becoming a father overwhelmed him.
There were other little moments too.
Melissa sometimes texted late at night asking whether the baby had moved enough that day.
Ryan became quieter during appointments.
At several ultrasounds, I noticed him staring at his phone.
Whenever Melissa glanced toward him, he tilted the screen away.
Once, I asked him if something was wrong at work.
“Everything’s fine,” he said.
Then he changed the subject so abruptly that I noticed.
Still, I told myself he was nervous.
After everything he and Melissa had endured, maybe happiness itself frightened him.
He nodded.
I felt anger rising again, but this time it was tangled with heartbreak.
“So when the doctors started talking about treatment…”
“All I heard was money.”
His voice broke.
“Bills. Specialists. Surgery. Everything I couldn’t provide.”
I stared at him.
“And that made you abandon your daughter?”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“It made me see
