I shook my head. “I don’t want to.”

My dad looked at me without saying anything. I waited for only a moment longer before I walked to my car and climbed in. We had nothing left to say to each other. My dad wouldn’t accept the choices I had made. He had chosen not to be a part of my life.

I pulled out of the driveway with a straight face, keeping it together until I was around the corner before I let the tears fall. I pulled onto the shoulder of the road, unable to see when my tears blurred everything, and I cried.

I cried because I had lost my dad. I cried because he didn’t want to be a part of my life. I cried because I was having a baby, and even though I had Rodney, without my family, I felt like I was alone in this. Everything was so wrong. Why couldn’t I just be happy? Why did I have to be punished for it? I could never go back to the life I once had or the person I once was. Everything was changing, and it was happening too fast for me.

I was supposed to be happy. I was with Rodney, the man I had fallen in love with. I was pregnant, and having a baby was supposed to be a beautiful time in a woman’s life. Instead, I had lost most of what was important to me. Instead of basking in the glow of being pregnant, all I could do was cry about it.

When I finally pulled myself back together, I pulled the car back into the road and drove to Rodney’s house. My house, now. Rodney was still at work. Now that I had resigned, I had nothing to do with my time.

When I got to his house, I took my bags inside one by one and stacked them in the spare bedroom. I was going to stay with Rodney in the main bedroom, of course, but I didn’t feel comfortable unpacking my things into the closet space he had cleared out for me just yet. That would come with time. Right now, I was still trying to recover from the fight I’d had my dad.

I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, studying the contents. Now that I had nothing to do and Rodney worked a full day, I wanted to make a home-cooked meals for him. It was the least I could do after everything he had done for me, after the press release he had done on Monday and the space he had made for me in his life.

I decided to make butter chicken and steamed vegetables with rice. In college, I hadn’t really cooked, but I had often cooked at home because my mom had worked long hours. So, I knew what I was doing. Thinking about my life growing up, knowing that this was the only home I had now, made me sad. I focused on the food instead, pushing all thoughts out of my mind.

Rodney came home with Tommy, who he picked up from school on the way home. Now that I was off, I considered offering to pick Tommy up from school so Rodney wouldn’t have to do it all alone. We would be sharing the load soon as it was. Might as well start now.

“That smells amazing,” Rodney said when he stepped into the house. Tommy ran through to his bedroom to dump his bag. “We need to look at your homework, buddy,” Rodney called after Tommy.

“Dinner is almost ready,” I said. “Would you be able to take care of his homework with him after we eat?”

Rodney nodded. “Compromise, I like it,” he said, grinning.

I couldn’t help but smile. We were doing it. We were making a home together. Could it be that simple? Could happiness be this close? After everything that had gone wrong in the past couple of days, I had felt that happiness was beyond my reach. Maybe I had been wrong.

Rodney kissed me before walking through to the bedroom. “I’ll be right out. I’m just washing up.”

I dished up for us and asked Tommy to set the table. When Rodney came back into the kitchen, he hugged me from behind.

“I saw your bags in the spare bedroom,” Rodney said. “I hope this doesn’t mean you’re planning on staying there?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t have it in me to unpack. Seeing my dad today was a little rough. Just give me some time.”

Rodney looked sympathetic, and he nodded. He helped me carry the plates to the dining room table, and the three of us sat down. Tommy chatted about his day. Rodney gasped and made sounds in the right places, and I sat back, looking at my new family.

Losing my dad and my home had been hard, but being here with Rodney and Tommy, being a part of the family, felt so right. It was as if I had seamlessly slipped into a new life, and even though the pain would take a while to go away, I could get used to this. I could get used to belonging somewhere else.

Rodney glanced at me and smiled. He reached for my hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. Maybe he was thinking the same thing. Maybe he realized how perfect this seemed, too. In a couple of months, we would have another child, and everything would change again. But with Rodney at my side and the few people in my life that accepted what we were doing, we could get through it. I knew we would be fine as long as we stuck together and pushed through. It was the only way we would be able to make it.

After supper, we sat in the living room. I was curled up on the couch, watching Rodney and Tommy work on his homework. I took note, concentrating on the things I wanted to help with. I wasn’t exactly a stepmother to Tommy, but I had watched him all his life, and he was used to me being around. It was a blessing in disguise, making this transition so much easier. And in time, me being here permanently would become normal to me, too.