SATONI

A month later

Today, I was going to sit down and have a conversation with my husband. I haven't seen him in a month and a half and I was approaching my seventh month of my pregnancy. I felt like I needed this time to understand what happened between us. It was very hard to balance everything without him, but it was worth it. I've been at peace and I've learned a lot about myself. Kari kept pushing me to talk to him, but I kept telling her that I would when I was ready. I needed time to heal from the things that he said to me. I was upset with him because of what he was doing. I even stopped wearing my wedding ring because I didn't want to have that association to him. I didn't understand how things were falling apart so quickly, but maybe it was something that needed to happen. I loved the father part of Satoni, but the part of him he couldn't hide was seeping through. Mateo and Giovanni kept tabs on him while he was away from home and I was grateful for that. I wanted to make sure that he was safe at least and alive. After spending these past few weeks without him, I knew that I would be fine. At first I was worried about juggling two children and being a single mom. But I know that I can do it and I have been doing it since he's been gone. Kari told me that she would babysit Alonzo for me while I talked with him. I felt like it would be a good idea to focus on our conversation. Not only that, I didn't want him around our son. My son has finally gotten to the point where he stopped asking for his father and I didn't want to hurt his heart by bringing Satoni around him so suddenly. The front door opened and Satoni walked in. He looked healthy and just as handsome as the last time that I saw him. It was nice to see that he didn't run himself into the ground. I was sitting on the couch patiently waiting for him to come join me. He walked over and sat on the couch across from me and I tried my best to force a smile. I didn't want this to be a bad conversation.

I cleared my throat, "so, I thought that it would be a good idea for us to have a conversation. We haven't talked in a few weeks and I just want to make sure that I understand what we're doing."

He stared at me for a minute without saying a word. "I feel like I needed this time and I'm glad that I got it."

"Yeah, me too." We sat in silence for a while and I knew that I would be the one to start the conversation. "Listen, I know that I should have told you the truth about what was going on. I shouldn't have been lying to you about where I was going. The truth is, I went searching for your mother. That is what I was doing in my spare time. I wasn't cheating on you and I have never cheated on you. I know how you feel about your mother, so I kept it a secret. But I wanted to know more about her because I wanted to know more about your bloodline. I understand that you were upset about the photos that you were shown. But you had no right to put your hands on me and disrespect me. You had no right to act out and demand answers from me. I am your wife, not your prisoner."

"I'm glad to know that you didn't cheat on me but it still doesn't change the fact that you kept secrets. You disobeyed me after I told you to leave my mother alone. I don't want anything to do with her at all, and it bothers me that you can't respect my decisions."