, and swapped in a fresh diaper. David stood nearby, handed me some wipes, but his phone kept buzzing in his pocket.