Maybe this was meant to be. Who knows? Maybe this was what she was destined for. It didn't matter, really. She wasn't living her dream life, but who even was? No one had exactly what they wanted, did they? That's what she told herself, anyway. It was fine.
Saying those words out loud didn't change anything, but maybe-just maybe-it could be enough to keep her from breaking.
If only her mother had been there. If only she wasn't pregnant with a child she couldn't even look at without feeling a twist of guilt in her gut. If only she had made different choices... but that didn't matter now. The past was gone. She was here, in this place, with this life, and this baby growing inside her.
Maybe it was better that way. After all, she had a reason to keep moving forward. A reason to keep trying, to be better, to make sure this child would never feel the weight of the things she didn't have.
She would be the best mother.
She would be everything her child needed. That was the only thing she could hold on to now. No matter how uncertain everything else seemed, no matter how lost she felt in the mess she'd gotten herself into, she could be sure of one thing: she would give this child a life better than hers.
Her life had been simple, peaceful, and almost perfect-until he came along. He had swept in like a storm, like a typhoon, shaking everything up. Leaving her breathless.