I Thought the Pain Would Fade

I have weak sperm and a congenital heart condition. The doctor advised against having children. My wife suggested freezing her eggs. "No rush. Once your condition is cured, we'll have a baby then." In the five years after our wedding, every time I asked to try. Theresa Stephens would refuse, her eyes rimmed red. "Whether we have a child doesn't matter. Having you is enough for me." Every time I felt the force of her love, the more I wanted a child of our own. Until seven years later, when my longing to have a baby reached its peak. That very night, my phone showed the car downstairs shaking strangely. I went down to check, and caught Theresa Stephens laughing and talking in the car with the young man she was sponsoring. A sharp pain seized my heart, forcing me to pull back the hand reaching for the car door. Curled up beside the door in pain, I listened to them talk. "Sweetheart, give me a baby."