“I still have time to have the life I deserve.”
Then she got inside.
The taxi pulled away.
I stood on the porch holding one crying infant while the other two screamed beside me.
And I waited for Vanessa to come back.
One day.
Then one week.
Then a month.
Then Christmas.
Eventually, waiting became just another task I learned to carry alongside everything else.
CHILDREN KEEP GROWING
Children do not stop needing breakfast because the adults around them are grieving.
They don’t pause development while you figure out finances.
They don’t stop outgrowing shoes because your heart is broken.
So Sophie, Clara, and Lily kept growing.
And I learned to keep up.
I worked mornings at Mr. Khan’s bakery.
He let the girls stay in an unused back room while I worked.
We turned it into a little space with books, crayons, tiny chairs, and blankets.
