All the Broken Roads   

First the apartment on the kollel block had fallen through, and they’d ended up in that hole of a basement. Then they’d both gotten mono and been out for the count, and Smith & Cohen had fired her. Of course, that hadn’t been the official reason, but she knew. And then, to top it all off, they’d been burgled. Who gets burgled in Lakewood?

She could check her mezuzahs, or go to an ayin hara lady. Or she could just look at Nosson. Because honestly, that’s where all the broken, potholed roads lead to.

He hadn’t signed on the apartment in time, the realtor said. He hadn’t locked the door before they went grocery shopping, even though he’d been positive he had and refused to go back to check. And honestly, he’d gotten mono first. Maybe that one wasn’t his fault, but it was his fault that he curled up on the couch and moaned every single day for two months straight, while she cooked and worked and shopped her way through it. Just the memory makes her roll her eyes.

But today really takes the cake. Nosson outdid himself in the unhelpful department. Again, maybe it’s not his fault she needed a C-section, but he definitely didn’t make it any less inevitable. If anything, he made her try less. Because when in the throes of back-labor, the thought of co-parenting with Nosson was just plain exhausting.