Annabelle immediately realized that her life would never be the same again. She sat down on the bed in the now-empty apartment and burst into tears.
Less than an hour had passed since she had seen off her closest and most beloved family members—her mother, sister, and brother—at the airport.
Fate had decided that they needed to move to Canada permanently, and now Annabelle was completely alone. What next? What would happen to her now?
No, she was not alone. Annabelle repeated this to herself every time she started thinking about the situation. She had her beloved little son, and she needed to keep living, to find joy in life for his sake, for his happiness.
At that very moment of reflection, little Gavin approached her—her ten-month-old son, whom she adored. He barely uttered the word “Mommy,” as it was almost the only word the baby could pronounce clearly, and he hugged his mother.
But how she wished she could turn back time right then. How she longed for her father to walk into the room at that moment, and for her mother to call the children to dinner as usual. Annabelle herself would run with her sister to set the table, while her brother dashed around, getting in the way and teasing his sisters. But… her father had passed away more than a year ago, and her mother, along with Annabelle’s brother and sister, had moved to another country thousands of miles away from home.
And then there were the troubles in her personal life…
It had only been three months since Annabelle left her husband. Her mother had agreed to register Annabelle and little Gavin in her apartment; otherwise, disaster would have been inevitable. It was good that at least this had worked out, or they would have had nowhere to live.
– Mommy, – Gavin spoke again, smiling sweetly and looking straight into his mother’s eyes. Annabelle smiled back, stood up from the bed, and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her sweater.
– Yes, yes, sunshine, we are going to eat now.
And so a new chapter began in the lives of Annabelle and her little son. The very next day, she took the baby to daycare and went to work herself.
But unfortunately, life does not always go according to plan, and it throws various trials at people that sometimes seem unbearable.
Little Gavin started falling ill frequently (perhaps his immune system was weak, or perhaps the caregivers were not watching the children properly), and Annabelle had to take sick leave to stay home with her son. Naturally, this negatively affected her career prospects, and quite simply, her salary was not enough even for daily needs. It was fortunate that her mother, before leaving, had taken care of Annabelle by buying a large quantity of potatoes for the winter and canning many jars of cucumbers, tomatoes, and other vegetables. All that remained was to somehow stretch these provisions until the end of winter, and then Annabelle hoped that Gavin would get sick less and grow a bit older.
She had long ago given up buying special baby food because it cost a fortune, and she began introducing her son to regular meals—potato soup, boiled potatoes, and so on. Annabelle herself often went half-hungry, leaving the prepared food for Gavin.
Day after day passed like this, and Annabelle awaited spring as if it were a miracle!
But by mid-winter, she realized that the provisions were running low, money was scarce, and she needed to do something. An interesting idea came to her: what if she took in two girls as roommates? They would pay rent, and Annabelle could use that money as needed. Of course, four people in a small apartment would be cramped, but what choice was there?
That is what she decided. She found roommates quite quickly. They were two young women from the countryside who did not have much money either but had come to the capital to study and planned to conquer the city in the future. In other words, the girls were ambitious. They always paid on time, and sometimes even shared with Annabelle the food they brought from home. In short, winter passed, and spring followed.
And everything seemed to be returning to normal. In the summer, Gavin hardly got sick at all, and Annabelle was able to return to work full-time. Moreover, she became very close with one of the roommates who stayed in the city for the summer, and they spent a lot of time together, talking about all sorts of things.
And what about Gavin’s father? Over all this time, he visited his son a couple of times, and even then, he brought neither toys nor food nor children’s clothes… absolutely nothing. He also refused to pay child support, insisting that he earned little and barely had enough for himself. And if she wanted to complain to anyone, well, he was not officially employed anywhere, so good luck getting anything from him.
Only many years later did Annabelle realize that her ex-husband, Marcus, had been trying to force her to return to him out of desperation.
Despite these difficulties, life became much easier. Her mother had settled in Canada and occasionally sent packages with clothes or at least some money. Annabelle began thinking more and more about moving to Canada herself. Why not? Salaries were good there, her close family was there, and they would help at first. But how to do it as quickly as possible, since Marcus would surely not agree to let the child leave the country?
After talking with him and his parents, Annabelle finally understood that she could not pull it off without delays. He was dead set against it, and his parents kept repeating: – You can go wherever you want yourself, but we will not let Gavin go.
Annabelle was devastated. If only Marcus visited their son often or gave him gifts, but no—he would show up once a month, if that.
Annabelle began seriously considering an official divorce from her husband and then moving to Canada with the child.
The process began. The divorce took some time, but eventually it happened. Now Annabelle was a free woman and could decide for herself where to take her son. Then something incredible occurred.
Marcus, now apparently realizing that he was losing Annabelle for good, started visiting them and Gavin more often. He even began transferring small amounts to her card, and once he suggested getting back together. He said he still loved Annabelle and thought about her constantly.
Annabelle was torn. She could not forget how he had treated her before, how she had endured that harsh winter, barely making ends meet, while he did not even come to visit and refused to pay child support.
One “fine” day, Marcus came to Annabelle’s home, fell to his knees, and begged her to take him back. She thought for a long time but then replied that they could get back together on one condition—if they all moved to Canada together.
And so another chapter began in Annabelle’s life. They remarried and started living together again, though mutual resentment lingered, and it was hard to restore the old relationship. Marcus had promised to move to Canada but dragged his feet for a long time. A couple more years passed like that.
Nothing changed in Marcus’s character, and Annabelle tolerated him only because she hoped for the move soon.
Finally, the time came. They packed all their belongings and flew to Canada. Moreover, right before departure, Marcus kept pressing Annabelle to promise that she would not leave him in the new country. She had to give that promise.
That is how they moved to Canada. Physically together, but spiritually so far apart. The next twenty-five years of married life passed in this way, because Annabelle kept her promise all those years. Two more children were born into their family: a boy and a girl.
However, after twenty-five years, they parted ways after all.
The children had grown up and were studying at Canadian universities. True, they could not come to terms with their parents’ divorce. Spencer, the youngest son, even began blaming his mother for the divorce, not understanding how she could have fallen out of love with their father after so many years together. And how could Annabelle now explain to her children that she had not loved their father for many, many years?
She never remarried. Though she remained slim and attractive, and many men wanted serious relationships with her. But Annabelle had been burned once, almost for life, and now planned to spend the rest of her days freely, devoting her time to her children and then to her grandchildren.
In hindsight, Annabelle wondered if she regretted the life she had lived. The answer was more “No” than “Yes.” After all, what was there to regret? She had overcome enormous difficulties on her own, raised three children, and had brought up her firstborn, Gavin, for a long time entirely alone, getting by on meager earnings and help from her roommates.
Now all that remained was to raise her grandchildren properly, teach them to love their parents, and to respect all women on earth, for it seems that a woman’s destiny lies in just that.
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