The Christmas I Was Told I Didn’t Belong

their faces against the glass, laughing, fogging it with their breath.

Once, that had been Michael and me.

Before Isabella.
Before I became a walking wallet with inconvenient feelings.

Numbers began replaying in my head.

$2,800 every month.
Five years.

$140,000.

More than Maria and I ever saved for retirement.

Gone.

I pressed the gas when the light turned green.continue reading …