“I have my severance money, Doc,” I said. “Put his name on the list.”
The next evening, I came home.
Joshua sat at the kitchen table, eyes red, coffee untouched.
“Hanna…” he began.
“You let me quit my job,” I said.
“You let me fall in love with those boys. You let me believe this was our dream.”
His face crumpled. “I wanted you to have a family.”
“No,” I said, my voice shaking.
“You wanted to control what happened to me after you were gone.”
He covered his face. “I told myself I was protecting you. But really, I was protecting myself from watching you choose whether to stay.”
That landed hard.
“You made me a mother without telling me I might be raising them alone,” I said.
“You don’t get to call that love and expect gratitude.”
He cried. I didn’t soften.
“I’m here because Matthew and William need their father,” I said. “And because whatever time is left will be lived in truth.”
He nodded.
