For my 40th birthday, I expected a quiet BBQ, but what I got was something much more unexpected. Despite my grief over losing my parents just months apart, Mara insisted on a small gathering. Everyone showed up with black-wrapped gifts, and I couldn’t understand why.

The gifts piled up, all wrapped in black, and people acted strangely. As the evening wore on, I started to feel a sense of foreboding. Eventually, Mara revealed the reason for all the secrecy: I was going to be a dad.