“Where’s Mara?”
She couldn’t answer right away.
“She asked me to take the girls out… said she needed time alone. When I came back…”
Her voice gave out.
That’s when I saw the note.
One line.
That was all it took.
“I can’t do this. I won’t waste my life on a broken man and diapers. Mark can give me more.”
I read it twice.
Not because I didn’t understand.
Because I needed to.
Mark didn’t just tell her.
He gave her a reason to leave.
I picked up Katie.
My mother placed Mia in my other arm.
I sat on the floor.
And let it hit me.
All of it.
chta saba ya weldi
The flowers were still downstairs where I dropped them.
The sweaters sat beside me.
At some point, they stopped crying.
Fell asleep against my chest.
I looked at them.
And said it out loud.
“You’re not going anywhere. And neither am I.”
The next three years weren’t easy.
They came one night at a time.
