Queen Esther & the Second Graders of Doom

Oh, she hated it when Mark-o played the emergency card. Yes, lots of what he did was urgent, but it was always urgent. She hated how he made her life feel mundane and insignificant. How he made her feel selfish for wanting to keep a much-needed lunch with Cece. She’d already had to cancel twice on Cece in order to cover for him. He was a lifeline to lots of people, but did that mean she had to go without her own lifelines? “I want,” she said slowly, “for you not to have said ‘yes’ in the first place. To have found another time because you had a prior commitment. What about Peggy? Can’t she help you out?”

“Peggy’s got a sales meeting in L.A. for two days. I just thought…” His voice was so annoyed that he didn’t even finish the sentence.

“I know exactly what you ‘just thought.’ It starts with ‘since you’re not working anymore and babies are so marvelously portable.’ Taking Pop to the doctor’s is a pain, but when will you to realize it’s just as much a pain for me as it is for you?”

His silence told her he didn’t exactly see it that way. After a long pause he said, “So will you do it or not?”

Essie rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Were you listening at all?”

“Look, Essie, I just need you to cover for me…”

“Don’t you dare say ‘just this once’!” she yelled into the phone. Loudly enough, unfortunately, to wake up Josh, who was napping in the swing beside her. “Oh, great. Thanks, Mark-o, this is really how I wanted to end my afternoon.” Josh wailed, angry at having had his late afternoon nap cut short. “I’ll talk to you at adults’ Bible study if I see you. I’ve got to go take care of Josh.” With a growl, she stabbed her finger onto the off button of the cordless phone.

Chapter 8

The Downpour of Demands

The clock seemed to delight in clicking over another digit to the brutal hour of 1:30 a.m. Essie let out a sigh as she dropped her bathrobe to the floor and climbed back into bed. Doug, to her surprise, was wide-awake.

“Josh nod off finally?” His voice sounded as tired as she felt.

“We can only hope. I think I’m gonna die if he’s working on another ear infection. I finally gave him some Tylenol, and he seemed to calm down, so it’s either his ears or his teeth keeping him up.”

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