Where's Daddy?: Part III

(Story begins here.)

The going was hard in the beginning, but Tiffany and her husband managed to pull through. Tiffany soon settled into the routine well enough. Tricia was also very cooperative, which meant a lot in a time where the finances were becoming an issue compared to before. Waking up early in the morning has always been second nature to Tiffany from her days of being a manager, but instead of going to the office, she spent time looking after Tricia's morning needs like breakfast and watching some educational programmes together. This was followed by lunch preparation and an early afternoon siesta, where she would take the time that was given to do some household chores like the laundry. Afteroon and evening would come by as she played with Tricia and read with her, followed by dinner, before packing Tricia off to bed. Then, she did more housework and retired for the night.

At first, her husband was supportive. He would come back just after Tricia was done with her day and was going to bed, and on occasion, he would bring back something along the way home from work for Tiffany to eat. Tiffany looked forward to those moments; his work as a lawyer was hectic and at times erratic, and she knew that any time that he could spare was to be treasured. But it seemed that he would always make the attempt to come home before Tiffany went to bed, perhaps as a way of telling her that he understood the sacrifices that she was making and that he loved her all the same.

Then came one day when he came in at around nine in the evening and motioned Tiffany to approach him. Confused, she put down the piece of clothing that she was folding and came up to him in the living room as he was putting his work shoes aside.

``Tiffany, there's a new big case coming up,'' he began.

``Oh! Sort of like that one a couple of years back?'' Tiffany replied.

``Yes. Something like that. Quite hush-hush, so I can't really tell you more,'' he continued. ``But the main thing is that I will be stuck in the office for the most part for a while. Evidence documents run by the cartons and we are already short-staffed.''

``Oh. I understand,'' Tiffany had said as she took the couch facing her husband, who had already sat down. ``For how long will you be keeping the long hours?''

``Damnit Tiffany, I don't know! The case is big and complicated---no one can tell how long it's going to last!'' he said, raising his voice and slamming a fist on the arm rest of the couch.

``Not so loud!'' Tiffany shushed fiercely. ``Tricia is asleep!''

``Yeah okay whatever,'' he said, sounding annoyed and somewhat exasperated. ``Don't wait up for me any more. It should take a long while. Big and complicated case after all. I'll let you know when things have settled down.''

(Story continues here.)

Where's Daddy?: Part II

(Story begins here.)

The day that Tiffany was let off from the company, she and he had a large argument. He accused her of deliberately trying to jeopardise their lifestyle by hiding her quitting with the lies of the company letting her off due to Tricia, while she was too upset at being treated like that by the company that she had put in a lot of effort to help run to think rationally about what he was saying to her about her and ended up lashing out at him.

That night, he made her sleep in the living room on the couch. But by the next morning, cooler heads prevailed and they sat down and started to talk through the whole event like responsible adults, discussing their next steps.

First, Tiffany was to take full-time care of Tricia. They had argued and debated about this for nearly an hour before coming to the conclusion that Tiffany was to stay home. The same problem of having to take leave on short notice was going to keep re-surfacing as long as Tricia was still a toddler. Maybe later when things were more stabilised that Tiffany's job will be rediscussed.

Second, the nanny had to go. Tiffany dismissed the nanny, who expressed a little regret at being unable to continue to look after Tricia. With Tiffany being at home full-time, there was no need for an additional nanny. Besides, the take-home pay was now much less than before because Tiffany was out of a job---having a nanny would place additional strain to the home finances.

Those were the two main steps that they were going to take. On the one hand, Tiffany was glad to spend more time with Tricia, looking after her every need, both the good and the bad, but on the other hand, it was a substantial income loss that they were taking on. Thankfully, Tricia was a perfectly normal child, something that Tiffany keeps remind herself each time; things could have been worse had Tricia be affected by common childhood afflictions like asthma or allergies.

(Story contines here.)

Where's Daddy?: Part I

``Mommy, when is Daddy coming home?''

``Never ask that question again, child,'' Tiffany said sternly to Tricia, her darling little five-year-old as she dressed her up for kindergarten. It was the third day of a rather acrimonious divorce, and Tiffany was in no mood to deal with these kinds of questions, not from Tricia her darling, the only bright thing in her seven years of marriage.

It all began like a fairy-tale, her finishing up college in her business major, and he finishing up law school. They met at a party held by a mutual friend, started hanging out, got close, got really close, and then got married. They lived in a house that they built together with some money from their parents, who blessed their marriage the way happy parents often do. He had a promising carrier at the law firm in Chicago, while she managed to land a job as a manager for a small franchise also in the city. Living in suburbia, with their own house and car---it was a dream.

Two years after they were married, Tiffany gave birth to Tricia. Tricia came to this world after some serious planning. He was twenty-seven, while she was nearly twenty-four when Tricia was born, and for a while, it was good. Life was hectic, but they managed somehow with a nanny to help look after the toddler when neither parent was home.

A bundle of joy. That was what Tricia was, unless she was pooping or crying or running a fever the way toddlers often did. All these while, Tiffany would be the one who took care of little precious Tricia, while he kept time at his work to make up for the slight loss of income from Tiffany scaling back on her work and responsibilities to come back early to take care of their growing child. Firms in those days were less family friendly, and so each time Tiffany had to take time off to take care of Tricia with the nanny whenever the little one got ill, she had to consume her personal leave, and at times, even invoking her emergency leave. Needless to say, the firm was not pleased with one of their managers taking so much time off, and by the time Tricia was three, Tiffany had been let off from the franchise.

(Story continues here.)