When I finished, Greta was silent for a long time.
Then she sighed heavily.
‘Oh, Aidan. I didn’t know things had gotten that bad.’
‘Well, now you know.’
‘I… I don’t know what to say. If it’s really that bad, I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted a divorce.’
Her words hit me like a punch in the gut.
Divorce? Was that really the path we should take?
‘I don’t know, Greta,’ I said honestly.
‘I need time to think.’
After we hung up, I sat on the edge of the bed, my head in my hands.
Was this really the end of our marriage?
I spent the day in a trance, mechanically going through the motions, taking care of the children.
By evening, I had made my decision. I called Fiona.
‘Meet me tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the restaurant. We need to talk.’
She agreed immediately, sounding relieved.
I hung up without letting her say anything else.
The following evening, I arrived at the restaurant early.
My palms were sweaty as I held the envelope containing the divorce papers I had drawn up that day.
Fiona entered, looking smaller and more vulnerable than I had ever seen her.
Her eyes were red and her hair was tousled.
‘Hello,’ she said quietly, sitting down next to me.
‘Hello,’ I replied, with a lump in my throat.
We sat for a while in an awkward silence.
Then Fiona blurted out, “Aidan, I’m so sorry.
I never meant to hurt you or the children.
I just got carried away with the pranks and…”
I raised my hand to stop her.
Without a word, I pushed the envelope across the table towards her.
Fiona’s hands trembled as she opened it.
Her eyes widened when she realised what it was.
‘No,’ she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Please, Aidan, no. We can fix this. I’ll stop with the pranks, I promise.
Please don’t leave me.”
I let her cry for a moment, my own eyes burning.
Then I took a deep breath.
‘It’s a prank,’ I said quietly.
Fiona’s head snapped up.
‘What?’
‘The divorce papers. They’re not real. It’s a prank.’
Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.
I leaned forward, my voice becoming urgent.
“This is how it feels, Fiona.
This is how your pranks feel to us.
Fear, pain, betrayal.
Is this what you want for our family?”
Fiona’s face broke.
‘No,’ she sobbed.
‘God, no. I’m so sorry, Aidan. I never realised…’
I reached across the table and took her hand.
“I love you, Fiona. But this has to stop. No more pranks. Ever.
Can you promise me that?”
She nodded vigorously and squeezed my hand.
‘I promise. No more pranks. I’ll delete all those stupid videos. I’ll do whatever it takes.’
I exhaled slowly, feeling the weight lift off my shoulders.
‘Okay,’ I said.
‘Then let’s go home.’
As we stood up to leave, Fiona hesitated.
‘Aidan? Thank you for not giving up.’
I pulled her towards me and hugged her, breathing in the familiar scent of her hair.
‘We’ll get through this together,’ I murmured.
‘Through good times and bad, remember?’
She laughed softly, and I suddenly realised how much I had missed that.
‘I remember. Let’s aim for “better” now, shall we?’
I nodded, and for the first time in weeks, I felt cautiously optimistic.
As we left the restaurant holding hands, I knew we had a long road ahead of us.
But at least now we were on the same side.
And there were no more pranks on the horizon.
What would you do?