I’m not broken! The Perfect Wife
My beloved left me when he found out I was pregnant. I guess I hadn’t realized that he didn’t love me as much as I thought he did. Neither he, nor his parents, nor his sister, who was a close friend of mine, wanted to even look at their daughter-granddaughter-niece. But I didn’t demand anything. Everyone made their choice: he found a new girlfriend, and I had the baby without a husband.
At the time, my mom said, “Leave. I’ll let you back in if you have an abortion.” Mom raised me without a father. She didn’t want the same fate for her daughter. She had that right. But I would never say anything like that to my daughter.
We will be each other’s support. There won’t be any whining in our home about lack of money or a man’s help. I had just finished college and was already working, but managed to stay in student housing and even got myself a small flat. My salary went towards some furniture and household items. I had nothing. I couldn’t afford fresh juice and fruit for the pregnancy!
Just enough for bread and milk. There was everything: fatigue, tears, and terrible sleep deprivation. But I didn’t want anyone to pity me. I smiled. His friends would visit. I spoke well of him, didn’t dwell on the grievances. I needed strength for my baby, whom I carried in my heart. I once heard the phrase: nobody owes you anything. Harsh, but essentially true. Why should anyone save me when I took on the responsibility for my life and that of my little one?
My daughter was born in December. We celebrated the New Year together. My new friends from university would gather, play the guitar, drink tea, and take turns helping with the laundry. My little one helped in her way: she ate and slept, and in between, she cooed happily. Many said our home felt incredibly joyful and easygoing. And one day, I noticed one of the students started visiting more often and staying longer.
He was kind, skilled, and rather handsome. Tom was four years younger than me. I locked my heart away, forbade myself from making plans, and cherished every moment we spent together. Then I met his mother. She asked through him to visit us and… on the very first day, she called me daughter.
Now my husband and I live in another dormitory. Everything in the room is crafted by his hands. He says I’m the perfect wife. I reconciled with my mom. She adores her granddaughter. On weekends we visit his parents in a neighboring town. There, Lucy runs to her other gran, and they don’t leave each other’s side for the entire two days.
I shudder to think: if I had somehow clung to a man who didn’t love me, would I have had anything like this?! I would’ve only had a husband who ignored me, a mother-in-law convinced I ruined her son’s life, guilt, and tears on the pillow.
Fate gave me much more than I asked for.
