the carpet.
I looked at them.
And something changed.
Not dramatically.
There was no movie moment.
No triumphant music.
I simply realized that I had spent an entire year waiting emotionally for someone who wasn’t coming back.
So that night, after the triplets were asleep, I deleted Adam’s old number.
Then I opened my laptop.
I made a new budget.
And for the first time since the hospital, I planned a future that did not include him.
PART FOUR — BUILDING A LIFE FROM THE FLOOR UP
The next eleven years weren’t easy.
But they were ours.
When the triplets were two, I started doing bookkeeping for two local businesses after my regular work hours.
It brought in an extra few hundred dollars a month.
A few hundred dollars meant groceries without anxiety.
Then one client referred me to another.
Then another.
When the triplets were four,
