I imagined him kneeling before me, asking for forgiveness.
But as the months passed, I began to understand that waiting for his regret was another way of keeping my life tied to him.
So I stopped waiting.
I attended my hospital appointments. I ate properly, rested whenever I could, and prepared for my baby. I returned to work as soon as I was able, even on days when I felt exhausted.
My mother helped me buy a small cot. My sister brought baby clothes. A friend gave me a secondhand stroller.
Little by little, the empty space Daniel had left behind began to fill with people who genuinely cared about me.
Then came the day my daughter was born.
I remember the pain, the exhaustion, and the fear that I might not be strong enough.
But when the nurse placed my baby in my arms, the entire world seemed to become quiet.
