Page 3 of The Weight of Her Silence
“I want us to get through this. Together.”
Ava’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Together… like before?”
Nate’s heart cracked, a slow, painful fracture that ran deep.
“I don’t know. But I want to try.”
The rain outside slowed, and for a brief moment, the house felt less like a mausoleum and more like a home but the distance between them was wide, and the silence between their words heavier than any storm.
Chapter 2
The Silence Is Louder Than Grief
The front door clicked shut behind him, and the sound seemed to recoil into the empty house, swallowed by the oppressive quiet that had settled like dust on every surface. Nate’s footsteps echoed hollowly in the hallway, each one a reminder of how bare everything had become.
The walls, once filled with laughter and warmth, now stood mute witnesses to a family unraveling.
He stopped by the living room doorway. Ava sat motionless on the worn couch, eyes glazed over as the muted television flickered images she barely registered. Her hair was pulled back tightly, revealing the sharp angles of a face that had hardened overnight. She looked so much like Lila it hurt to breathe.
Caleb was on the floor, cross-legged and still, his gaze fixed on the scattered pieces of a jigsaw puzzle half finished. His small hands lay in his lap, fingers twitching but not moving to pick up a piece.
His teddy bear lay discarded beside him, its button eyes dull and lifeless.
“Dinner’s ready,” Nate said softly, as if breaking the silence with a whisper might keep it from shattering altogether.
Neither child moved.
He cleared his throat, swallowed the lump in his throat, and repeated, “Dinner’s ready.”
Ava blinked slowly but didn’t look up. Caleb’s eyes flicked toward Nate for a moment, then back to the puzzle as if afraid to face him.
Nate set the plates on the table in the dining room. The metallic clink of cutlery and the soft scrape of a chair were the only sounds breaking the stillness. He sat down and watched the children eat, their faces expressionless, their mouths moving mechanically. The silence between them was thick, a physical thing pressing in from all sides. It wrapped around Nate’s chest, squeezing until his breath was shallow and sharp.
After a few bites, Ava pushed her plate away with a soft sigh. “I’m going to my room.”
Caleb didn’t hesitate. “Me too.”
Their voices were flat, empty. Nate nodded, swallowing the urge to ask them to stay, to talk, to scream even. But the words caught in his throat like broken glass.
Once the house was quiet again, he stood and moved slowly through the rooms. The spaces where Lila’s presence lingered like a faint scent—a sweater draped over a chair, a half-read book on the bedside table, the soft hum of herfavorite song still playing from the speaker. He reached out and touched the frayed edge of her shawl hanging on the coat rack. The fabric was soft beneath his fingers, but the memory it carried was sharp and unbearable.
A sudden image flashed through his mind:Lila laughing in the kitchen, sunlight catching the gold in her hair as she danced while cooking dinner. The warmth of her smile, the sound of her voice.
Then the memory cracked and splintered, replaced by the stark reality of her absence. Nate closed his eyes and let the past and present collide. He thought of the secret illness she had hidden so well, the agonizing silence that had stretched between them like an unbridgeable chasm. He remembered the countless nights she had masked her pain behind a smile, the whispered reassurances that it was nothing, that she was fine.
And the other woman—Camille. The shadow that had stalked the edges of their lives for over ten years. The betrayal that Nate had allowed to grow, wilting the fragile roots of their marriage without ever rooting it out.
His chest tightened, breath hitching.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to the empty room.
A sound from the staircase pulled him back. He turned to see Ava standing at the top step, arms crossed, watching him with wary eyes.
“Dad?” Her voice cracked.
“Are you going to say something to us? Or just stand there like a ghost?”
