I stood in the garden, looking at my children running on the grass. < img src = "https://zycie.news/crrops/464e40/620x0/1/0/2025/03/05/6ok9bsdmjk4xskz3lisqa8f5xjzuh6xqii3lujub.jpg" alt = "from life taken. & quot; I bought a house by the sea to start a new life with children & quot;: Now the ex -husband wants to come back" styles = "background-color: rgba (175,181,172,1)" > < p > The air smelled of the sea, and somewhere in the distance you could hear the sound of the waves. It was our home. Our new life.

< p > without him.

< p > For years I learned how to be strong. How not to look back. How not to listen to the voice, which & oacute; ry sometimes whispered in my head: & ampquo; maybe you could save it ? & & ampquo;.

< p > and now he was here.

< p > stood in front of me, on our new threshold, with the same smile, which & oacute; ry once could break me.

< p > — After all, we are a family — He said lightly as if it were all obvious.

< p > family ?

< p > does the family leave you alone, when you need her the most ? or the family of m & oacute; wi, that he no longer loves you enough, that he has to start “amp; rewrite;< p > Does the family come back when they see that you did better than anyone expected ?

< p > — Why are you here ? — I asked cold.

< p > — Because & Hellip; I miss children.

< p > I snorted.

< p > — Now ? After so many years ?

< p > una & oacute; hands in a defensive gesture. < p > — I know I wasn't perfect.

< p > — Perfect ?! & Amp; MDASH; I couldn't resist, bitter laughter broke free from my mouth. & Amp; MDASH; You just disappeared!

< p > I remember the day when he packed his things. There were no quarrels, no scream & oacute; He just announced that & ampquo; it no longer works ” and left

< p > I was alone.

< p > with children's dw < p > I fought for a long time to get to this moment. To the place where & oacute; I did not have to ask anyone for help.

< p > and suddenly, when I built it all with my own hands, he appears.

< p > — We could have been overwhelmed by & mdash; he said quietly.

< p > I took a step towards him.

< p > — No.

< p > blinked.

< p > — But children & hellip;

< p > — Children remember you. They also remember how you disappeared.

< p > For a moment he was silent.

< p > — You really close the door ?

< p > I looked into his eyes.

< p > — NO. You closed them a long time ago. I just don't let you open them again.

< p > left.

< p > and I felt for the first time in a long time that I was really at home. < br />< br />< /p >

Natasha Kumar

By Natasha Kumar

Natasha Kumar has been a reporter on the news desk since 2018. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining The Times Hub, Natasha Kumar worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my natasha@thetimeshub.in 1-800-268-7116