Ethan set the groceries down slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we talk privately?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can talk right here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane crossed her arms like she was the one being inconvenienced. Ethan rubbed the back of his neck.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom and Megan had trouble with their apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you moved them into my house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur house.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words escaped before he could stop them.<\/p>\n
My eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe deed says otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n
He swallowed. \u201cI mean our home. Obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have they been here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout three weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
That made everything click.<\/p>\n
I had video-called him from this house less than a month earlier, and the background had looked normal. Diane had moved in near the end of my deployment, which meant this takeover had been fast and deliberate.<\/p>\n
Ethan stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir landlord sold the building. They needed somewhere temporary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTemporary guests don\u2019t take the primary bedroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane scoffed. \u201cI have a knee issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen use the downstairs room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat room is tiny.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you agree.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody answered.<\/p>\n
Ethan lowered his voice. \u201cYou\u2019re exhausted. Please don\u2019t turn this into a war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nine months overseas, and my husband was warning me not to create conflict because I objected to being assigned rent and chores in my own home.<\/p>\n
But anger is useful only when you control where it goes.<\/p>\n
The Army had taught me one rule I never forgot.<\/p>\n
Never react before you understand the terrain.<\/p>\n
So I let my shoulders drop.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane looked pleased.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew you\u2019d understand once you settled down.\u201d<\/p>\n
I slipped the laminated sheet into my jacket pocket and carried my bags to the downstairs office.<\/p>\n
The door barely opened. My desk had been shoved against the wall, a narrow twin bed squeezed inside, and my books were stacked in plastic bins.<\/p>\n
A cheap floral comforter covered the mattress.<\/p>\n
I closed the door.<\/p>\n
Locked it.<\/p>\n
Then I sat on the edge of the bed and opened my laptop.<\/p>\n
Part 2: The Room They Left Me Ethan set the groceries down slowly. \u201cCan we talk privately?\u201d \u201cWe can talk … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amomama-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6541,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6521\/revisions\/6541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amomama.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}