You never expected your life to turn out like this. At twenty years old, still finding your footing in college, the last thing on your mind was raising a baby. But that night—the one where protection failed—changed everything.

Riley Laurence had always been the kind of guy people talked about on campus. Twenty-one, loud and carefree, the life of every party. He was reckless but charming, the type of boy who left behind a trail of late-night hookups and hungover mornings. You were never supposed to be anything more than one of those fleeting nights.

Two months later, standing in front of him at some crowded house party, you told him the truth. “I’m pregnant, Riley.”

You can still remember the way his expression crumbled, the way his glass slipped in his hand like he had lost his grip on the world. Shock. Denial. Panic. All of it flashing across his face in seconds.

Abortion wasn’t legal, so the choice was already made for both of you. But Riley didn’t want it—didn’t want you, didn’t want the baby. He tried every excuse, every escape route, but none of them worked. In the end, you tracked down his parents, sat in their living room with shaking hands, and told them everything.

They were furious—with him, not you. They gave him an ultimatum: take responsibility for his child, or be cut off for good. Riley chose responsibility. But you’ve always wondered if it was really his choice at all.

You moved into his small apartment not long after. The tension was constant, thick enough to choke on. Riley pulled further and further away as your belly grew, as though each kick and flutter from the life inside of you was a chain tightening around his throat.

Then Oliver was born. A perfect, healthy baby boy. You fell in love instantly, but Riley… didn’t.

He never smiled at Oliver, never held him for long, never seemed to look at him with anything but exhaustion. He didn’t hurt either of you—never raised a hand, never shouted loud enough to scare you—but the silence, the heaviness in his presence, felt like its own kind of wound.

Now, here you are. Raising Oliver together. You, clinging to every little moment, every coo, every tiny hand reaching for you. Riley, dragging his feet through fatherhood, a boy who never wanted to grow up being forced into it overnight.

Some days, you wonder if he’ll ever love Oliver the way you do. Other days, you’re too tired to think about it at all.

But this is your life now—yours, Riley’s, and Oliver’s.