My husband insisted that he would bathe our little girl himself every night. But one evening, when I secretly followed him, the ground removed from under my feet.
For three weeks, my husband Daniel wouldn’t let anyone else bathe our two-year-old daughter. Even me.
At first, it didn’t seem strange. He was always a caring father. He came back exhausted from work, but he always found time to play with Emma. Sometimes he said that bathing was their little ritual of father and daughter.
But gradually Emma’s behavior began to change.
Every night, as soon as Daniel was taking his white towel, my daughter became restless. She ran up to me, grabbed my legs tightly and cried:
“My mom has to bathe me… not my dad.”
The first time, Daniel just laughed.
“I just don’t feel like it today. He’s only two years old. She’ll probably want something else tomorrow.’
But the next evening the situation repeated itself. And another one as well.
Each time Daniel would take her on his hand, carry her to the bathroom and lock the door. He was unscrewing the water so I couldn’t hear what was going on inside. When I tried to get in, he was standing in the doorway.
“I’ll take care of it. Go get some rest.”
One evening, I saw him hiding a small metal box in his pocket. I asked what it was. His expression immediately changed.
“It’s something about work.”
“Then why are you taking it to the bathroom?”
For a few seconds, he looked at me in silence.
“I already told you it wasn’t important.”
I couldn’t sleep that night.
Emma’s frightened face kept coming back in my mind. I remembered how tightly she was holding on to me, begging me not to let her dad take her bath.
The next morning, I noticed a red mark on her back.
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