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

bed with my father beside her. She looked exhausted and happy.

I lifted the photo. “What is this?”

My father swallowed. “Before you were born, your mother and I tried for six years.”

My fingers tightened around the picture.

“We lost three pregnancies,” he continued. “Then doctors told us it was unlikely we would have a child naturally.”

The room blurred.continue reading …