Just Keep Breathing…

**Just Breathe…**

“Oh, good heavens… Where on earth did you dig her up? She must weigh a ton! I dont understand you, Oliver. Honestly, shes a right lump! What do you even see in her? Mum, tell him something, wont you?” Emily fumed and fumed.

“Now, now, Emily, calm yourself. Its your brothers choice. Olivers the one wholl live with her. Let him sort it out with his bride,” Margaret gave her son a questioning look.

“Finished? Right then. Im marrying Tanya. Besides, well have a child come autumn. Thats it, ladiesdebate over,” Oliver strode out of the room.

…Oliver had been married once before, to a real beauty. A daughter remained from that union. Hed loved his wife to distraction, but it seemed he hadnt measured up. His mother-in-law had done everything to poison that love, and in the end, Oliver had no choice but to leave.

For a time, he lost himself to drink, brawls, and fleeting romances…

…Then, out of nowhere, came Tanya. They met among mutual friends. She noticed him straight awayhandsome, sturdy, quick with a joke. No one could make her laugh like Oliver.

Tanya taught mathematics at the local school. She lived with her parents, and she was four-and-twenty when their paths crossed.

Sometimes, you meet someone and love them for life. No reason, just because. Because they feel like home. Because youve known them a thousand years, and suddenly, the thought of life without them is unbearable. Thats how it was for Tanya.

That evening, Oliver hadnt spared her a glance.

First, he was hopelessly drunk. Second, Tanya wasnt his typenot in the slightest. Third, hed sworn off marriage. “Had my fill. Not a step towards the altar again,” hed tell his mates.

But that night, there was Emma. A right dazzler. Oliver struck up an easy chat and whisked her away from prying eyes, stealing off to the kitchen. Later, they slipped into the night hand in hand.

…Emma was grand. Everything about her suited Olivera real sparkler. Men turned their heads and sighed after her.

When Oliver introduced Emma to his sister Emily, she took one look and said, “Lovely girl. But not wife material.”

“I know,” Oliver replied.

Emma left him for another man. Oliver didnt pine. He knew she wasnt the one. Let her go without a second thought.

…Tanya waited for her moment. Oliver was freetime to act.

She asked him out. He hesitated, but agreed.

Tanya brought him home to meet her parents. Her father and mother took to him at once.

And so it began…

Oliver was wrapped in care and attention day and night. Tanya fluttered about him like a moth to a flame, indulging his every whim.

Six months on, Oliver broke the news to his mother and sister.

“But do you love her, Ollie?” his mother asked.

“No. I loved onceyou know that, Mum. It hurt too much. Knowing Tanya adores me is enough,” Oliver mused.

“Itll be hard, son, living under one roof with a woman you dont love. Will you grow to?” Margaret wiped a tear.

“Well see,” Oliver replied vaguely.

…The wedding was held at the brides home.

“Live well, love well, quarrel and make up quick, newlyweds,” Tanyas mother toasted.

…They quarrelled. They didnt make up. Oliver took to drink again and moved back in with his parents.

Margaret shook her head but held her tongue.

Tanya rushed over that very day. “Whats got into you, Oliver? Come home. I wont let you go!”

He went back.

…A son was born.

Life spun faster.

Oliver grew fonder of this warm little family. His in-laws doted on himthe best cut of meat always saved for Ollie. When he came home from work, the house hushed to let him rest.

They spoiled him with little gifts.

Oliver never spoke a harsh word to Tanyas parents. Respected them. Took on all the household chores.

He called her “Tansy,” always.

Adored his boy.

…Twenty-five years of marriage slipped by like a single day.

The parents aged. Illness came often; the clinic became a second home.

“Ollie, why not pop to the doctors yourself for once?” Tanya urged.

“As you say, Tansy…”

…Always in a rushmending the fence, fixing up the house, tidying the garden. Too much of a rush…

…The ambulance arrived.

“Nothing to be done. Sudden death.”

The ground gave way. Tanya collapsed.

The doctors brought her round.

“How? Ollie saw the doctors just last week! Fit as a fiddle, they said. Then a slip, just like that… Its not right. I dont believe it!” Tanyas voice broke into a wail.

Her elderly parents sat bewildered.

“It shouldve been us, the old ones! Why this cruelty?” her mother wept.

“Ollie! Youre my life! Just breathe…” Tanya flung herself at her husbands still form.

…They buried him.

…Two months later, Tanyas father passed.

With his last breath, he murmured, “Ollie… take me with you.”

A month after, her mother followed.

…Half a year on, Tanya sold the house. Couldnt bear to stay. Bought a flat. Married off her son.

…Seven years a widow, she confessed to Olivers sister:

“Emily, a husband like Ollie… its rare. Losing him was hell. I couldnt save him.”

She made her son promise: “Bury me beside your father.”

The pain of missing him never dulled.

Time doesnt heal, Emily. Believe me…

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Just Keep Breathing…
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