The Seventy Seventh Tally Mark

1

It was late at night. My stomach was cramping so badly I had to call Ethan.

"Look, I can't leave right now. Why don't you just take some pain meds? The power's out at Ashley's, and she's freaked out being there alone with the kids. I gotta make sure they're okay."

I opened my notes app and added a tally mark: 77.

That was the 77th time he'd ditched me for Ashley and her kids.

…

July 7th. My birthday. Our anniversary. Every year, Ethan and I made a big deal out of it.

So, on July 6th, I