He stared at the pregnancy test in my hand for what felt like forever. Then he stood up from the kitchen table, walked upstairs, and began packing a suitcase.
“Daniel, what are you doing?” I asked.
He didn’t answer at first.
Then he looked at me and said quietly, “I can’t do this anymore.”
By sunrise, he was gone.
Two weeks later, I discovered there was another woman.
That was the part that broke me.
He hadn’t left because he was scared.
He had already been planning his escape.
Suddenly, I was pregnant and raising thirteen children alone.
The first months were terrifying.
After everyone went to sleep, I sat at the kitchen table counting coins and trying to decide which bill could wait another week.
I skipped meals.
I sold jewelry.
I cleaned houses during the day and sewed clothes at night.
The older children noticed more than I wanted them to.