When I Returned from the Hospital with Our Newborn, My Husband Had Changed the Locks – Twenty Hours Later, He Showed Up, Pounding and Screaming

I waited a long time to become a mother. Not in a cinematic way—no dramatic montages, no grand declarations. Just quiet years of hoping, then swallowing disappointment, and smiling through other people’s announcements while telling myself, someday.

Raymond and I talked about it late at night, in that soft, careful tone couples use when they’re afraid a dream might vanish if they name it too loudly. We planned. We budgeted. We promised we’d do it right, if it ever happened.

When it finally did, I felt two things at once: joy so sharp it almost hurt, and fear that I might somehow lose it.

Pregnancy wasn’t gentle. I was tired in a way sleep couldn’t fix.

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