𝙎𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙆𝙎; 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙣 (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦)

𝒊𝒊. 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

In a world riddled with patriarchy, men are expected to be great. A great lawyer, a famous doctor, a brave policeman. And women... they are expected to be housewives. Settle down when they are young, find the great man, marry them and have his kids.

Expectations are heavily created at such a young age. 

For Natalie it started at at the age of fifteen, when she announced that she wanted to be a doctor to her relatives. One of her aunts literally laughed at her, "a woman is not supposed to be a doctor", Natalie still remembered her saying with that tone, like she was giving a lecture.

She advised her to not go to college but find a rich man and marry him instead. Natalie hadn't felt more furious before in her life. She remembered how tightly she was holding her fork. It was the worst family dinner of her life. She looked at her mother expecting her to say something.

And when she didn't, Natalie made up an excuse and walked to her room.

"That's the only solution for her." She heard her aunt saying to her mother.

And then she slammed the door.

So when Natalie got pregnant, she felt a part of the expectations, when all she wanted was to be an exception. Holding the stick in her hand, all she could think of was her aunt's words. It wasn't her place to be a doctor.

Who was she supposed to be?

A mother?

She never wanted to be a mother. Especially at the age of eighteen. 

All her plans were crumbling. It seemed like she could only follow one path. 

She did everything she never wanted. And nothing her heart desired.

If any of her cousins— fair from their impenetrable skin and heavy with the limit of their dreams— were asked of their dream life... It would sound a lot like Natalia's life.

From her old aunt Greta to her littlest cousin Saoirse, every female in the Irish family of Turners wanted a charming young boyfriend who would father their children, who would marry them, keep the money coming and keep the tears at bay.

She had them all, yet there was no glee in sight for Natalia.

She spent days working on her baby's nursery, sketching every funny animal, doodling every flower twice, memorising all the stories she would read to her kid. It was a job before she could even realise. The expectations of her family made what was joyful into a chore.

When she was little, Natalie's dad would take her and her sister through the waterfalls, behind the ledge carved by spraying water. It was a secret they kept for the longest time, biding their happiness in the shade of a hollow heart of a teary emotion.