Meryl's POV
Sleep refused to come. No matter how many times I shifted positions, flipped my pillow, or adjusted the covers, my mind wouldn't quiet down. The darkness felt heavy around me, pressing against my chest like a weight I couldn't shake off.
I stared at the shadows on the ceiling, counting the minutes that crawled by. Every time I closed my eyes, the same scene played over and over. Him telling me. His voice so careful, so controlled. The way his whole body went rigid when I asked about having another baby.
The infertility wasn't what kept me awake. That part hurt, sure, but it wasn't the knife twisting in my chest. What burned through me was the silence. All those weeks since he came back into my life. All those nights we spent together. All those mornings I swallowed those birth control pills, thinking I was being responsible.
He knew. The entire time, he knew.
And he said nothing.
