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I stood at the door with the flowers in one hand and the sweaters tucked under my arm.
Then I slowly pushed the door open.
“Mara? Mom? Guys… I’m back…”
The walls were bare. The furniture was gone. Every surface we had built our home on had been cleared away, and the rooms I had memorized from a photograph were now just empty rooms.
Then I heard crying from upstairs.
I moved up the stairs as fast as I could manage, pain shooting through my prosthetic with every step.
The door to the nursery was open.
Then I heard crying from upstairs.
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My mother was inside, still in her coat, one baby pressed to her shoulder, the other lying in the crib. Mom looked up when I came in and started crying, her eyes dropping from my face to my leg.
“Arnie…”
“Mom? What happened? Where’s Mara?”
Mom looked away from me. She kept saying the same words.
“I’m so sorry, Arnie. Mara asked me to take the girls to church. Said she needed some time alone. But when I got back…”
Mom looked up when I came in and started crying.
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I saw the note on the dresser.
One line locked everything into place: “Mark told me about your leg. And that you were coming to surprise me today. I can’t do this, Arnold. I won’t waste my life on a broken man and changing diapers. Mark can give me more. Take care… Mara.”
I read it twice. Some things take a second pass before the brain accepts them.
