I thought my husband’s Sunday calls with our daughter were sacred. Then she mentioned another woman aboard his ship. What I discovered was worse than an affair.
My husband works at sea, sometimes spending four months away from home.
But no matter where his ship is, he always finds time to FaceTime our 7-year-old daughter, Sophie.
It’s their little tradition.
Every Sunday, she grabs her tablet, runs upstairs, and waits for Daddy to call.
Sometimes I join them.
Mostly, I leave them alone.
Those calls are their time together.
For the first year he sailed, Sophie slept with one of his old shirts tucked under her pillow.
Now she was older and pretended she didn’t need it.
But every Sunday she brushed her hair before the call, choosing the little yellow clips he’d bought her before his last departure.
I had always thought those calls were the one part of his absence that couldn’t hurt either of us.
Yesterday was supposed to be another ordinary Sunday.
I was making dinner when I heard Sophie laughing upstairs.
“Daddy, no! Show me again!”
I smiled and carried on chopping vegetables.
Ten minutes later, she called down.
“Mommy! Daddy’s gone!”
I found her sitting on her bed, holding the tablet.
“The internet went funny,” she said. “Daddy had to go on watch.”
That wasn’t unusual.
I kissed her forehead and picked up the tablet.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Do you know the lady who sleeps in Daddy’s cabin?”
I stopped.
“What lady, Sophie?”
“The one Daddy showed me again today.”
Again.
I sat beside her.
“What does she look like?”
“She has curly hair. And she wears Daddy’s blue sweater when she’s cold.”
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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