Three weeks ago, my ex-wife d.ied in a car accident, and the world tilted on its axis. Even though we hadn’t been together for years, she was still Jake’s mom—his anchor, his safe place. Jake is fourteen, tall for his age, voice already changing, but since the funeral he’s seemed smaller somehow, like grief pressed him inward.
At first, he tried to be “fine.” He went to school, nodded when teachers offered condolences, shrugged when I asked how he was holding up. Then the nightmares started.
The first night, I heard him screaming my name like he was drowning. I ran into his room and found him curled into a tight ball, shaking so hard the bed rattled. He couldn’t breathe. His eyes were open but unfocused, like he was still trapped somewhere terrible. I sat with him until sunrise, just being there.
The next night, it happened again. And the next.
By the fourth night, I stopped pretending this was temporary. I dragged a blanket into his room and slept on the floor beside his bed. When he woke up screaming, all he had to do was look down and see me there. It helped. He’d calm faster. Sometimes he’d just whisper, “You’re here,” and fall back asleep.
My wife, Sarah—who I’ve been married to for two years—didn’t say anything at first. She watched, quiet, tight-lipped. I thought maybe she understood.
On the fifth night, she snapped.
“This has to stop,” she said sharply when she saw me picking up my pillow. “This is sick—he’s fourteen.”
I told her I didn’t care if Jake was four or forty. He needed me right now. She stared at me like I’d said something offensive, then went to bed without another word.
A few hours later, something woke me. The house was too quiet. Jake’s door was open.
I heard Sarah’s voice.
I walked closer, my heart pounding. She was sitting on Jake’s bed in the dark, holding his hand. Her voice was low, deliberate.
“Let’s keep this between us,” she said. “Your mom wasn’t even around that much anyway. And now you’re making your dad choose.”
I couldn’t move.
“You’re not six anymore,” she continued. “Men your age don’t act like this. You need to stop.”
Jake’s shoulders were hunched. He wasn’t crying—just staring at the wall like he was bracing for impact.
Something in me cracked.
Sarah turned and saw me standing there. Her face flashed with surprise, then annoyance.
“I was helping him,” she said quickly. “You’re making it worse by coddling him. He needs to grow up.”
I told her—quietly, because Jake was right there—that she had no right. Not now. Not ever.
She scoffed. “You’re being emotionally manipulated by a teenager. He’s playing it up for attention.”
That was it.
