Staring at the rain collecting on his windshield, Jason Collins was searching for reasons not to turn around and leave the school parking lot. As the smell of coffee became more intense in the cabin of the small car, he went through a mental checklist. The pro side was not winning.
It had been 45 days since he was last in class. He took advantage of extended winter holiday and added on some of the vacation time he had been saving to have a nice long vacation with his wife, Karen. He thought they would finally try to start a family. She had different plans.
When they were married 8 years ago, the plan was for them to wait a couple years before they tried to have children. Karen had just started at her law practice and the expectation had been that she was okay with taking a couple breaks early in her career to have the two children Jason had so desperately wanted. As time went on and Karen began her ascension up the practice roster, she was no longer talked about taking those breaks.