The hospital bag is packed and sitting by the door.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRg8e0CxGE
Three onesies, tiny mittens, a pink baby blanket.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEz6HIuDTkU
The one with little clouds on it—Henry picked it out.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSJdH6bOkb
I remember the way he smiled when we bought it together at the baby store, said she'd be "a little storm with dimples." I believed every word. Every crooked, practiced word.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBITCBUSxJq
I'm eight months along, bloated and tired, the skin on my stomach stretched to the edge of what I can carry. Everything aches—but what hurts most is the waiting.
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He said he'd come. He promised he'd take me to the check-up today.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNR6zw0qLSM
But he's two hours late.
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I stare at my phone. No calls. No messages. Just a bunch of screenshots from baby name websites and a photo of the first sonogram. I scroll through the texts I sent today.
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"Babe, are you coming?"42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CVl7LchRf
"Doctor said today's check-up's important. I need you."42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhZKWNtDlh
"Where are you?"
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Nothing.
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The flashback cracks wider when I remember the conversation from three days before.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhzTBxlGkt
He was distracted, fidgety. Said he was tired. Said he had "stuff" to deal with.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIzebARLoc
I asked what kind of stuff.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0C1TmJsycy
He didn't answer.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAEs6ZCjGH
He kissed my forehead and told me I was overthinking again.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjC1UAEhwi8
Told me to rest.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeoRqsg7Gf1
Told me I was glowing.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZw42zy0iL
I didn't know back then that Trina Alfaro had already started calling him "baby" behind my back.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2TZJ2I0Dq
Didn't know that he was taking her on late-night drives, lying about visiting his cousin,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjI6ik2ZQzW
telling her I was "just a situation" he couldn't get out of yet.
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The first real sign came like a gut punch.
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It was a week before I was due.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93GHHCxPzr
Stacy texted me while I was folding baby clothes.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCq7ka8Hy2v
"Sam. I saw Henry at La Vida. With Trina. Holding hands. Sorry."
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBaut8SEPG
La Vida was the bar I used to ban him from back when we still had boundaries.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAv2R2QhEqC
Back when I thought rules meant something in love.
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I dropped the onesie I was folding. My legs went numb.
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I wanted to say she was wrong. That it was a misunderstanding. That Henry wouldn't do that to me.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDZYwkOXeC
Not now. Not when we were so close to bringing life into the world.
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But deep down, I already knew.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWm0IYRaRRz
I'd known for weeks.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJNWGKIH5G
You don't just lose someone in one night. You lose them in small silences, in missing replies, in half-hearted kisses and fake laughter.
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Two days later, I called him—one last time.
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He picked up on the fourth ring.
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"Sam," he said, sounding annoyed. "What now?"
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I paused. Then: "Are you seeing someone else?"
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDxFAhpLZB
Silence.
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"I saw the picture, Henry. Her hand in yours."
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQsRAGHCRM
Another silence. Then a sigh. "Look, this whole thing is just... a lot. You're emotional. You're blowing things out of proportion."
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pzvvGPM6F
"I'm due in a week." My voice cracked. "You're supposed to be here. For us."
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrxWTczXhy
"I didn't ask for any of this," he snapped. "You're the one who wanted to keep it."
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡALfh3vzdR0
Those words?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNa1nFmZvD7
They carved something out of me that hasn't fully grown back.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVy63Bwn3V
I hang up the memory like a photo I don't want to look at anymore.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7WaIH1Xof
Because Angelique's laugh is echoing from the other room now.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FfoIkBj78
She's playing with her toy kitchen. Serving imaginary meals with plastic spoons.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUt1RNsqtL
Her face is lit with joy. Pure and innocent.
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She has his nose.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3JeOdnElD
But thank God she has my heart.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqLchelnvf
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaaT8ETLEf
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60TNgMnY1H
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