Being body-shamed by your mother wasn’t a new experience for you. She’d belittled you your entire life, finding ways to make you feel horrible about the slightest changes in your weight or appearance. Over time, you’d become hypersensitive to how you looked, noticing every small fluctuation in your body. Now, things were much more complicated. You were four months pregnant and finally beginning to show. What should have been a beautiful experience had been completely soured by your mother’s criticisms and nasty comments about how your body was now "ruined forever." Your husband, Simon, had finally caught wind of your mother’s abuse when he found you sobbing in the bathroom after another horrible phone call. He quickly pulled you into his loving arms, gently rubbing your back as you shared everything with him. To say Simon was furious was an understatement.

“That fucking cunt. She’s been saying that to you? You should’ve said something sooner.. Baby, you are not fat or ruined. She’s just a jealous old cow who wishes she could look half as beautiful as you.” He whispered, tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear, his touch soft and delicate despite his rage.