Dilemma, Dilemma

Once upon a time...

A man was happily married to his loving and overly-compassionate wife. The man was hard-working, earnest and generous. All day to and fro, he would do labor to satisfy the rights of his wife and home. In the times of his absense, the wife became well acquainted with the modest maid who was almost always busying herself dusting off the already dusted furniture in their domicile. They would converse all afternoon, bake goods together. By dusk, she retreated to her home in the village, where she slept till early the next morning when she returned to her daily duties as a maid.

The wife became very fond of her. One night, her husband came home to a warm furnace and a heated dinner. After settlement, and comfort, she proposed an idea to him.

"That is insane!" He exclaimed. "I cannot marry her! I cannot accompany anyone with you, dear."

"If it is I you wish to please," she replied, head downcast. "Then, you will be wed to our maid. Our company is faint when it is two. Amongst the three of us, we will build a bigger, more loving home!"

He stayed silent, eyes peering at the face that has secured every thought he ever spoke. 'How could I possibly add another beat alongside the pumping of my heart?' 

She leaned forward on her chair, fingers intertwined, eyes beaming,  "My love, do you not appeal to this idea? How fortunate would we be to share our intellect every night as a family? She IS a very splendid cook, might I add."

He sighed, and wearily reached for his wife's hand. "If this is what you wish, then I will obey."

The following day, the wife took to proposing her vision to the maid's parents. They gleamed with honor, unhesitant of any reproach. Shortly thereafter, the wife built her new companion a home close in range to her own, yet ensured with privacy.

The wedding took place, and time went by. They stitched together, laughed, ate dinner, and bonded over happenings as life went by. It was everything the elder wife conceived.

Amongst one of the blissful days, the latter-wed's mother came for a visit. Scoping the furniture, she clucked her tongue and shook her head. "My, my, dear. Have they really looped you in deceptiveness? You're living dirt for a man of his wealth. How lavish is her home, whilst he presents you her pass-me-downs. Have I raised you such that you'd accept anything readily."

With her mother's departure, she began to peer around with a new set of eyes. Criticism and envy took residence in the pit of her stomach and she awaited the arrival of her husband.

Fatigued and in need of solace, he came home and she welcomed him at the door with an outburst. He began to reassure her and promised he would replace everything she didn't find desirable.

"I do not find her desirable. Get rid of her, or get rid of me."

"Do not—"

"THAT IS MY ONLY REQUEST. IT IS EITHER I. OR HER!"

He stammered, and reached for her shoulder attempting to calm her. Jerking his arm away, she breathed in a shaky breath, said "And keep in my mind when you make your decision, that I am now bearing your child."