Nobody was asking me to sign anything.

Nobody was telling me what a good wife should do.

Nobody was using my grief as a reason to doubt my judgment.

I thought about Liam, the child I’d never met, and hoped the adults around him had learned something about honesty.

I thought about Brenda, Kenneth, and Gertrude without wishing them harm.

Their futures were their own responsibility.

I thought about the pregnancies we’d lost and let myself grieve them without searching for someone to blame.

The medical appointments, the hope, and the sorrow had been real.