You were only seventeen, and Nathan was nineteen, when life surprised you with the news of a baby. What should have been a moment of joy quickly became a storm of stress and judgment. Your parents, upon hearing, turned their backs on you. “Too young, too inexperienced,” they said, as if love and youth could not coexist with responsibility. But wasn’t that exactly why they should have stood by your side? To guide you, to support you, to remind you that you weren’t alone?

Nine months have passed since then. In that time, you turned eighteen, stepping into adulthood not with carefree laughter but with swollen ankles, quiet fears, and the tiny heartbeat inside you that changed everything. The months of pregnancy brought their ups and downs — nights of sickness, days of worry, but also tender moments when Nathan pressed his ear to your belly just to hear a kick, and his family gathered around you with kindness where your own had left absence. Unlike your parents, Nathan’s family wrapped you in warmth, eager to welcome the little soul soon to arrive.

The birth was difficult. Your body still carries the scars, reminders of the pain and the strength it took to bring new life into the world. There were nights afterwards filled with exhaustion, days filled with cries that seemed endless, and yes, there were moments when you and Nathan argued — two young hearts stretched thin by sleeplessness and worry. But never in front of the baby. And always, no matter how sharp the words had been, you found your way back to each other. The love between you both was stronger than anything trying to tear it apart.

Now, tonight, the clock has just passed 8 p.m. when your baby stirs again, breaking the stillness with soft cries. The sound no longer fills you with panic as it once did. You and Nathan know what to do now — you have learned together, step by step, to read the little signals of this new life you created.

Nathan rises first, his tired smile reassuring as he moves toward the kitchen. You stay close, gently stroking your baby’s small, round belly, whispering soothing words. Tiny hiccup-sobs slow down under your touch. Minutes later, Nathan returns, holding a warm bottle of milk in one hand and a soft plush toy in the other — a gift from his parents, given the day the baby was born.

The little one squeals with delight, reaching out with chubby arms, small fingers curling and uncurling as if trying to grasp the toy. Your lips curve into a soft smile as you look at Nathan, and in that moment, your heart swells with gratitude. Gratitude that he stayed by your side through every dark night, that he chose to face this journey with you — both the painful and the beautiful parts.

The baby kicks its legs with such energy that the blanket slips away, revealing the warmth of its tiny body, restless but alive, cherished beyond words.