The Reluctant Wife Ch. 01

My life as a teen was not the greatest. In fact it often had more downs than ups, but for better or for worse Mario Gallagher and I chose to be married in the Edwardsville courthouse in Madison County IL. On July 26th, we said our "I do's" but no one asked about love or anything of the like. He married me because he wanted his freedom, and me? Perhaps it was an act of defiance that went bad. I wanted to prove that I was an adult and in the act itself, I proved to be more childish than I was years earlier.

We lived with my parents, Tom and Carol Harlan in Mehlville MO. A small part of South County in St. Louis. For about 6 months we lived there until I announced my pregnancy. It was quite the shock to everyone. We went to doctors and processed the proper medical insurance forms to have the baby who was due on May 8th. We also moved into our own place in Evergreen. We still had no car, but all the same we had a quiet two-bedroom home. I went to work putting the house together to make the tiny apartment that was now not so quiet a fantastic home for my husband and my soon to be born baby. That is when I finally learned the truth about the man that I married.

I knew that Mario had a bad temper. He on multiple occasions he had slapped me and on the night that our baby was conceived it was the result of a rape, the first of many, in fact. I wanted to leave him, but I was convinced he would change after he saw his baby. I knew he had hoped for a little boy to carry on his name and I also knew that he wanted a Junior and at night we discussed the possibility of boy and girl names. After my pregnancy was announced, he stopped hitting me and became an attentive Father to be.

The day that the ultrasound was scheduled, Mario held my hand and they applied the cold gel to my big belly. The Doctor asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby, and we said of course. I hoped for a boy as well, but only to make Mario happy. But as the images became clearer on the screen, I saw Mario's face change. The Doctor told us that it was a girl. Inside I was happy, outside, I was afraid. Mario let go of my hand I knew that everything would change. We were warned again that too much stress could cause serious damage to the baby, and the possibility of a miscarriage or a still birth. I was put on more medicines and told again to remain on limited bed rest. I hated it, but I was willing to do anything to have a healthy baby.

That very night after we got home, Mario told me that the house was a mess and I should get to work on cleaning. No breaks until I was finished. At first I started to laugh, but when my smile first cracked, I felt the back of his hand across my left cheek. It was hard enough to put me on the floor, clutching my belly. He laughed and repeated his demand including also a statement about how I shouldn't protect a baby that was going to die anyway. I looked away, the tears in my eyes ready to break free. When I didn't move immediately he went to kick me but I was able to get up and head to the kitchen. He demanded a beer, and although neither of us were old enough to drink, we had friends that had bought Mario a twenty-four case of BudLight and a large bottle of Jack Daniels. I hated the taste, but he spent at least one hundred dollars a month on alcohol. I brought him his beer and went back to the kitchen, to begin the cleaning, knowing that dinner would be demanded next.

The days continued with Mario working odd hours, never really accountable, but I assumed it was where he was. The nights were always the same, I had to cook dinner, make sure the house was spotless, Then after bed, despite the doctors warnings he would proceed with his lovemaking advances which if I didn't respond to properly, He would spend at least two hours screaming at me and then slapping me before he would take what he wanted anyway. I hated the way life was going, but I really couldn't see an end. I felt sure that after the baby was born, I would only get worse.

I took charge of picking out baby names, Mario basically told me to do what I wanted. What amazed me was that he seemed so different to everyone else. Almost like a proud father, yet I could tell my Mother could see something was wrong. Of course we weren't speaking to his family, so they really didn't have a lot to say about anything. I watched an old movie with my mother, Gypsy, with Natalie Wood. During one scene, they announced preceding Gypsy was a stripper named Abigail Paige. I told my mother that is what I wanted to name my baby and she laughed. But sure enough, on April 19th 2001, Abigaille Page or affectionately known as Abbi was born. And sure enough after we came home from the hospital, things did get worse.