For a few seconds after my mother said she could not congratulate me for “defying God’s will,” no one moved.

saying goodbye. The front door slammed so hard the windows trembled.

For a moment, all I heard was my own breathing.

Then I broke.

Not elegantly. Not softly. I folded into Andrés like my bones had melted, and he held me while I sobbed into his shirt. My father stood helplessly beside us, one hand half raised, unsure if he still had the right to comfort continue reading …