PROLOGUE
“We can’t do this any longer,” Mel said.
“Do what?” Dane Grey asked his wife.
“Our marriage,” Mel said.
He frowned. He’d been busting his ass for years in med school, then his residency and fellowship. He’d finally gotten hired as a pediatrician at Duke and life was going to settle in for his family.
The family he’d always dreamed of having, just not as fast as it had happened.
Being married during his residency wasn’t a big deal in his mind. But having kids was.
Mel had assured him she had this. She could do it on her own. Or at least shoulder more so he could focus on his training.
Tiffani was born first, and though he struggled to do it all and be there for his wife and daughter, he was proud of the way he maneuvered it.
His parents stepped in. His sister and Mel’s family too.
They had it covered no matter how little sleep he got or the stress that was mounting on his shoulders.
When Mel said she wanted a second child, he’d been stunned.
He wasn’t ready. He didn’t think she was.
Tiffani was walking and sleeping through the night. Life had calmed down and his wife admitted that, as hard as it’d been, it had gotten easier, just like he’d said. She didn’t want to wait a few more years to try, she wanted their kids closer together.
But that didn’t meanhewas ready for baby number two. Or the stress that came with it.
Mel had other ideas and before he knew it, she was pregnant. In his eyes, they were still talking about it. She took matters into her own hands.
Having been adopted, his dream of a family was coming true and he was going to muscle through it as best as he could, knowing the light was at the end of the tunnel.
His family stepped up more. So did hers.
Mel had more help than most married couples did, allowing Dane to finish up and start working.
Six months in and, in his mind, things were on the right track the way they always talked about how their future would be.
“What are you talking about?” he asked. Tiffani was four; Tyler was two. Both kids had birthdays coming up soon and he was ready to celebrate with them.
“I can’t do this anymore,” she clarified.
“You can’t do our marriage anymore?” he asked. His heart was racing, his hands were sweaty and shaking and he saw everything he’d worked so hard for going down the drain.
He loved his wife, though she could be a little demanding and difficult. He tried to give her everything shewanted and needed, even at the expense of his own time, comfort, and stress levels.
Didn’t married couples do that? Try to be there for each other?
“No,” Mel said. Her eyes were filling with tears. She cried a lot over the past five years and every tear broke his heart more. He hated to see her upset.
“What did I do wrong?” he asked. “I know life has been crazy for years with my hours and the kids, but we got you help while you worked.”
He held back the comment on “more than most got.” His parents and sister all worked and yet they had the kids a lot on the weekends so that he and Mel could have some time alone. Or get some sleep. Anything he asked of his family, they were right there doing it no matter how much he hated making the call to ask them.
He felt he owed them a ton, but they’d never take it.
“It’s not you,” Mel said. “I mean, it’s more me. You’ve done everything I’ve asked for. Given it all to me.”