I stood there, holding the gown in my arms, laughter bubbling up inside me, a misguided attempt at self-encouragement. Suddenly, a crumpled piece of paper slipped from my pocket and landed at my feet—a pregnancy test result.
“Anna… she’s pregnant.” The weight of those words crashed over me, and I knelt on the ground, overwhelmed by disbelief.
Sudden speculations overwhelmed me, causing my eyelids to twitch and a wave of nausea to wash over me. Memories flooded back—Oliver had moved in next door when he was just seven years old.
During the darkest moments of my life, he was my lifeline, the one who pulled me back from the abyss.
After my father succumbed to alcohol, my mother unleashed her frustrations about their marriage onto me, forcing me to carry the weight of her grievances.