A New Year's Miracle

“You’ll have an abortion. We don’t need a second child,” my husband declares, crushingly determined. The floor falls out from under me. I manage to grab the edge of the table with my trembling fingers.

“An abortion?.. That’s our baby. How can you demand this, Arthur?” I whisper, frozen.

“We have a daughter. I don’t want any more children. I won’t discuss it.”

A second ago I “informed” my husband the news about the second pregnancy. Long-awaited. Impossible to reach. So wanted! I already love this tiny little dot on the ultrasound.

And now… invisible shards of my life lie on the floor, while something furious crashes into my back:

— Not a single penny for it!