Wild Card

by Elsie Silver

I hate to admit it, but I’m bitter. I’ve spent the better part of my adulthood wanting to be a father. I’m sure I wouldn’t have been a good parent at fifteen, but I’d have shown up the best way I knew how. And considering my dad went to the grocery store when I was nine years old and never came back, there’s no doubt in my mind that I would have been better than nothing. But Cecilia and her family decided it was better if I wasn’t around at all. And that stings like hell. They robbed me of the opportunity. Now I’m left feeling like I missed out on something I never even knew was within reach. And it’s only made worse by the fact that I’ve wanted a family of my own. That yearning cost me my marriage. I wanted something she didn’t. So we parted ways, and I’ve been too shit-scared to try again. But now I’m faced with what I wanted but not at all in the way I expected it.