I hadn’t slept. Not really.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAOs9oH6fulF
My mind had been chewing on everything—Sharice’s slap, the way her eyes cut through me like I was the villain… maybe I was. Maybe I’d been lying to myself this whole time about what marriage was supposed to feel like.
28Please respect copyright.PENANA2Y4c9ObHhR
I thought the ocean would help. Something about the sound of waves made it easier to think. But I didn’t come here to think. I came here to feel… something. Anything other than guilt.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAUJRtuCIZAl
Then I saw her.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAfgwKUgvQ4P
She sat cross-legged in the sand, eyes closed, palms resting gently on her knees. The sun was just starting to rise, casting that early gold over everything. Her belly — round and soft — rose and fell steady like the tide.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAYwa7K1ANAa
She looked like peace.
28Please respect copyright.PENANA4UK2RUnmN2
Something I hadn’t tasted in years.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAabGqa7NK1k
I must’ve been staring, because her eyes opened slowly and landed on me. Calm. Clear.
28Please respect copyright.PENANA3SfVBaGVJf
“If you’re gonna stand there like that, might as well sit.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAUxCyiHNDQJ
I blinked. “What?”
28Please respect copyright.PENANARULBs27Ned
She nodded toward the spot beside her. “Sit. Breathe. Try being still for once.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAuYdemQnpgr
My first instinct was to say nah, I’m good, but something in me — the part I don’t listen to enough — told me to shut up and sit down.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAPqVuoXwFbx
So I did.
28Please respect copyright.PENANACI3MBSBpjZ
I dropped into the sand next to her, stiff and unsure. She didn’t speak again, just closed her eyes and went right back to breathing like nothing else existed.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAU4NMtXz7rY
And I followed her lead.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAPtwdMaWQmV
Slow breath in.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAHJ1PIQdEGI
Slow breath out.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAyTWJ34xhjd
Again.
28Please respect copyright.PENANA5dcdHmlWPX
For the first time in months… the noise in my head lowered to a dull hum. And that silence? That silence felt like a gift.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAucHI53fufy
I didn’t know who she was, or what she was carrying — both inside her and in her spirit — but I knew I’d remember her long after that sunrise.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAghhf9gADcP
28Please respect copyright.PENANAoxaTHV5A9a
28Please respect copyright.PENANAtlGEfFAheb
28Please respect copyright.PENANAUM2jhlg0NR
Later That Night – Dom’s Hotel Room
28Please respect copyright.PENANAraAj6XA591
28Please respect copyright.PENANA4Rk43yW2lu
Scene: Dom talks to his twin daughters, Amaya and Alani, on FaceTime.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAsAHeU1BpHA
28Please respect copyright.PENANAEXLsHd4VeN
28Please respect copyright.PENANAKAcaRaTbFz
The screen lit up with both my girls side by side, bonneted and fresh-faced, just like they’ve always been. College life hadn’t changed that.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAXA3wmKKm88
“Daddy,” Amaya grinned. “You look like you got some sleep for once.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAsEtzA6zoF4
“Yeah,” Alani added. “You don’t look like death warmed over.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAvS4FTrb3Jn
I laughed. “Thanks. Appreciate the love.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAsSQ1MgqYKB
There was a pause. The air shifted.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAOJqIPfa3OQ
“You okay?” Amaya asked, her voice softer now.
28Please respect copyright.PENANA18345oITiy
I exhaled slowly. “I’m… trying to be. Just needed to step away for a minute. Clear my head.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAWhq2WGzECt
“Because of Mom?” Alani’s question was direct. They got that from me.
28Please respect copyright.PENANANUEeKvH53Y
I hesitated.
28Please respect copyright.PENANA5JOzvg5pey
Then: “Yeah. Partly. I just… needed space. Needed to figure out who I am outside all the noise.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAUA1NSzxnEz
They were quiet, but it wasn’t awkward. It was like they were both collecting their thoughts.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAM9UFhWeBW2
“Daddy,” Amaya finally said. “We been knew y’all weren’t happy.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAkrJGOuXYN5
That hit me harder than anything else could’ve.
28Please respect copyright.PENANA2Xhf4lIkEh
“You… you did?”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAVT817sKLny
Alani nodded. “We’re not kids anymore, Daddy. We saw the arguments. Heard the cold silences. The way you stopped laughing.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAVlnFxYc0jc
My chest tightened. “I didn’t want y’all to see that.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANA6Zgc7g8TJU
“We did. And we knew you were staying for us. But if you gotta leave to find peace… do it,” Amaya said, her voice steady. “Don’t let guilt keep you miserable.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANASuXfCndsPU
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAWcYhTjpRMv
“Y’all are my heart. I never wanted to hurt you.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANAPgoyyG4sXe
“You didn’t. Staying in a toxic marriage just taught us that love ain’t supposed to look like that.” Alani gave a small smile. “But leaving? That could teach us something different.”
28Please respect copyright.PENANA6Z40iAdKnz
I stared at the screen, speechless.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAzStYWDo9Yv
For the first time in years, I felt seen.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAvyuzhCo6fU
They weren’t little girls anymore.
They were women.
And they were giving me permission to be human.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAdLo0X4kwLq
“I love you both,” I said, voice low, heavy with emotion.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAOyySNNNjyc
“We love you more,” they said together, just like they used to when they were little.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAGzY1CojblD
After we hung up, I sat in that quiet for a long time.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAAOc9nSAe5j
That woman on the beach, that peace I felt near her… maybe it wasn’t just a fluke.
28Please respect copyright.PENANAYv95WkPs4v
Maybe it was the start of something I never thought I’d deserve.