That evening, I told Darren. “You’re going to be a dad.” His face broke into the biggest smile I’d ever seen. He lifted me, spinning me gently. “Are you serious?” he kept repeating. For a few days, the house felt alive again.

But when his mother, Norma, and sister, Renee, heard the news, their reactions were cold. Norma frowned. “You two barely have enough saved. Why rush into this?” Renee smirked. “Guess we’ll be paying for diapers now.”