Page 41 of The Breaking Point

Dr. Claudia looks at me and says, “First one’s easy. How long have you been together?”

I glance at Aiden. “We got together when we were sixteen. Aiden asked me out when I joined his school.”

Aiden nods. “High school sweethearts.”

She gives another small nod. “What drew you to each other originally?”

I take a breath. “Aiden was this really smart, sweet, and hot guy who was friends with every one. I never thought he’d be funnytoo, but he was. The more time we spent together, the harder I fell. He was kind in a way most teenage boys weren’t.”

Aiden shifts beside me. “I saw her day in, day out, ignoring all the noise around her. This hot-as-hell girl who didn’t care about the attention. I started talking to her fully expecting to get blown off, but she actually talked back. The more we talked, the more I knew I wanted forever with her.”

Dr. Claudia’s pen moves across the notepad. “What was your relationship like before the infidelity was revealed?”

I keep my eyes on the corner of the rug. “I thought it was good. I mean, we had problems, but I thought we were making it work.”

Aiden adds quietly, “I didn’t realize we had problems.”

Dr. Claudia turns back to me. “Kate, can you tell us about those problems? Start with the biggest.”

I swallow. “I didn’t like how instead of coming home; he’d go to the gym or hang out with his friends. He’d always find a reason not to be there.”

Aiden shifts again, his mouth opening like he’s about to speak, but Dr. Claudia raises a hand.

Aiden,” she says gently but firmly, “this is Kate’s time to speak. You’ll have your turn.”

He leans back slowly, biting down on whatever words were coming out. I keep going.

“I’d go to work and then come straight home. Sometimes I carved out time to see Quinn, the one friend I have left, but otherwise my life was the boys and our marriage. But it didn’t feel like it was his. It felt like it was just an afterthought.”

Dr. Claudia turns to Aiden and gives a small nod, inviting him to speak.

“You were not an afterthought,” he starts, voice steady but low. “I’d go to the gym or hang out with friends because when I came home… I felt like a stranger. You had all these rituals with the boys. You knew what they wanted without them even asking. I’d just stand there. You had inside jokes with them, you knew their triggers. I felt like every time I opened my mouth I was stepping on a landmine.”

Dr. Claudia looks at me, gently prompting a response.

I blink hard. “That’s bullshit.”

Aiden looks taken aback, his jaw tightening.

“Of course, I knew what they wanted. I was there. I was the one packing lunches and staying up with them when they were sick. You think I wasn’t on the receiving end of tantrums and slammed doors? The difference is, I stayed. I didn’t run. I didn’t disappear when it got too much.”

He does not say anything right away. He sits there, face tight, eyes on the floor. Then he lifts his head and speaks again, more slowly this time.

“I wasn’t talking about stepping on landmines with the boys. I was talking about them with you. It felt like nothing I did was ever good enough for you. You would talk over me or just take over completely. That’s why I started planning those boys’ trips. Not because I wanted to go hunting or fishing, but because you were so possessive of them that I couldn’t find space to be their dad.”

My voice cracks. “So, I was so possessive that you had to take them away from me just to have a relationship with them?”

He reaches across to take my hand, but I pull away.

“I never said that. You weren’t trying to shut me out. You didn’t even know you were doing it. Even when they were babies, I would get home and you wouldn’t let me change a single diaper. You said I was doing it wrong. And I was, but only because I never got the chance to learn. It felt like you were punishing me for missing Jack’s birth.”

I go quiet. Jack’s birth has always been a sensitive topic.

Dr. Claudia’s voice breaks the silence. “Kate, can you tell us about Jack’s birth?”

I nod slowly. “When I went into labour with Jack, I called Aiden. I called him so many times. By the time I gave up and called my grandma, I was already in too much pain to think clearly. We rushed to the hospital. I gave birth in the emergency room. No time for anything. No epidural. No Aiden. Just the nurses and a doctor I had never met before.”

Aiden speaks, his voice barely more than a whisper. “You have no idea how sorry I was for missing it. You think I didn’t blame myself every day?”

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