The Wake-Up Call

Chapter 1

Zara

"Your hair looks funny with all that shampoo. Go look in the mirror."

"Do not get out of the tub," I firmly called out as I folded my seven-year-old's school uniform. "Kehlani, stop winding your sister up!"

"Okay, Mummy!"

There was a brief moment of silence before the whispering and giggling floated back down the hall, and I let out a frustrated sigh.

It wasn't long before the splashing started up again, and I bit back a harsh reprimand.

I'd already told them off for spilling half the tub's water onto the floor, even though I felt acutely hypocritical.

Growing up, my mum never let me splash too aggressively in the bath, and I always thought: 'When I have kids, I'm going to be a chill mum and let them splash as long and hard as they like.'

Well, as it turned out, a wet bathroom floor was not kind to my ass when I slipped on it. It also wasn't kind to the many socks I had to remove because I missed a wet spot, or to the towels used to mop up the mess.

Of course, I could have insisted they take a shower, but I didn't want to deal with my three-year-old's tantrum. She hated showers. Plus, bath time was a sure-fire way to get my tasks done.

Of course, that all went to shit when my three-year-old shouted, "Mummy, I wanna get out now!"

I stared helplessly at the stack of clothes on the bed that still needed folding. "But you just got in there," I called out, frustration bleeding through my tone. "Ten more minutes."

"I already pulled the plug," Sienna sang.

A tired sigh escaped me, and James' work shirt fell from my hands. Bloody hell, could I not just have twenty minutes to myself?

After handing them their towels and their new clothes, I quickly finished folding and putting the laundry away—pointedly ignoring the arguing and screaming coming from the bedroom. I just did not have the energy to deal with that right now.

My girls settled on the couch and I handed them their tablets so I could wash the dinner dishes. I winced when I saw the battery life on Sienna's pad—fifteen per cent. I usually charged them when they were in the bath, but I'd forgotten in my haste to get to my other chores. Oh, well.

After clearing the dishes, washing them and packing them away, I wiped down the benches as my girls happily munched away on sliced apples whilst watching Peppa Pig and Bluey.

I went through each room picking up dirty clothes, packing away toys that had been kicked under the bed, rinsing out the bathtub and mopping up the wet floor. Once everything looked reasonably clean to the naked eye, I sat down on the other sofa with a sigh.

"Mummy, can you fill up my water bottle?"

"Me too!"

Christ. It never stopped. Forcing a smile and swallowing back a groan, I filled both their bottles before placing a kiss on their clean heads.

"Anything else?" I asked. "Once I sit down, that's it."

"Nope! Thank you, Mummy," Kehlani replied.

"You're welcome, my babies."

Muting the TV, I tuned out the girl's chatter as I took out my phone and opened my eBook app.

With any luck, I could get a chapter in before I was wanted again.

One chapter where I could insert myself as a sassy baker who's charmed the pants off the local gruff MC president.

A life where he wouldn't let her lift a finger or worry about a thing, while she baked for their town and popped out his babies.

A girl could dream.

It wasn't long before Sienna's tablet died, but luckily, they decided to lie on the floor and draw.

It was always a relief when they decided to play nicely together.

With a four-year age gap, it wouldn't be long before Kehlani grew out of dolls and pretend play, so I treasured these moments when their hobbies aligned.

It also meant that I had a few more chapters of the MC president finally making her his Old Lady.

"Mummy, look!"

A piece of paper with a crookedly shaped heart was aggressively shoved under my nose. "Oh, wow! Is this for me?" I put my tablet to one side. "Thank you, baby."

"I'm gonna make one for Daddy!"

I carefully folded her drawing. "You do that."

She plopped back down on the floor, not caring that her older sister had abandoned their activity to practice dancing to her latest K-pop obsession. I watched with a tender smile as Sienna kicked her feet up behind her, humming a random tune as she outlined another heart.

"Mummy," she sang out. "Where's Daddy?"

I knew the question was coming. She'd already asked me at least five times today, and each time I smiled through my annoyance and answered her question with a light-heartedness I was far from feeling.

"You know where he is, sweetheart. Out playing golf, remember?"

What I really wanted to say was: 'His friend managed to get a tee time for eight a.m., and he said yes without checking with me. Even though he conveniently forgot that Kehlani has ballet today, and I had to pick up the grocery shop at ten a.m.'

Sienna's head bobbed, her little tongue sticking out as she coloured in her heart, oblivious to her mother's swirling pool of anger.

The clock read seven p.m., and my lips rolled in to keep my tumultuous emotions at bay. His game likely ended hours ago, so that meant he decided to have a few beers at the pub—despite promising that he'd be home by five.

My phone had zero messages from him, which pissed me off even more.

I'd raged at James multiple times to please, please message me if he was going to be more than an hour late.

It used to worry me whenever he did this, to the point where I would look up traffic reports in case he was involved in a car crash.

But no. He was just inconsiderate.

"Come on, girls. Time for bed."

Tired grumbling came from them, but I ignored their complaints as I ushered them to the bathroom to brush their teeth.

And of course, just as I was turning down their bed covers, I heard my husband's key in the door.

"Daddy's home!" Kehlani screamed. I heard her toothbrush drop into the sink as she raced to the door.

"Guys, come on, you–"

"Hey, sweethearts! You getting ready for bed?" James' happily oblivious voice reached me as I reluctantly followed behind the girls.

My face was carved in stone as I greeted my husband, and his handsome face lit up when he saw me. He spread his arms wide in welcome, his smile goofy.

I stood stiffly as he cuddled me close before I wrinkled my nose and pushed him aside. "Ugh, you reek of beer."

"Sorry, baby," he shrugged. "I only had two, but someone spilt theirs on me at the bar."

He hitched Sienna up onto his hip while Kehlani tugged on his hand, trying to pull him down the hallway. Great, their bedtime routine was now shot.

"The guys wanted to have a few drinks. Felt it was rude to take off after Rob went into so much effort to get us that tee time."

"Right. Nevermind that I was here with the kids, shipping Kehlani off to ballet and doing a million other chores," I tightly pointed out.

James' face fell; that silly, dazed look he got after a few drinks was wiped clean off. "C'mon, Zara, don't be like that. I'm home now."

"Yeah, in time for them to go to bed."

His eyes rolled as he hefted a squealing Sienna upside down, as Kehlani jumped up excitedly, begging to go next. "They can stay up a little longer, can't they?"

I wanted to cry in frustration, but instead I shrugged. "Fine. You can take them to bed. I'm going to sleep."

I stormed off before I could hear his response, my blood boiling at his cavalier attitude.

God, he didn't even apologise. Didn't even check on me once throughout the day to see if we were alright.

It was that kind of insensitivity that, over the years, started to feel more intentional than a slip of the mind.

I blew through my night routine, resentment coiling deep within as I heard my girls giggle and scream at whatever James was doing.

He got to sweep in and be the fun parent while I did all the hard work with barely a thank you.

The girls never laughed that hard with me, no matter how many activities or days at the park I arranged.

I stared at myself in the mirror as I slathered on my night cream.

My eyes were stormy, and I willed myself to calm down.

It could be worse. I mean, it could be fucking better, but it could be worse.

James was a great father and provider, and I knew he loved me.

But man…he was becoming more and more complacent and wilfully ignorant, and it was pissing me off.

Ever since I stopped working to stay home after Sienna was born, I'd started to feel like he was taking me for granted. He'd come home late, citing having beers with the boys after a long day. Friday nights, he usually went to the pub for a few pints and to play darts.

Today wasn't even about golf. I didn't mind him going out to play as long as he gave me plenty of notice.

What I minded was his dumping it on me at nine p.m. after I'd already pre-scheduled a time slot to pick up our groceries.

I planned on taking Kehlani to ballet while he picked up our shopping with Sienna.

Instead, I had to drop Kehlani off, pick up the shopping and quickly run home to pack it away before rushing back to ballet in time to pick Kehlani up.

All with a three-year-old asking where daddy was and whether we were going to the park today.

Two hours after James got home, he finally shuffled the girls off to bed.

By the time he showered and hopped in beside me, I was still up and scrolling through social media in between reading.

I knew I should have gone to sleep straightaway, but this quiet time after the kids went to bed was the only 'me' time I could get—and I fully took advantage of it.

I ignored James as he softly sighed beside me, his phone already out and a news page open.

"Golf was fun today. Were you alright here?"

What would be the point in nagging him now? Golf was over, and while the day was stressful for me, it was still manageable. I held shit down.

"Yeah, we were fine."

His large hand rubbed my thigh in affection. "That's good."

He was quiet for a moment, his thumb flicking between news apps and his text thread with his friends. Suddenly, he gave a quiet rumble of laughter.

"Rob wasn't sure if he could get a Saturday tee time, so he booked Sunday, too. The fucker is still going."

My eyes moved across my screen, soaking in a new story about a dragon king and his human mate.

"Ian and Pete are going too."

"Sounds like another long, boring day," I murmured.

"Huh? Yeah."

The air hummed with hidden implication as I ignored the conversation and returned to my book. I wasn't one to beat around the bush, but James had to be truly stupid to start this bullshit with me.

"I'm getting better. My average strokes are improving."

"Great."

"I think I'm even better than Ian, and he's been playing since he was fifteen."

"You know I don't understand the game." I changed the lighting on my reading app to dark mode. "Not my cup of tea."

"Yeah, I know."

There was more silence as James shifted around the bed, fluffing his pillow and straightening it before leaning back with a satisfied sigh. The silent tension thrummed between us as I continued to ignore his attempt at golf chat.

"The tee time is nine a.m., so a little later in the morning."

“For fuck sakes, James! You’re not going again to golf tomorrow, okay? You’re taking the bloody piss.”

His brows shot up and he held his hands up in pronounced defence. “Okay, okay. Jeez, I wasn’t going to go. Relax.”

His hand stroking my thigh only stoked the flames of my anger. It felt patronising; especially when I knew he was lying. He had been aiming for permission to go tomorrow.

“I’m sorry,” he soothed before leaning over and stamping his lips on my hot cheek.

I breathed through my rattled emotions before I nodded my reluctant acceptance. He squeezed my thigh before he shifted to lie down. “I’m beat. Night, babe.”

I grunted a response, still too frustrated to play nice tonight. I tried to concentrate on my book but my mind refused to quiet. Biting back a curse, I set aside my book and switched off my lamp. It was a long time before I could fall asleep.