Added to that, none of my friends had started a family with the love of their lives, or even had just settled in with the love of their life, sleeping beside him for years, only to learn he’d been cheating on them the whole time they were together.

Yep.

The whole time.

They didn’t get what it felt like to have your heart broken, your trust decimated, all your dreams for your future shattered and have to watch your daughter experience the same thing.

They didn’t get that.

I went through that.

But more importantly, Juno went through it.

Top all of it with the shit my dad, mom and sister pulled on a regular basis and okay, sure. Maybe I was overprotective. Maybe this pact was over the top.

Maybe.

But as a single mother, I didn’t have the luxury of dealing in maybes.

I needed to do what I needed to do to keep my baby safe and healthy, physically and emotionally.

And I was going to do it.

“I’m taking it Juno didn’t tell you she asked me to be here,” he remarked, breaking into my explanatory (justifying?) thoughts.

“No,” I mumbled.

“You got a problem with me being here?” he asked.