It started with a grapefruit.

Sour, sweet, and bitter by taste.

After a doctor’s appointment,

Roslynn brought home the news.

His lips stretched over his teeth.

Roslynn couldn’t be serious.

But she was.

Seth pulled her arm,

guiding her into his lap.

Roslynn laughed.

Seth moved her bangs behind her ear

and told her she’d be a wonderful mother.

Tears formed as streams of crystals

spread across her cheeks.

Seth moved a tissue across

her eyes.

The couple grew as she ballooned.

The girl, they just knew that it’d be a girl,

kicked her cocoon, ready to burst its balloon.

Seth and Roslynn’s world blossomed

to a palpable applause.

But the day Kaylee was to be,

wasn’t meant to be.

Roslynn lost the baby.

Seth didn’t blame anyone.

Roslynn felt shame for her womb

leaving them childless.

A young couple doesn’t have the tools

to deal with life’s imperfections.

Seth took a sip off the pain here

and made excuses for Roslynn

to pull him out of smoky dive bars.

Seth’s liver gave him years to turn

his life around, but he played chicken

and chickens don’t last long.

Seth stopped drinking when he lost sight

of who he was.

A doctor in a room with white walls

gave him weeks if he didn’t stop.

Seth had to ask Roslynn for forgiveness.

She asked for what?

A part of his soul assigned

blame on her.

Seth knew it wasn’t true,

but he had to blame someone.

God had mercy on Seth

and allowed him to live.

Seth and Roslynn visited a therapist.

They released their grief

and decided to try again.

Roslynn turned up with a grapefruit.

Roslynn knew, she just knew, that it’d be a girl.

The couple sat with several doctors to make sure

things went well.

And they did.

FOUR YEARS LATER

Alicia is up in Seth’s arms on the balcony,

laughing at Roslynn

for making silly faces as they watch

the sun dip beneath the horizon;

shadows replace soft rays.

Nothing brought them closer than life’s pain.

By Andy Cooper

From: United States

Website: https://writeovercoffee.blog/

Twitter: AC0040