And why do you keep hiding the fact that you're pregnant?" Elena's voice cut through the quiet with unsettling precision. "I know you've always wanted a child… a family."
"There," I interrupted softly, though there was nothing gentle about the way the words left me. "You said it, Elena. A family."
I turned toward her fully now, my gaze steady, holding hers in a way that made the space between us feel smaller than it was. "I didn't just want a child," I continued, my voice lowering slightly. "I wanted a complete family."
The words lingered longer than I intended, settling into something heavier than a simple correction, something closer to truth than I was comfortable admitting out loud.
I began to walk away, already done with the conversation before it could stretch into something I didn't have the strength to entertain, but then I paused, just briefly, as something else surfaced.
