One moment we were debating whether the kitchen cabinets should be white or blue. Six months later, I was standing beside a hospital bed at two in the morning, listening to machines beep while I held her hand and begged for more time we never got.
After the funeral, the house felt different. Every room carried a memory of her laughter or the soft humming she used to do while cooking.
But I couldn’t completely fall apart.
Because there was Sophie.
She was four when Rachel passed away. By the time she turned six, she had grown into the kind of child who treated everyone kindly. Some days she reminds me so much of her mother that my chest aches.
Since Rachel died, it’s just been the two of us.
I work in HVAC repair. It usually covers the bills, but just barely. Some weeks I pull double shifts while trying not to think about the stack of envelopes sitting on the kitchen table.
Pay one bill, and another shows up. It’s an endless cycle.
Money was tight.
But Sophie never complained.
One afternoon she burst through the front door after school, backpack bouncing.
“Daddy!” she shouted. “Guess what!”
I had just gotten home from work and dropped my tool bag by the door.
“What is it?”