It was late in the evening and I had a stomach ache. But it wasn’t a normal stomach ache, it was the kind that wrenched my insides as if something were being wrung out like a wet towel. The pain was overwhelming, but I swore and clenched my fists in the bedsheets. It went on for hours before I felt something start to change; I listened to what my body was telling me, screaming, and then you were here.

They put you into my arms and I knew my life would never be the same. Your eyes opened to peek at my face, small fingers wrapping around one of mine. I smiled with tears in my eyes; I loved you before I even knew you at all, and you were and always will be the most important thing to me. It’s true sometimes that we suffer most for the ones we love, and you were definitely worth it.