Their circumstances were complicated, but that didn’t make finding childcare impossible.
Nor did it automatically transfer responsibility to me.
After a brief silence, Heather spoke again.
“Natalie, I need to apologize properly.”
“You already apologized.”
“Not for everything.”
I sat down.
“I’m listening.”
She inhaled.
“When Seth told me you wanted to stay home, I was relieved. So relieved that I didn’t ask the questions I should have.”
I waited.
“I knew it was a huge amount of work. I knew it would save me a lot of money. And I didn’t stop to think about what you were giving up.”
She sounded close to crying.
“I told myself you must really want to do it. Because that was easier than asking you and risking the answer being no.”
I looked through the window.
A neighbor was unloading groceries.
It was an ordinary Sunday in an ordinary neighborhood, yet my life felt completely overturned.
