New Year's Resolution: Part IV

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New Year’s Resolution

Part IV

An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

“No!” Sebastian snarled in a rushed whisper as he struggled to pull the linen closet door shut as he shot a panicked look past Trevor’s shoulder.

“Open. The. Door,” Trevor said evenly to his son as he kept his hand on the closet door to stop it from closing.

“Dad, please!” he whispered as the rest of the children cowered behind him, squeezing themselves into that small closet while Trevor stood there, shaking his head and sighing heavily as he reluctantly released his hold on the door and allowed his son to shut the door.

“It’s not that bad,” he lied to the closed door as he rubbed his hands roughly down his face, wondering how things had gone so bad so fast.

One day his wife was the sweetest woman alive and the next…

“We should go skiing!” his wife said with an excited squeal as she disappeared back into the twin’s bedroom with another gallon of paint.

“Please save us,” he heard his baby girl whisper from behind the closed closet door.

“Shhhh, she’ll hear you!” Mathew whispered in a rush, making Trevor shake his head in disgust as he turned his attention from the small closet where his children had been hiding since Zoe had decided that the kids’ rooms could really use mosaics.

It didn’t matter that Zoe didn’t know how to paint or that the only paint they had in the garage was primer and the leftover light grey paint that he’d used last summer to paint the basement, she was determined to make it happen. It also didn’t seem to matter that it was barely three in the morning, the kids, well most of the kids, had school in the morning and he had work, she was determined to do this.

Deciding that it was pointless in trying to talk the kids out of the closet, he focused on his smiling wife who was currently trying to push the boys’ bunk bed through the door.

“What are you doing?” he asked even though he already knew the answer.

She was losing her goddamn mind and taking him down with her.

“Painting!” she said excitedly with that sweet smile that he loved so much, but was now frightening him a bit.

“Painting,” he repeated with a nod as he looked past her to see that half the wall was now covered with primer and the other half was now light grey.

“I figured the boys could use a change,” she said with that damn smile and a nod as she gave up on trying to push the bed through the small door so that she could admire her artwork. “Isn’t it great?”

“Yeah, great,” he said absently as he rubbed the back of his neck, still trying to figure out what had gone wrong with his wife.

One minute she’d been a sweet, rational smart ass that drove him out of his damn mind and the next…

“Oh, you know what would be great?” she asked excitedly as she climbed through the bottom bunk to reach him.

“Getting some sleep?” he suggested dryly as he helped her to her feet, which only managed to make the little caffeine addict laugh.

“No, detailing the car!” she gushed as she released his hand and headed towards the stairs, making him wonder how much longer it would be before she crashed.

Then again, he thought as his gaze returned to that closed closet door, maybe he wouldn’t have to wait…

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