part 2 The man who spent eleven years blaming me for our childlessness threw me out of our home9-008v

the delivery room doors because hospital policy allowed only certain support during the procedure, and afterward I learned he had not sat down once.

But then I heard the first cry.

Small.

Fierce.

Alive.

Then the second.

Then the third.

I named them Lucia, Mateo, and Elena.

Lucia had Ryan’s fair hair at birth, though it darkened later into soft brown curls.continue reading …