By the time the last guests left, I could barely keep my eyes open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our wedding day had been beautiful, but long. All I wanted was a few quiet minutes with my new husband before we finally slept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had just taken off my earrings when the bedroom door opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMom isn\u2019t feeling well,\u201d Daniel said. \u201cShe needs somewhere quiet to rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind him stood his mother, Eleanor, looking unsteady and overwhelmed by the noise downstairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is our room,\u201d I said carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnly for a little while,\u201d Daniel replied. \u201cPlease don\u2019t make this difficult tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I did not want our first evening as a married couple to become an argument in front of family. So I took a blanket and went to the sofa in the sitting room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sleep never came easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I heard muted footsteps in the hallway, the soft closing of doors, and then silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Near dawn, I went upstairs to collect my things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daniel was asleep on one side of the bed. Eleanor rested on the other, still wearing the cardigan she had arrived in. Nothing about the scene made sense, but it was the object lying between them that stopped me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the white sheet was a folded note sealed with a small blue sticker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My name was written across the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I opened it with shaking hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside was a message from Eleanor:<\/p>\n\n\n\n