– Why are you all dressed up like that? – his wife asked in surprise. – Nobody wears that style anymore.
Betty was in the kitchen when she heard the wardrobe doors banging in the bedroom where her husband slept.
– Are you awake? – she called loudly so he could hear. – Come to the kitchen. I haven’t had breakfast yet, I’m waiting for you.
Her husband didn’t respond. Betty waited a moment, sighed with annoyance, and went to the room.
Her husband was standing in front of the mirror wearing the suit they had bought twenty years ago, when he turned forty.
– Why are you all dressed up like that? – his wife asked in surprise. – That cut is completely outdated now.
– It’ll do… – Her husband was turning in front of the mirror like a young girl, thinking hard about something.
– What, is there another work event coming up? – Betty asked. – Remember what the doctors told you. You’re not allowed to drink at all. Not a single drop. So take care of yourself.
– I remember, I remember – her husband replied indifferently. – Don’t worry, I won’t have to drink at this event.
– What kind of strange event is this? – Betty wondered. – Some meeting or what?
– Something like that… – her husband nodded.
– And no banquet at all?
– Well, why not… Someone will probably have a drink.
– And you?
– I’ll just watch.
– Yeah, right, just watch… – Betty snorted. – I know you too well…
– If you don’t want to believe me, don’t – her husband shrugged. Then he smoothed the edges of the jacket and asked: – Please iron it properly for me, okay?
– Alright. When do you need it by?
– I don’t know the exact date yet. But soon…
– Soon is soon. Now change and come have breakfast.
– Okay…
Five minutes later they sat down to eat.
Her husband was acting strange today — sluggish, thoughtful, and even looking a bit worn out.
– Why are you like this from the morning? – Betty couldn’t hold back. – Is your heart bothering you again? Or did you just not sleep well? I’ll get the blood pressure monitor right now.
She wanted to stand up but didn’t have time. He placed his hand on hers and said:
– Sit down. Nothing hurts. I just had a bad dream.
– What dream?
– A prophetic one.
– And what did you dream about?
– Maybe I shouldn’t tell you? – he sighed heavily and at length. – It was a bad dream…
– Come on, tell me – Betty looked at him like a child. – My sensitive one…
– Alright – her husband nodded. – I dreamed, Betty, that I… well… was gone. You understand? That I was lying… on those… on stools, wearing this very suit… the one I was just trying on. And everyone who came to say goodbye was looking at me and smiling with joy.
– Smiling with joy? – Betty frowned.
– Because I looked good. They liked my suit. And I was lying there… as if I wasn’t breathing, but somehow thinking: good thing I kept this suit. I hadn’t worn it in a long time, but sometimes when I looked at it, I thought that you would lay me to rest in this one.
– Did you really think that? – Betty looked at him sternly.
– Yes, I did – he nodded. – And I’m telling you now: if anything happens, I should be buried in this one. Don’t you dare put anything else on me. Understood? So this dream didn’t come to me for nothing. You know that when I feel something, it always comes true…
– What a husband I got… – Betty clenched her teeth. – He really knows how to lift the mood in the morning… Said such things that I should call and order a funeral right now…
– Don’t start, Betty – her husband snorted. – It’s perfectly normal for a husband and wife to talk about such things. You yourself say that my heart isn’t the best, and men in our family live long. Don’t start. But remember what I said about the suit… Alright?
– Anyway, we’re checking your blood pressure now. Just in case – Betty said in a commanding tone. She stood up, noisily pushing back her chair, left the kitchen, and soon returned with the blood pressure monitor.
Her husband’s blood pressure was normal.
– I told you it was fine – her husband said cheerfully. Suddenly he became alert and looked toward the kitchen. – Did you turn off the stove?
– Why? – his wife asked in a satisfied tone.
– Don’t you smell it? Something’s burning…
– I do – Betty smiled.
– Then why are you smiling? Is something in the oven?
– Nooo… – Betty’s smile grew even wider.
– So what’s burning?
– Probably that dear suit of yours… – Wanda laughed – the one you were counting on so much…
– What have you done?! – her husband exclaimed. He jumped up from his chair and dashed into the room like a bullet. From there came an almost desperate cry: – Betty! Why did you leave the hot iron on my jacket?! You did it on purpose, didn’t you?! You burned a hole right on the front… Now I can’t wear it anywhere!
– So, did you get your suit for the big event?! – Betty called out joyfully from the kitchen. – That’s it! There’s nothing to bury you in now. You’ll have to live another forty years. And he was already planning… I’ll plan for you… I’ll dress you up…
Betty laughed for a long time, looking at her husband’s bewildered face. He stood in the middle of the room holding the burned jacket and muttering something under his breath, but he couldn’t even get properly angry.
Several days passed, then weeks. Life returned to its usual flow. They argued over small things, drank tea together in the kitchen, watched the evening news, and fell asleep to the quiet murmur of the television.
But after that conversation, Betty began to notice things she had never paid attention to before.
How her husband placed a cup for her on the table every morning before she woke up.
How he discreetly adjusted the collar of her coat before she left the house.
How he always saved the tastiest piece of pie for her.
And one evening she suddenly realized that the greatest fear wasn’t that one day one of them would be gone.
The worst thing was to forget to tell the person next to you how much you love them while there is still time.
That evening Betty walked up to her husband without a word as he sat in the armchair with a book, put her arms around his shoulders, and pressed her cheek to his gray hair.
– What’s this? – he asked, surprised.
– Just because – she smiled.
Then she added:
– And we’ll buy a new suit. But not for the event you’re thinking about. For our golden wedding anniversary.
Her husband looked at her, took her hand without saying anything, and squeezed it tightly.
And for the first time in many years, they sat like that for a very long time, not saying a single word.
Because true love doesn’t always express itself in loud declarations.
Sometimes it lives in a morning cup of coffee, in an old burned suit, in the habit of waiting for each other for breakfast, and in the desire to live together for at least one more ordinary day.
