The invisible wife

Amara’s pregnancy

Shutting made it worse. Her voice was heavy. Her words were so real, making him feel uncomfortable and unsettled.

In the morning, he turned his to the other side of the bed, glancing at the empty space. Amara did not come to bed. He did not notice her leaving the room.

He sat up, rubbing his face slowly.

“What are you doing, Daniel?. Clearly this time I have drawn the line. I made her know she's not wanted, but yet still cares about her feelings. The look in her eyes when she asked what she was supposed to do so i could stay”. he muttered to himself.

That wasn’t anger anymore, that was someone trying to fix things. But he doesn't love her, that was true, anyways.

Daniel paced around the room, confused and searching for answers that had refused to come.

“I don't have the right to treat her this way no matter what”, He said.

He stopped pacing, running his hand through his hair.

“Mum said I can’t change everything overnight, I can’t start loving her immediately… but I can at least not be a complete coward”.

That statement felt strange, but necessary. Even at that, something else crept in. Fear of his father’s warning.

“Dad wasn't joking this time and I know that. Everything I owned is tied to my name, my comfort. If I walk away from this marriage, I am walking away from all of me. I'm not ready for that, even if I will eventually.

This is an option, I just have to play along

Be the husband they want me to be. Be what they expected. Even if i had to fake it all the time”.

He tightened his jaw slightly.

“Just until things settle,” he told himself, though he didn’t fully believe it. “Just… keep the peace.”

But deep down, he knew this wasn’t just about peace.

It was survival.

This morning was for him to prepare his mind on how to handle the situation. When he got back home in the evening, Amara was already sleeping, so he let her be.

The next morning, Daniel stood at the front of the mirror, he was feeling tense. It's not as if he hasn't faced Amara before, why does he feel guilty and uneasy. Maybe because today he had to act.

Amara seated at the dining table, holding her tea cup, she looked composed. Daniel walked up to her.

“Good morning Wifey”, he said.

The words felt foreign on his tongue.

Amara shocked, paused for a few seconds, not knowing how to respond.

“Morning”, she responded politely but void.

That's it.

No questioning.

Just acknowledgement.

Daniel pulled out a chair close to her, clearing his throat lightly. “Did you… sleep well?”

She let out a little, almost invisible breath immediately the question exhausted her. “Yes I did”.

He nodded gently, not knowing what he should say next. This is harder than he thought.

Being real has always been easy. But this carefully measured version of him felt unnatural but he still had to push.

“I was thinking, maybe we could… try to make things less… suffocating around here”, his voice softer.

Amara paid attention hearing this.

She looked at him, trying to know what has come over him or maybe he was just pretending.

“Try?” she repeated.

“Yeah, I mean… we shouldn't make it harder than it already is”.

“And what does ‘trying’ look like to you, Daniel?”

There it was.

The question he didn’t fully have an answer to.

“I want us to be more civil with each other”, he shifted his seat slightly. “Respect and decency, you know...”

Amara’s expression didn’t change, but something in her eyes did, something cautious.

“Civil, so that's what you want, that's what we are now?”

“It's a start, Amara”. Daniel felt that sting, but he had to mask it quickly.

“And why the sudden change?” She folded her arms, leaning back on her chair. “Is it because of your selfishness?”,She added.

“I had realized I handled things badly, you don't deserve it, and I want to make it up to you. I want to start taking responsibilities”. He admitted.

Amara watched for a moment, searching for sincerity or maybe consistency.

“Daniel, people don't change overnight”, She said.

“Yeah I know, and I am not saying I have, all I am saying is, I am willing to try” he replied quietly.

This time the silence between them was manageable.

She picked up her tea cup, wrapping her fingers slowly around the cup.

After a moment she said, “trying goes both ways”.

He nodded, "I understand”. And for now that's enough.

While seated there, one truth echoed loudly in Daniel's mind. This isn’t for love. He is doing it because he's afraid of losing everything and starting over.

Afraid of not having what he used to have, what he is known for.

So he had to play along. Being presence and attentive husband. Even if it means to become someone he doesn't recognise.

And maybe if he plays his role well, things could start feeling real or at least convincing to everyone to believe.

As time went on, Daniel kept his word or at least played his part well enough that made it believable.

The house begins to change. The distance between them was replaced with calm conversation, small, careful steps, and then it begins to feel almost natural.

Coming home early, noticing the little things. Giving her gifts, nothing too extravagant at first.

Amara noticed it.

She actually did, how could she not.

She did not believe it, she had to watch him closely, waiting for his act to slip off, for his real person to return but day after day, he remains as he is.

He was present, gentle and kind.

Against her will, she began to lower her guard.

On a very cold evening, they sat down together in the living room, laughing together. Daniel paused watching her, in the moment something lingering longer than it should have. They kissed. Amara's heart raced. She wasn’t expecting that to happen.

Daniel didn’t say anything. But something shifted.

The connection between them grew, not sudden, it wasn’t forced. They began to have meaningful conversations. The space disappeared completely. Amara sees it as something original but to Daniel, maybe complicated.

Telling himself he is doing what was expected of him, what was necessary. A good son of his parents and the better husband to his wife. Protecting everything he stood to lose.

And there are some moments, quiet, unguarded moments when he couldn’t tell where the act ended and something real began.

They started getting intimate, making love, having s*x like all couples do. And that scared him.

Days turned to weeks. Weeks to month.

One morning while Daniel was at the office.

Amara sat at the edge of the bed, staring at the test slip in her hands. Her fingers trembled, her heart racing in a way she had never felt before.

The two lines were so clear as day.

Pregnant.

She did not know what to feel, mixed emotions flooded her. Hope, fear and anxiety.

For the first time in the marriage she felt like there would be something real tying them together. Something beyond obligation. Beyond arrangement.

“Maybe Daniel would finally see me, not as a responsibility, not as a condition, but as something more”. She thought.

She smiled to herself, already imagining how she would tell him.

She waited for him to come back.

She anticipated as she moved around the house all day. Practicing, she wanted it to be perfect. An unforgettable experience.

Later in the evening, she heard his car pull in.

“This is it”, she said.

Immediately she went downstairs, working towards the living room, unknowing to Daniel.

She stopped hearing Daniel talking on the phone. She actually didn't mean to listen but something made her pause.

“…I'm handling it. I know”. Daniel said. His voice was very low.

Amara took a few steps closer just enough for her to hear.

“This whole thing, it’s not for long," he continued. “Once everything is done, I'll, definitely”

“Do what?” she thought.

After a little pause. “I will give her the divorce papers. Yes yes. That's the plan. After my project is done”

Amara's heart skipped for a moment.

The word echoed louder than anything she has ever heard.

She put her hands her belly, “I am pregnant what do I do” she asked herself.

“She's not suspecting anything, it just needs more time, it can’t afford to mess up,” he continued.