Chapter Forty-Eight: Relaxing Day Off:

I needed to spend more time with my wife. She needed me. I finally managed to get away from work in December of 1940. It started to snow in her garden that year. That morning, I kissed her on the cheek. She tried to turn away from me. I frowned.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked. She mumbled something under the sheets.

“Excuse me?” I asked. Madonna glanced up at me.

“Why is this happening to me?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked. That’s when I caught a glimpse of her face. Had she been crying?

“Are you okay?” I asked. Madonna shook her head.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“What do you want from me?” she asked. I looked confused.

“What do you mean?” I asked. She rolled over away from me. I sighed.

“I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me,” I said. I rested my hand on her shoulder.

“Talk to me,” I said. She looked my eyes. My heart sank to see her like this. Three months in and we barely had time for each other. It was amazing that we had time to make another baby. But since then, things in my kingdom have been getting worse. I had to try and change something.

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I decided to take off from work that day. I was going to keep my focus on my wife. We ended up taking a walk around her snowy garden. For some reason, the snow didn’t kill the flowers. Still, I thought it was kind of odd to see snow here at all.

“Why is it snowing here?” I asked. Madonna barely looked up. I nudged her on the arm.

“Hey, look,” I said.

“Hm?” she asked. My wife looked up as I pointed to the snow.

“Isn’t that weird?” I asked.

“Hm? Oh,” she said.

“You okay?” I asked. Madonna shook her head. I frowned. I put my arm around her shoulders. She didn’t try to fight me.

“Please, talk to me,” I pleaded. “I want to help you.”

“I don’t think you can,” she said. Madonna slipped away from my grip.

“What do you mean?” I asked. She just shook her head. Madonna walked over to the snow on her roses. My ears caught her mumbling something to herself.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“This is a bad omen,” she said. I narrowed my eyes at her back.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “I’m not following.” She turned to me with tears in her eyes.

“I shouldn’t be here,” my wife said. “Our children should not exist.” I ran over and took her by the cheeks.

“What are you saying?” I asked. “Don’t say things like that. We belong together.” Madonna backed away from my grip.

“No…” she said.

“Why do you think that this snow is a bad omen?” I asked. She might have a point. The snow in the garden didn’t make any sense. That much was true.

“If you don’t like it, I can remove it,” I said. That forlorn look on her face didn’t make it any better.

“That won’t change anything,” she said. I made a face at her.

“Did Lilith say something to you?” I asked.

“She didn’t need to,” Madonna said. She turned and walked past me.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“This was a mistake,” she said.

“What was?” I asked. “This walk or our relationship?” Madonna paused and looked over her shoulder.

“Both,” she said. I felt like my world was blown up from the inside. I fell to my knees in the snow. No. That can’t be. Why would she say that? I have been trying to keep her happy. How could I have been going wrong? I had to fix my marriage and my home. My only worry was that I was too late for both.