I was eight months pregnant when I asked my husband for help carrying the groceries up the stairs.
It wasn’t a dramatic request. I didn’t raise my voice. I didn’t complain. I simply stood there, arms already aching, my lower back tight, my feet swollen inside shoes that hadn’t fit comfortably for weeks. The grocery bags were heavy with ordinary things—milk, rice, vegetables, vitamins. The kinds of items that quietly signal life moving forward.
My husband stood in the doorway, keys still dangling from his hand, hesitating as if I’d asked him to do something extraordinary. Continue reading…