“D’you want sausages or scrambled eggs?” asked Katherine. Alex was at the table, scrolling through his phone.
“Sausages. Just none of your experimental stuff,” he grumbled.
Katherine sighed. Little Emily was snuffling in her arms, and cooking wasn’t easy one-handed.
“Could you hold Emily for a bit?” she asked carefully.
“Just a sec, let me finish this,” Alex waved her off.
Emily started whimpering. Katherine tried to soothe her while flipping the sausages. One burned.
“Burnt again?” Alex frowned. “Maybe pay a bit more attention?”
“Or maybe you could help?” she shot back sharply.
“Oh, here we go… I’m the one working, providing for this family.”
“And what am I doing? My job’s 24/7. No days off.”
Katherine wordlessly slid a plate in front of him. They used to be a proper team. Now it felt like she was dragging everything on her own.
The days blurred into one. One evening, Katherine finally bit the bullet.
“Alex, we need to talk. You’re always busy—work, games, your phone. What about me? What about Emily?”
“Kate, not this again. I do everything for you two.”
“But it’s not enough. Family isn’t just money. It’s care, attention, *help*.”
“That’s your job,” he shrugged.
“I want you to be part of this family. I’m tired of doing it all alone.”
“I’m knackered after work, Kate. I need time to myself.”
“And what about *me*?” Her throat tightened.
Just then, Emily started crying from the nursery. Alex didn’t even stir.
After maternity leave, Katherine started a new job. Mornings began at 5 AM now. Alex still never lifted a finger around the house. One evening, she got held up at work. When she walked in, it was nearly nine. The flat was dim, the kitchen piled with dirty dishes. Alex was sprawled on the sofa.
“Gonna make dinner?” he asked instead of hello.
“Seriously? I’m late, and you couldn’t even wash up?”
“I’m tired.”
“Where’s Emily?”
“Asleep. Ordered her a pizza.”
Katherine walked to the kitchen silently, hands shaking. Once, checking her account, she spotted Alex had taken two grand from her savings for a new laptop—no warning.
“*Your* money? Since when?” he’d scoffed. “It’s all shared in a family.”
“Shared? But when I ask for help, suddenly it’s *your* money paying for everything?”
The last straw was Emily’s birthday. Katherine spent a week prepping. Alex promised to come early and help.
*”Sorry, stuck at work. You’ll manage,”* he texted an hour before.
Katherine stared at the message. Something inside her snapped. That night, tucking Emily in, she made her choice.
Alex came home later than usual.
“Kate, iron my shirt for tomorrow. And where’s dinner?”
She turned slowly.
“Sort yourself out. Cook, clean, earn your own money. I’m not your maid.”
She walked to the bedroom, pulled out a packed bag.
“Where d’you think you’re going?” Alex blocked the doorway.
“No—I’m *stopping*. I can’t do this anymore.”
“What’s the problem? We’re normal!”
“Normal? Lonely *together*? You checked out ages ago, Alex. You do your thing, and I’m just… staff.”
She stepped past him into the nursery, lifted a sleepy Emily.
“Wait!” He blocked her. “We’ve got a family, a kid—”
“Family? We stopped being that a long time ago.”
“Don’t. I’ve made up my mind.”
The tiny rented flat was quiet when they arrived. Her phone blew up—Alex alternating between threats and begging.
“I’ll fix it,” he pleaded.
“No, Alex. You won’t. Because you don’t even *see* what’s broken.”
Weeks passed. Katherine settled in, surprised to find herself smiling in mornings again, the bone-deep exhaustion fading.
Alex kept calling, but less often. Once, he showed up at her work with flowers.
“Let’s try again. I get it now.”
“Too late,” she said softly. “I don’t believe promises anymore.”
Gradually, she realised how much *time* she had now. Signed up for courses, saw mates more. Most of all—she finally heard *herself*.
Now, falling asleep in that little flat, Katherine wasn’t lonely. She was *herself*. And that freedom was worth every fear along the way.
