He wasn't trying to sound heroic.
He simply sounded certain.
And somehow, that made me feel even more emotional.
He knew our financial situation.
He knew things were going to become difficult.
And still, he chose to put my health and our unborn baby first.
So I stayed home.
And he quietly took on almost everything else.
He Became My Husband, Caregiver, and Provider
Before leaving for work each morning, my husband would wake up early and prepare food for me.
Sometimes it was a proper meal.
Sometimes it was something simple because he was running late.
But he always made sure I had something to eat.
Then he would go to work.
When he came home, I expected him to rest.
Instead, he cleaned.
He washed dishes.
He swept the floor.
He organized the house.
He asked whether I had eaten.
He asked how I was feeling.
And if I said I felt tired, he would immediately tell me to lie down.
As the pregnancy went on, he also began taking extra work.
He wanted to earn more money before the baby arrived.
I knew why.
He was afraid too.
He just didn't show it the way I did.
I cried when I was scared.
He worked when he was scared.
One night, I noticed that he looked unusually pale.
“You look exhausted,” I told him.
“I’m fine.”
“You're not.”
He smiled and brushed it off.
“Men can handle this.”
I knew he couldn't.
Not forever.
There were limits to what one young person could carry.
But every time I worried about him, he said almost the same thing.
“This is our family. I can do it.”
Not long after that, he got sick.
It wasn't anything dramatic, but seeing him come home looking exhausted broke my heart.
I remember thinking that he should have been enjoying his early twenties like everyone else.
Instead, he was working long hours, carrying groceries, cooking for his pregnant wife, and preparing for a baby he never expected to become responsible for so soon.