Whitney spends her time working crazy shifts as a trauma nurse, only to get home and take over the running of her home, all while her husband, George, refuses to lift a finger. But one day, he offers to make her life easier, claiming that he’ll clean up the house. Is he cleaning up the house, or a mess that he made?
George and I had been together for nearly 20 years. We’d raised our three kids, now off at university, and settled into a routine that was easy. So easy that neither of us questioned much. George worked hard and brought in most of the money, while I handled the house in between my shifts at the hospital.
It seemed to be an unspoken deal we had.
George didn’t lift a finger when it came to housework. Sometimes he would grab the groceries or wash a dish here and there. But other than that? The kitchen, the laundry, everything else?
That was all me.
It didn’t bother me. I never expected much help from George, and we never fought over it. We had our system, and for years, this seemed to work.
But then, everything changed.
I’d been pulling longer shifts at the hospital. The hours were brutal, honestly. The overnight, back-to-back shifts left me absolutely exhausted by the time I got home.
“Whitney,” George told me one night when I got home from work and was making a sandwich for dinner. “What are you doing?”
“Making something to eat before I start the laundry, George,” I said with a sigh.
“You’re doing so much. Let me at least tidy up around here while you’re gone. I’m working from home tomorrow, let me do the laundry then.”
It was a rare act of thoughtfulness, and I was too exhausted to do anything else for the night. So, I agreed.
“Thank you, honey,” I said, dusting off my scrubs. “I’m going to shower and call it a night.”
He smiled and nodded, putting everything I used back into the fridge.
The first time I came home to a clean kitchen, my heart swelled. The counters were spotless, the trash was gone, and George was at home with a smile. I didn’t ask for it, but there he was, saying that he truly wanted to make things easier for me.
It was so strange that after all these years, my husband actually noticed how hard I worked, and how much effort I had put into work around the house.
“I told you, Whit,” he said when he saw the surprised look on my face. “I want you to rest when you come home.”
It felt like a new chapter. Twice, sometimes three times a week, I’d come home to find the house tidied up, the trash taken out, the floors swept and mopped.
And the best part?
George appeared to be even more attentive than he’d been in years. It was like we had hit a reset button. We were finally in sync again, like we’d rediscovered something between us after so long.
But as they say, some things are too good to be true.
