Chapter 1 – The Favor That Became My Life
At nineteen, I never expected to feel like somebody’s mother. Rosie was my niece, not my daughter, but her tiny hands still searched for my shirt whenever she fell asleep against me.
My sister, Abby, was thirty-two. Rosie’s father had disappeared during the pregnancy, so Abby moved back into our family home. She said she received child support, though money remained tight. Meanwhile, I worked part-time at a bookstore, took online nursing classes, and helped our mother through treatment for a respiratory illness.
The first time Abby asked me to babysit, she was dressed for lunch with her new boyfriend, Preston. I had a bookstore shift in two hours, but she promised she would return before then.
Lunch became dinner. I arrived at work late with formula on my shirt and exhaustion behind my eyes.
Then one afternoon became three days a week, and eventually four. Abby’s outings grew longer while her phone stayed unanswered. When I suggested daycare, she reminded me about debt and diaper costs. When I questioned how she still afforded dates, she said Preston was giving her emotional support.
Mom was too sick to intervene. “It’s temporary,” she told me. “Rosie needs you.”
I did love Rosie. That was how Abby kept winning. She made every boundary sound like abandonment, while I missed assignments, lost sleep, and checked the baby’s breathing through the night.
Everyone praised how dependable I was. Nobody asked what being dependable was costing me.
