The 5:30 AM alarm went off, and I awoke quickly as usual. I stopped the alarm and sat up in bed for a second as I came to my senses. Working a blue-collar job meant very early mornings and often long, gruelling days. I never dreamed of working in construction, but here I was for the past year and a half. With the job market being as shit as it is and the pay of blue collar being worthwhile, it seemed like the best deal fo...

Almost a week had passed, and I had never felt so defeated. I couldn't even get it up to masturbate, let alone anything intimate with my wife. She didn't seem to notice or care. She was obsessed with taking pregnancy tests every day; each one revealed that she was not pregnant. 'I think we're going to need a second session,' she said. Almost sounding disappointed, but in a very disingenuous way. I thought about bringing u...

A year had passed since Alisha’s pregnancy with Ryan’s child was announced, and the weight of that time had reshaped me into something I barely recognized. Their son, now four months old, wailed through the house, his features a cruel mirror of Ryan’s—sharp eyes, strong jaw, nothing of me. Ryan had claimed our bedroom as his domain, leaving me on the couch, its sagging cushions a permanent reminder of my exile. The cage a...