– We have already made a decision. < img src = "https://zycie.news/crrops/74020b/620x0/1/0/2025/03/20/tgpnD62pjq7lxz3rztnjxjhi4gttzk2gexgaqhhl.jpg" alt = "from life taken." Quot; my husband adopted his niece without my consent & quot ;: I am not ready for this child " styles = "background-color: rgba (147,136,131.1)" > < p > my husband's words hit me like a blow to my stomach.

< p > — What decision ? — I asked quietly, although I already felt that I did not want to hear the answer.

< p > He looked at me seriously, as if he didn't understand why I was surprised.

< p > — We adopt clar.

< p > — We adopt ? — I said & oacute; not believing in what I hear. & Amp; MDASH; But I never agreed to it!

< p > Klara was eight years old.

< P >C & oacute; Rka his sister, who died p & oacute; ł a year ago.

< p > Since then she lived with her grandmother, but everyone knew that an older woman could not cope with the child.

< p > and now suddenly we were to be her family.

< p > but nobody asked me about it.

< p > — This is my sister's child! & Amp; MDASH; he said in a raised voice.

< p > — But this is not my child! & Amp; MDASH; I broke free.

< p > In his eyes I saw something that I was afraid of.

< p > disappointment.

< p > anger.

< p > — How can you like m & oacute; whale ?

< p > I did not answer.

< p > because did I have the right not to want her ?

< p > Did I have the right not to be ready ?

< p > When I saw her for the first time, she stood quiet at her backpack, with a muffled look and a doll in hand.

< p > was small, small, quiet.

< P >She did not say & ampquo; good morning & rdquo;, did not look in my eyes.

< p > and then I felt something even worse than fear.

< p > strangeness.

< p > This child was foreign.

< p > not mine.

< p > not our c & oacute; rka.

< p > and yet I was supposed to raise her.

< p > The first days were strange.

< p > Klara almost did not speak.

< p > m & oacute; Jer, pr & oacute; I was pretending to pretend that everything was fine.

< p > but it was not.

< p > I felt enclosed in someone else's life.

< p > until finally one night, when I was arranged to sleep, she asked me quietly:

< p > — Do I disturb you ?

< p > I froze.

< p > — Nie & Hellip; Where did this idea ?

< p > looked at me for a long time, as if she knew something that I did not want to admit.

< p > — Because you never look at me.

< p > I left her room and I couldn't sleep for a long time.

< p > for months I lived in the belief that I am the victim of this decision.

< p > but the truth was different.

< p > she was the one who was suddenly thrown into the foreign world.

< p > she lost her house, mother, childhood.

< p > and now she was to lose me.

< p > The next day I put a plate with pancakes.

< p > — I like jam, not with cheese & mdash; she said quietly.

< p > for the first time she was not afraid to express her opinion.

< p > I smiled lightly and served her jam.

< p > first step.

< p > Maybe I wasn't ready yet.

< p > maybe I will never.

< p > but if life gave me clar, then it may be worth to love her.

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