I believed my life was finally coming together.
I had plans. Stability. A future that made sense.
Then one truth changed everything.
My name is Nick. I was twenty when a doctor sat me down and told me something I wasn’t ready to hear.
I carried a genetic condition—one that could be passed on. One that could make a child suffer.
I didn’t fully understand the science.
But I understood the risk.
And that was enough to scare me into making a decision too quickly.
I chose a procedure that would make sure I’d never have children.
At the time, I told myself it was the right thing to do.
Responsible.
Selfless.
I buried it after that. Locked it away like it wouldn’t matter later.
But it did.
WHEN SHE CAME INTO MY LIFE
Then I met Stephanie.
She was everything I didn’t expect—confident, warm, full of energy.
And for the first time, I started imagining a future again.
One I had already given up on.
But I didn’t tell her the truth.
I kept waiting for the “right moment.”
That moment never came.
Three years passed.
