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

By the third trimester, my back felt like glass, my ankles ballooned by afternoon. Some days, I moved like my body belonged to someone else, and I was borrowing it under strict terms.

Ray tried to be steady for both of us. He read every article, downloaded every app, set reminders for appointments, and spoke to my belly when he thought I wasn’t paying attention.

“This kid is already tougher than both of us,” he’d say, pressing his palm to my stomach like he could pass courage through skin.

We prepped the house slowly—crib catalogs, paint swatches, lists taped to the fridge. Ray promised he’d take time off work for the first week. He said it so many times it became a mantra.

“I’ve got you,” he told me. “You won’t be alone in this.”

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