For years, I paid for my husband\u2019s family dinners because facing them seemed harder than paying the bill. Then I found out that Chris had embezzled money from a promise we had made. By the time his father’s birthday came, he could no longer bear to protect the comfort of others.
\nMy husband’s sister kept laughing when the waiter put six separate beads on the table.<\/p>\n
Serena opened hers first.<\/p>\n
His smile disappeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
I took a sip of water calmly.<\/p>\n
“Your dinner.”<\/p>\n
On the other side of the table, my husband, Chris, paled.<\/p>\n
Serena looked at the total again.<\/p>\n
“You ordered two lobster tails, a steak, three cocktails, wine and dessert,” I said.<\/p>\n
“But Natalie always pays for dinner.”<\/p>\n
Everyone at the table was silent.<\/p>\n
There she was.<\/p>\n
This is not a misunderstanding. This is not a joke.<\/p>\n
An expectation.<\/p>\n
Chris leaned towards me.<\/p>\n
“Please. Cover this tonight, Nat.”<\/p>\n
I looked at it directly.<\/p>\n
Three days earlier, he had withdrawn 850 dollars of our birthday savings to pay for another family dinner.<\/p>\n
That’s when I stopped being his personal wallet.<\/p>\n
Chris just hadn’t noticed yet.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
When I married Chris, I knew I had a large family.<\/p>\n
He had seven brothers, all married, numerous nephews and nieces, and countless birthdays.<\/p>\n
At first, I liked it.<\/p>\n
I grew up in a small, quiet house. Chris’ family filled all the noise rooms.<\/p>\n
They interrupted each other, stole pieces of the dishes from each other and turned each meal into a celebration.<\/p>\n
Then I began to realize what was always happening when the bill arrived.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, someone checked his cell phone. Someone accompanied a child to the bathroom. Another person began to tell a long story.<\/p>\n
The check always fell close to me.<\/p>\n
At first, they made excuses. For the fifth dinner, they just waited.<\/p>\n
I had a steady income, but my money was not unlimited.<\/p>\n
As I hated public confrontations, I smiled, delivered my card and promised myself that next time I would speak.<\/p>\n
But the next time he continued to postpone.
\nFinally, Serena gave me a nickname.<\/p>\n
She used that expression in restaurants, in family gatherings, and even once in front of a waiter who laughed because everyone else did too.<\/p>\n
Chris never laughed out loud.<\/p>\n
Somehow, this made the situation worse.<\/p>\n
Read more on the next page.<\/p>\n
I was giving myself a smile of apology and saying, “It’s just dinner. It’s easier like that.”<\/p>\n
I used to think I meant it would be easier for both of us.<\/p>\n
I finally understood what I meant while we were sitting at the kitchen table.<\/p>\n
One night, while I was reviewing our finances, I noticed the transfer.<\/p>\n
Eight hundred and fifty dollars were transferred from our birthday account to pay the credit card bill.<\/p>\n
I checked the date.<\/p>\n
It happened the morning after the previous family dinner.<\/p>\n
Working with numbers taught me to pay attention. I knew all the bills and all the amounts I had saved.<\/p>\n
For three years, I was saving money for our 10th wedding anniversary. At a difficult time in our marriage, Chris promised that we would finally take a trip only the two of us.<\/p>\n
I held on to that promise. I skipped lunch, worked overtime and continued wearing an old coat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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