A Family Disagreement Over Sleeping Arrangements

I came home early one cold evening, hoping to surprise my family with dinner and an unplanned night together. Instead, I walked into a silence that felt wrong. In the living room, my daughter Emily—seven months pregnant and exhausted—was resting on a thin air mattress on the floor.

Her arms were wrapped around her belly, her face drawn with discomfort. Upstairs, I could hear my wife Samantha and her daughter Lily chatting casually in one of the bedrooms. It took only a moment to understand that Emily had been given the least comfortable place to sleep.

My heart tightened. Emily had come to stay with us after a difficult period in her life, and I had promised her safety and care. Seeing her in that situation made me realize that promise had quietly been broken.

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