I adored my parents marriage so much that most times I would pray that I marry a man like my dad. They had a beautiful thing going on, and they brought their children up with so much love and peace.
Back in the day, I could argue and swear that my parents never had a misunderstanding or a disagreement on something, until I watched the family I cherished almost crumble over an unfortunate argument.
"Francis, you must be out of your mind."
The sound jolted me from my sleep. I sat up and listened, and I heard my mom's voice. She sounded angry as she yelled at my dad. A few seconds later, my siblings came knocking on my room door, and before I could respond, they made their way into the room.
"What's going on?" I asked them.
"Mom and Dad are fighting." My little brother responded.
I gave him a weird stare. It didn't sound right for him to assume that our parents, who had never frowned at each other before, would be fighting at 9pm. I left my room and went to my parents bedroom door, and there, I did something that I had never done in my life, and that was eavesdrop on their conversation.
I couldn't make out the things my dad was saying, but from what I could deduce, it was obvious that my mom was furious about something, but I couldn't figure it out.
"Do what you want, Francis. I'm leaving this house tomorrow morning, and you'll be hearing from my lawyer." I heard my mom say to my dad.
At that time, I felt a knot in my chest.It dawned on me that my mom was planning a divorce. I couldn't breathe. I stood still not knowing what to do. I only got myself when I heard my siblings banging their fists on our parents door.
"Look what you've done!!!" My dad shouted. "What will you tell the kids?" He asked my mom.
Not long after that, their door swung open, and my mom came out of the room. I couldn't discern the look she gave me and my siblings. She walked past us and went down to the sitting room. My younger sister ran into their room and cried to my dad; I decided to go to my mom.
"Mom, what's with the ruckus? Why are you threatening Dad with a divorce?" I asked her.
"Go to your room and sleep. When you get to this age, you'll understand better." She quietly replied.
"Mom, don't do anything stupid. This family has always been happy, and I wouldn't want that to change. You and Dad should sort yourselves out." I said to her and walked away.
Time was agonizingly slow as the night dragged on with no sign of dawn in sight. It was my worst night. I couldn't sleep; I still couldn't keep my head off my parents and the looming divorce. I prayed things wouldn't get that far in the morning, and I wished for daybreak to come.
As the morning sun rays seeped through my window, I got up from the bed and checked the time. It was 7:45am, and I wondered what made me sleep that long. I quietly came out of my room and listened for sounds, but the house was quiet, so I walked down to the sitting room, and to my surprise, my dad and mom were lying on the couch with their hands intertwined.
At first, I wanted to jump up for joy, but then a creepy thought crossed my mind, and I ran to them screaming. They both jolted from their sleep, and my siblings ran out of their rooms.
"Jenny, why are you screaming like that?" My mom asked me.
I didn't know the best response to give to her question."Are you guys good now?" I asked her, but my dad chose to answer.
"Yes, we're good, and we're sorry for getting you kids worried last night." He replied.
"Dad, this should never happen again, or I'll never get married and have my own family." My little sister blurted.
I glanced at her and wondered if she was serious with her childish threats.The day went by, and nothing happened. My parents went back to normal, and it seemed their bond grew stronger after that, and we were all happy. I was glad that the night finally ended and gave rise to a new dawn for the family.
Though to date, I never figured out what had almost crushed the family I had cherished so much, I came to realize that my parents weren't the gods I had thought them to be, seeing that they too had their flaws.