The Unfaithful Television

1 My wife and daughter claimed they could cross into another world through our TV, where they had another home and family. On Father’s Day, Lily announced she’d spend the day with “Daddy Nathan,” her “real dad” there. For our anniversary, Evelyn brushed off my new suit, saying her other-world husband was waiting. Even when I had a raging fever, they rushed out to meet Nathan at an amusement park. Over the Fourth of July, they vanished for a week. Returning, Evelyn cradled a newborn. Lily proudly declared him “the baby brother Daddy Nathan gave me.” Evelyn added, “Nathan thinks you should raise him. You’re not productive anyway.” I grabbed her wrist, shaking. “This is an affair! Do you care about us?” She yanked free, impatient. “He’s in another dimension. We’ll never meet. What are you jealous of?” Taking Lily’s hand, she headed for the living room. “Come on, sweetie. Back through the portal to Daddy Nathan.” As they walked away, I dialed the electronics recycler. “I need an old TV hauled tomorrow morning.” … The next afternoon, Evelyn and Lily stepped out of the television. The moment they crossed the threshold, they froze. Usually, lunch would be waiting on the dining table. The dishes would be piping hot, the soup simmering, and their favorite snacks neatly arranged on the coffee table. Today, there was nothing. The table was bare, the floors unswept. The baby lay alone on the sofa, his voice raspy from crying for hours. I was sitting in the darkest corner of the room, watching the baby cry without moving an inch. Evelyn's face fell. She rushed over and scooped the baby into her arms. "What is wrong with you?" I remained silent. "Are you deaf? The baby is screaming his lungs out and you're just sitting there? No food, no cleaning... what do you even do all day?" She glared at me. "I ask you to do one simple thing, to help watch a child, and you fail miserably. No wonder my husband in the other world is ten times better than you. He actually knows how to be useful." Lily stood beside her, her expression dripping with disgust. "You're a terrible dad. Daddy Nathan is always gentle. He keeps his house spotless, plays with me, and takes great care of baby brother." She crossed her arms and added, "If the TV portal didn't have a twelve-hour limit every day, Mommy and I would never come back here. We hate looking at your face." In the past, hearing those words would have sent me into a panic. I would have leaped up, apologized profusely, run to the kitchen, and swallowed my pride just to keep the peace. Today, I didn't budge. I just stared at them, completely silent. Evelyn assumed I was playing passive-aggressive games. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to soothing the crying infant. Lily sneered and ran off to find her toys. Neither of them noticed the absolute coldness in my eyes. I looked at Lily's young face, remembering how she used to cry through the night when she was a newborn. Evelyn was always busy with her career, so I never let her wake up once. I kept telling myself that if I just got through this phase, things would get better. When Lily was two, she became terrified of strangers. I quit my job to become a stay-at-home dad just to give her a sense of security. I told myself again, just get through this phase. When she was three, she tripped and cut her forehead. I held her tight as we sped to the emergency room. She got three stitches, and I cried harder than she did. The doctor told me that kids don't remember early trauma, that she would forget it when she grew up. She did forget. She forgot everything I had ever done for her. Now, she stood before me, summarizing my ten years of devotion with a single word: terrible. Evelyn handed the baby to Lily and began packing a bag with formula, baby food, fresh clothes, and a few small toys. "Come on, Lily," Evelyn said. "Let's head to the supermarket. We need to buy your brother some new clothes, and pick up some of the groceries Nathan likes." Lily's eyes lit up. She hurried after her mother, barely slipping her shoes on before rushing out the door. The heavy click of the front door echoed through the empty house. I was alone again. I walked over to the television and stared at it for a long time. The screen was black. In its glossy reflection, I saw my own face. My eyes were bloodshot, my hair disheveled, my skin pale. I looked like a stranger. I had foolishly believed that if I worked hard enough and loved them gently enough, they would eventually appreciate me. But yesterday, when Evelyn stood at the door holding another man's child and demanded I raise it, something shifted. It wasn't anger, and it wasn't sadness. It was a sudden, terrifying clarity. It was never about me not being good enough. It was simply that they had decided, a long time ago, that I would always be the very last thing on their list. 2 Late that night, a fever took hold of me. By the time Evelyn and Lily came back, I was slipping in and out of consciousness. The moment they walked in, they began organizing their haul. The new baby clothes were folded neatly into a storage box, and the gourmet ingredients bought for Nathan were packed into the fridge. Evelyn finished up, turned around, and began rattling off instructions in her usual demanding tone. "Starting tomorrow, feed the baby at seven in the morning, noon, and right before bed. Change his diaper every three hours. Wash his clothes the day they get dirty; do not let them pile up." I leaned against the bedroom doorframe, barely able to keep my eyes open. "Nathan said he is worried about leaving the baby with you, so he told me to keep a close eye on things," she added, not even looking at me. "You don't have anything else to do anyway, so just make sure you get this right." Lily nodded solemnly beside her. "Yeah, you need to take good care of baby brother. No slacking off. Daddy Nathan works so hard, you can't let him down." I parted my dry, cracked lips. "I have a fever." Evelyn frowned. "A fever?" "Yes." She glanced at me, her eyes lingering on my pale face for less than two seconds before darting away. "Drink some hot water and take some ibuprofen. It can't be that bad." I took a deep, shaky breath, gripping the doorframe to stay upright. "Can you please grab the medicine for me? It's in the cabinet. I'm too dizzy to stand." She didn't move. Instead, her eyes drifted toward the television. I followed her gaze. The screen was already glowing, the portal's countdown timer ticking away. "Can you stop being so difficult?" her voice snapped with irritation. "Nathan worked a double shift last night, and we finally have a chance to go over and keep him company. You just have to ruin it, don't you?" She sighed. "It's just a fever. Stop being so incredibly selfish." I stared at her, the silence stretching between us. Lily stepped around her mother, looking up at me like a disapproving adult. "You're acting like a baby, always causing trouble," Lily said. "Daddy Nathan never complains when he's sick, and he still takes care of us. He's the best dad." She paused, pointing a finger at me. "Make sure you watch my baby brother. If you mess up and make Daddy Nathan sad, Mommy and I will be furious." She grabbed Evelyn's hand. "Mommy, hurry! The portal is going to close!" Evelyn squeezed her hand, and together they stepped toward the glowing television screen. A second later, they vanished into the light. The living room plunged back into quiet. I stood there, my muscles aching, my head throbbing, my ears ringing with a high-pitched buzz. I limped over to the television and struck the side of the plastic frame. The screen flickered violently, suddenly displaying a live feed of the other side. It looked like a security camera feed. In a cozy kitchen, a man wearing an apron stood by a stove. Evelyn walked up behind him, leaning in close to whisper something. He laughed and playfully nudged her away, her face lighting up with joy. Lily sat at the dining table drawing. "Daddy!" she called out. The man smiled and walked over, praising her drawing. Lily beamed and planted a kiss on his cheek. They looked like a perfect, happy family. After dinner, Evelyn helped him clear the table, and Lily eagerly offered to wash the dishes. The man tried to stop her. "Go play, sweetie. I've got this." Evelyn wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Let her do it. Go sit down and rest." Lily rolled up her sleeves and stood by the sink, looking back with a bright grin. "Look, Daddy! I learned how to wash dishes!" The man watched her, his eyes welling with touched tears. Watching the screen, the final piece of my heart shattered into dust. They weren't incapable of helping around the house. They were willing to fight over who got to wash the dishes for him, but they couldn't spare three seconds to hand me a single pill. 3 Evelyn and Lily returned promptly at noon the next day. I was still in bed, having survived the night through sheer willpower. "Mommy, I bet baby brother is going to roll over today!" "Really? Let's go see." I heard their footsteps head toward the living room, followed by a sudden silence. A moment later, Evelyn's heavy steps marched toward the bedroom. She threw the door open and yanked me up from the mattress. "Did you miss his night feeding?" "I had a fever," I whispered, my throat raw. "I don't care!" she barked. "A baby cannot miss a feeding! Do you have any idea how bad that is for him?" I looked into her cold eyes. "I burned up all night. You didn't bring me medicine or water. I had to crawl out of bed to find the pills myself. I still got up to soothe him when he cried..." "Enough, enough," she waved her hand dismissively. "I'm asking about the baby. Why are you bringing up your own drama?" Lily peeked through the crack of the door, seeing me still lying down, and scoffed. "You are so lazy. What if baby brother got hungry? Daddy Nathan would be devastated if he knew." Evelyn pulled out her phone, checking the living room security feed. Her expression darkened further. "You spent almost the entire afternoon in bed. How many times did you feed him? Did you even change his diaper?" "Once," I said. "Only once?" "My temperature was 102 degrees." She stared at me as if I were a stubborn child who refused to understand basic logic. "So what if you had a fever? Feeding a child is a basic human duty. If you can't even handle that, what use are you to this family?" She stepped closer, her voice rising. "Just because you felt a little under the weather, you decided to neglect a helpless infant?" "How old is he? He can't feed himself! Do you have a single shred of responsibility left in you?" "You don't care about anyone but yourself." She began grabbing my arm, trying to drag me out of bed while dialing her phone. "Get up. I'm calling an ambulance. Go to the hospital. If you stay here and infect us, we won't be able to go back to the other world. Do you understand?" Lily nodded in agreement. "Yeah, go to the hospital, Dad. What if you make Daddy Nathan sick?" "He has a weak immune system. If he catches your germs, Mommy and I will never forgive you." I looked at the two of them standing side by side. Their expressions were identical, painted with the same chilling sense of entitlement. I suddenly laughed. I laughed at the realization of how many years I had wasted worrying about these two ungrateful people. "Fine," I said. "I'll go." The ambulance arrived quickly. The paramedics loaded me onto a gurney. "Is any family coming with him?" one of the paramedics asked. Evelyn stood by the doorway, shaking her head. "No. He can manage on his own." The paramedic blinked, looking between her and me. "The patient has a very high fever. It's much better if someone accompanies him..." "He'll be fine," Evelyn interrupted, her tone sharp. "I have a baby to look after. I can't leave the house." The paramedics didn't argue. They wheeled me out. I spent three days in the hospital. During that time, neither Evelyn nor Lily visited me once. They didn't even send a text. I opened my phone and checked our home security cameras. Unsurprisingly, they entered the television portal right on schedule every day, returning only at the very last second. On the fourth day, I was discharged. It happened to be Lily's first day back at school. Out of old habit, I walked her to the school gates. One of her classmates called out her name, and the two girls began whispering. Lily laughed, her voice loud and proud. "I have two dads, you know!" Her friend looked confused. "Two?" "Yeah!" Lily bragged. "One lives in another world, and one lives in my house. Daddy Nathan in the other world is the best. He never yells, he plays with me, cooks delicious meals, and loves me the most." She rolled her eyes and sighed. "The dad at home is useless. He just nags and complains. I absolutely hate him." The classmate didn't say anything, but she glanced awkwardly at me. Their teacher walked over, kneeling down to look at Lily. "Lily, you shouldn't talk about your father like that." Lily looked at the teacher, completely unbothered. "But it's the truth." The teacher frowned, about to speak, when Lily suddenly turned around and shoved me. "I wish Daddy Nathan could stay with me forever," she shouted. "I don't want you!" I was still weak from the hospital and lost my balance, falling backward onto the pavement. Lily didn't even look back as she ran through the gates and disappeared into the crowd. As I sat there on the cold concrete, my phone buzzed. It was the electronics recycling company. "Hi, we have an opening tomorrow morning. Would that work for you?" "Yes," I said, brushing the dirt off my palms. "Tomorrow morning. I'll be waiting." 4 I didn't go to pick Lily up that afternoon. When she finally walked through the front door, her face was twisted with rage. "Why didn't you pick me up?" I sat on the sofa and didn't answer. "Every other kid had their parents waiting for them! I had to walk home all by myself!" She threw her backpack onto the floor. "What do you even do all day? You're so lazy you can't even remember your own daughter?" I kept my eyes on her, silent. She huffed, turning around to forage for snacks in the pantry. I watched her small back, remembering how I used to stand outside her school gates every single day, holding her favorite treats, ready to take her bag and ask how her day was. She had always pushed me away, eager to get home and rush to the TV so she could see Nathan. When Evelyn came home from work, she tossed a heavy grocery bag onto the kitchen counter. Lily immediately ran over and wrapped her arms around her mother's leg. "Mommy! I miss Daddy Nathan and baby brother so much! Can we please go see them now?" Evelyn smiled warmly, stroking her hair. "Of course, sweetie. Right now." She turned to me, her warm expression instantly freezing into a cold glare. "Cook these groceries. I want to take the meals inside with us tonight." I didn't argue. Instead, I pulled a stack of documents from the drawer and handed them to her along with a pen. "Sign these first," I said. "They're utility authorizations and some administrative paperwork." Evelyn grabbed the pen and scribbled her signature on the lines I pointed to, not even bothering to read a single word. She shoved the papers back into my hands. "There. Now hurry up and cook." She had no idea that the very bottom sheet of that stack was a mutual divorce agreement. I put the papers away and quietly walked into the kitchen. Behind me, Evelyn's voice drifted through the air. "Look how perfect this is. I spend half my time with you, and the other half with Nathan. Everyone gets a piece of the pie. No one loses." She chuckled. "Don't overthink it. He's over there, you're over here, you'll never cross paths. It's peaceful. You just stay home, cook, take care of the baby, and I'll make sure your allowance is paid on time." I finished cooking and packed the food into neat containers, handing them to her. She looked pleased and patted Lily on the shoulder. "Let's go find your father and brother." They walked over to the television, the screen flared with light, and they stepped through, vanishing into the glow. I stood in the center of the dark living room, watching the television screen. On the display, Nathan was setting the table. Evelyn opened the containers, and Lily leaned in happily. "Daddy, look! Mommy brought more delicious food!" The man smiled warmly, taking the boxes. "Thank you, girls." They gathered around the table, laughing and preparing to eat. I turned around and walked into my bedroom, lying down on the mattress. I closed my eyes. The dose of sleeping pills I had crushed into that food was more than enough to put them all into a deep, uninterrupted sleep on the other side. A sleep long enough for the recycling crew to arrive. Long enough for the television to be taken away. Long enough for everything to end. At eight the next morning, the recycling crew knocked on my door. They walked into the living room and eyed the television. "This the one?" "Yes," I replied. As the worker reached for the power cord, I spoke up. "If the screen is shattered and the frame is broken, do you still take it?" The worker paused. "Yeah, we mostly just strip them down for the internal components to sell back to manufacturers. We don't care if the casing is damaged." I walked over to the hall closet and pulled out a heavy claw hammer. The worker's eyes widened, but he didn't say a word. I raised the hammer, aimed directly at the center of the screen, and swung with everything I had. The sharp, deafening crack of imploding glass shattered the quiet of the room. The screen splintered instantly, a web of fractures spreading across the dark glass before it went completely dead. I swung a second time. Then a third. Every blow was heavy, landing square in the center. Pieces of glass rained down onto the hardwood floor with a soft, metallic clatter. The worker stood by, completely speechless. I stopped, letting the hammer slip from my hand to clatter onto the floor. I looked at the ruined, hollow shell of the machine. My voice was quiet and cold. "It's ready. You can take it now."