Back at my apartment, I sat at the kitchen table, the envelope now resting in front of me. I hadn’t opened it yet. It felt like Pandora’s box, full of potential futures I wasn’t ready to confront. The late afternoon sun streamed through the window, casting long shadows across the room.
I reached for my phone, hesitating before dialing my sister’s number. She picked up after the third ring, her voice cheerful and familiar. “Hey, what’s up?” she asked.
“I had my checkup today,” I started, trying to keep my voice steady. “Everything’s fine, mostly. But the doctor said something… unexpected.”
There was a pause on the other end, a silence that felt like concern. “What did he say?”
“He suggested I might want to consider life without children,” I replied, the words sounding foreign as I spoke them aloud.
My sister was quiet for a moment, processing. “That’s… a lot to take in. How do you feel about it?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I haven’t even opened the envelope yet. It’s just… it’s a lot.”
“Take your time,” she said softly. “You don’t have to decide anything right now.”
Her reassurance helped, a small comfort in the midst of uncertainty. We talked for a while longer, about nothing in particular, just to fill the space with something familiar.
After we hung up, I sat there for a while, the envelope still unopened. The sunlight faded, and the kitchen slowly filled with shadows, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Finally, I picked up the envelope again, my fingers tracing the edges. It was time to face whatever was inside.
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