“What? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“I told them not to,” he says quickly.
“Why would you do that?” I say, my voice spiking.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay. Can you really blame me?”
“I can handle a‘Congrats’text, Mason. I knew she was due. I was waiting. I would’ve been fine.”
He looks at me like he doesn’t buy it for a second.
He steps forward. “Okay, I’m sorry. I was just trying to be extra gentle with you after what happened when she announced she was pregnant and all.”
“Well, now I just feel coddled,” I fire back. “I didn’t get the chance to redeem myself or even try to cope with it.”
He softens, steps closer. “I was trying to help. I didn’t want to overwhelm you.”
“That’s not your decision. You didn’t ask me. If you would’ve asked me, I would’ve said not to do this. I would’ve assured you I’d be okay.”
He shakes his head. “But you’re only saying that because we still don’t know about this month yet and—”
“It’s not,” I cut in.
He freezes.
“I woke up with my period.”
Everything in his face falls—slow, stunned—like he’s absorbing the hit.
“You…did?” he asks, voice barely there.
I nod, one tear slipping down my cheek.
“Meg…” His voice goes hoarse. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I’m done. I’m over it.” It comes out sharp, brittle. And his hurt is instant.
“Megan,” he murmurs. “You’re not over it.”
“Yes,” I insist, wiping my cheek too fast. “I am.”
“No, you’re not,” he says quietly. “You just stopped talking about it. That’s not the same thing.”
I swallow hard.
He steps closer, arms wrapped around my head, his cheek pressed against my hair. It isn’t until now that I realized how much I needed his embrace.
I stand in the kitchen by myself now, surrounded by thrift bags and silence, when something inside me flips. An epiphany.
If being around pregnancies and babies hurts, then maybe the only way through it is to stop avoiding it.
No more tiptoeing. No more hiding at home, skipping church and family events to “protect my peace.”
Avoidance didn’t help. So maybe immersion will.
If I can fully face it—the newborns, the announcements, the round bellies, the family joy—then maybe it’ll just hurt so much all at once that eventually…it won’t hurt at all.
That’s my new logic.
