Page 4 — The Child Everyone Had an Opinion About
Once people discovered I was pregnant, everyone had something to say.
Some people called it a miracle.
Others called it irresponsible.
A few couldn’t hide their judgment.
One woman at the grocery store looked at my stomach and then at my face.
“How old are you?”
I smiled politely.
“Sixty-one.”
Her eyes widened.
“You’re serious?”
I laughed.
“Very.”
Another person told me I should be enjoying retirement instead of raising a baby.
I didn’t argue.
People who hadn’t experienced our loss couldn’t understand why Liam already meant so much to us.
He wasn’t replacing Emily.
He wasn’t erasing our grief.
He was simply bringing something new into a house that had known too much silence.
Thomas became protective.
He wouldn’t let me carry heavy bags.
He checked every appointment twice.
He even started reading pregnancy books.
One night I caught him sitting on the couch with a book upside down.
I laughed.
“Thomas.”
“What?”
“It’s upside down.”
He looked at it.
“Oh.”
We both laughed.
Those little moments became precious.
But beneath the happiness was a fear neither of us talked about enough.
I was afraid of losing the baby.
And Thomas was afraid of losing me.
Then came the appointment that changed everything.
