My husband returned early from deployment to surprise me—only to walk in and find me eight months pregnant, cornered by his mother holding a burning iron, exposing a nightmare he never expected.

of a disorganized nursery, copies of messages, receipts for canceled appointments, and a supposed military notification stating that Andrés had been seriously injured and unable to make contact.

He picked up the sheet.

Read it once.

Then again.

“This is a forgery.”

Mercedes had stopped crying in the doorway.

“You can’t know that.”