“Good.” She turns from me, stepping in front of the stove.
She’s been so strong since Dad died. I’m not sure how she manages everything alone. I’m not sure I’d have the same strength if I was in her shoes.
They got married at eighteen. That’s a common story here. You grow up together, fall in love young, get married young, and have babies.
“Hey, Mom.” She glances at me over her shoulder and hums. “Why did you and Dad not have more kids?”
She sighs, looking away from me. “Do you want the long version or the short version?”
“Either. Both.” I should have asked Dad more questions. About his childhood, his life, his hopes and dreams. I didn’t think I needed to know those things, and now he’s gone, and I’ll never get to ask.
“It got too hard. That’s the short version.”
“Raising a kid?” I ask.
She shakes her head, pulling down two plates from the cabinet, and starts piling them with eggs and bacon. “Trying to have one.”
My throat goes tight. “Oh.”
Mom places my plate on the table, then sits down across from me. “Dig in.”
I don’t want to, but I pick up my fork anyway, stabbing a piece of fluffy scrambled egg before bringing it to my mouth.
“The truth is,” she says, ignoring her own food, “you were our third attempt. We lost two pregnancies before you. One at twenty-two weeks. A little girl.”
My heart clenches painfully. I had no fucking idea. “I’m so sorry, Mom.”
“And then we finally had you, our little rainbow baby, though no one called it that back then.”
She gets a faraway look in her eyes. “Then we kept trying for more, and I kept losing them. One by one. Baby by baby.”
My stomach sours, and I push my plate away. Mom’s eyes drop to it, but this time she doesn’t correct me or tell me to eat more.
“It was hard on me. Hard on your dad too.”
“I bet,” I croak out.
“Your daddy put his foot down and told me we were done. He went and got a vasectomy not long after that. We fought about it. I wanted to keep trying. He couldn’t handle seeing me like that. It was killing us. I blamed myself. He blamed himself. We almost got divorced.”
My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “What?”
She nods. “Yeah, it can be real hard to be in a situation like that.” Getting a little sparkle in her eyes, she grins at me. “Worked out in the end. I guess you’re alright.”
I bark out a laugh. “Thanks, Mom.”
“You’re so welcome. Thanks for sticking around so I could meet you.”
My jaw drops open as I sputter out a shocked laugh. “Damn.”
“Language, Hunter.” She smiles, but her eyes are a little sad. “All in all, my life is exactly what I’d wish for, and though the losses were hard, you’ve always been more than enough. Youwere always your daddy’s pride and joy. He’d be so proud to see you now.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I whisper, throat tightening again.
“Now,” she says, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. “Why don’t you tell me about this man you’re falling in love with?”
My face heats. “What do you mean?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “I wasn’t born last night, young man. You think I don’t notice you out there with the animals, smiling at your phone?”
