The Tipping Point

Mom's words had reached me. I wasn't deaf or completely stupid. Later, while alone, in the middle of the night, when the world was pitch black, and the weight of the future loomed over everyone, the skin-shivering and bone-chilling fear of living life as an eighteen-year-old dad hollowed out my insides, making it difficult for me to fall asleep.

It had taken a while.

Most of that fear had bled out of me by the time I had awakened. Later, the sight of Jenna in the afternoon and the feel of her lips helped me find my courage, but I still sat Jenna down to talk to...