But it had left six frightened children behind.
The Choice Everyone Expected Me Not to Make
Legally, I had no responsibility for Claire’s children.
We had not yet married. I was not their biological father, and my name appeared on none of their birth certificates.
Several people gently suggested that I should let relatives take them.
Some were less gentle.
“You’re only twenty-nine,” one person told me. “You still have your whole life ahead of you.”
Another said, “No one would blame you for walking away.”
But during Claire’s memorial service, I looked down the church pew and saw six children sitting together.
The youngest leaned against me and whispered, “When is Mommy coming back?”
Something inside me broke.
I could not give her an answer.
But I knew one thing with absolute certainty.
I was not going anywhere.
I worked with lawyers and social workers. Claire had no close relatives able to care for all six children together, and separating them would have caused even more pain.
