Cravings, Choices, And What Love Really Means

I’m 3 months pregnant and every day I’ve been craving steak and potatoes. I make 2 separate meals for my pregnancy cravings. Last night after I served the kids and was getting ready to make my fiancé’s plate, he looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘You know, it’d be nice if for once you made a meal for me instead of your stomach.’

I stood there holding the spatula, feeling that sting behind my eyes. The steak was still sizzling in the pan. The kids were giggling in the background, unaware.

It wasn’t the first time he’d said something like that. But it was the first time I really heard it.

I don’t expect much. Honestly, I’m not high maintenance. But growing a human inside me? That’s no small task. And if I need steak and potatoes to survive the day without sobbing into a pillow, that should be okay.

I turned back to the stove and said nothing. He huffed and walked out to the living room.

I made his plate like always. Chicken and rice. That’s what he likes. Then I made mine — my blessed steak and buttery potatoes, exactly how I’d been craving them for days.

I sat down at the table alone while he watched some show on his phone, not even looking up when I called him.

The kids were already done and watching cartoons in their room. It was just us now.

I looked over at him. “Your plate’s ready.”

“Already ate,” he said without turning his head.

I stared at the untouched food.

That night, I laid in bed staring at the ceiling while he snored next to me. My mind just wouldn’t rest.

I thought about the meals. The laundry. The kids. The belly growing with life. I thought about how love wasn’t supposed to feel like resentment. It was supposed to feel like a partnership, like respect.

The next morning, I woke up early like always. I packed the kids’ lunches, brushed their hair, kissed their sleepy faces. He barely muttered a good morning as he grabbed his keys and left for work.

Later that afternoon, I was at the grocery store when I ran into his mom. We made small talk, and she asked how the pregnancy was going.

I told her the truth, or part of it. “I’m tired,” I said. “But I’m managing.”

She smiled kindly. “He’s never been good at showing appreciation,” she said, like it was something I should just accept. “But he loves you. In his way.”

I smiled back, but I felt a pit grow in my stomach. In his way. Was his way enough?

That night, the same pattern. Dinner. Silence. Avoidance. I noticed how often he was on his phone, laughing at things I wasn’t part of. Texting people I didn’t know.

I asked him once, “Who are you talking to?”

He shrugged. “Just the guys. You wouldn’t get it.”

I didn’t ask again. But I started to notice things I had ignored before. The way he always kept his phone face-down. How he’d take calls in the bathroom. The late nights out with no explanation.

I didn’t want to be that person — suspicious, bitter, paranoid. But I also wasn’t blind.

So, one day, while he was in the shower, I looked.

I didn’t go digging too deep. Just opened his messages. The top one read: “Can’t wait to see you again. Last night was…”

I stopped reading.

I sat there, phone trembling in my hand, tears rolling down without even realizing it. Not because I was surprised. But because I was exhausted.

He came out of the shower, towel wrapped around his waist, phone missing from my hands. I must’ve looked like a ghost.

He saw my face. Froze.

“You read my phone?” he asked, voice sharp.

“You lied to me,” I whispered.

We fought. Loud, vicious, ugly. The kind of fight that rips the paint off the walls.

He told me I was dramatic. That I didn’t understand. That he was stressed. That the other woman “meant nothing.”

I stood there, hand on my belly, feeling our unborn child twist inside me, as if reacting to the pain I was holding in.

When he left that night — probably to see her — I sat in the kids’ room and watched them sleep. I knew I couldn’t do this anymore. Not just for me, but for them. They deserved better. I deserved better.

I didn’t make a big scene. Didn’t post about it. I quietly called my sister the next day.

“Can I come stay with you for a while?” I asked.

She didn’t ask questions. Just said, “Of course.”

So I packed the essentials. The kids’ favorite toys. My documents. A few maternity clothes.

When he came home to an empty house, he blew up my phone. I didn’t answer.

A few days later, he showed up at my sister’s house.

“I messed up,” he said at the door. “Just come home. We’ll work it out.”

I looked at him for a long time. This man I once thought I’d grow old with. The father of my children. The one I made two dinners for every night.

“I’m not coming back,” I said, voice steady.

His jaw clenched. “You’re really gonna throw our family away because of one mistake?”

I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “This wasn’t one mistake. This was a thousand little choices. You made your bed.”

He tried a few more times. Flowers. Messages. Promises.

But I didn’t waver.

At my sister’s place, things weren’t perfect, but they were peaceful. I could breathe.

The kids laughed more. I cooked what I wanted. I slept better.

A few weeks later, I had a check-up appointment. Baby was healthy. Heartbeat strong.

As I walked out of the clinic, I bumped into someone — a guy named Mateo. We had gone to high school together. He was pushing a stroller with his baby girl.

“Wow,” he said, smiling. “You’re glowing.”

I laughed. “That’s sweat, but thanks.”

We sat on a bench outside and caught up. He told me he was a single dad. His daughter’s mom had left when the baby was six months.

“It was hard,” he said, bouncing the stroller gently. “But… I think it taught me a lot about what kind of man I want to be. Especially for her.”

There was something about the way he spoke — gentle, honest. No ego.

We exchanged numbers. Started texting here and there. Nothing serious.

But over the next few months, he became my safe space. He never pushed, never flirted inappropriately. Just… showed up. Checked in. Asked how my cravings were going.

He even brought over steak and potatoes once, just because he remembered I mentioned it.

I didn’t fall in love right away. I was still healing. Still learning how to trust myself again.

But I noticed how the kids lit up when he visited. How they felt safe around him.

The night I went into labor, it was Mateo who drove me to the hospital. My sister stayed with the kids. My ex? He didn’t even know I was in labor until the next day.

Mateo held my hand through the contractions. He paced the hallway with me. He cried when my baby girl was born — cried, like she was his.

Afterward, he didn’t say anything dramatic. Just looked at me with eyes that meant everything.

“If you ever want someone to help,” he said softly, “I’m here. No pressure. Just… here.”

And he was.

He came over during colic nights. Brought coffee when I was running on fumes. Read bedtime stories to all three kids like he’d always been part of the family.

It wasn’t perfect. I still had moments of fear. Of pulling back. Of wondering if I could really trust again.

But Mateo never pushed. He just showed up. Again and again.

Eventually, my ex tried to come back — of course he did. Said he’d changed. Said he was ready to be a real dad.

But the kids didn’t light up when they saw him. They stiffened.

And my daughter? She didn’t know him at all.

I watched him from across the park where we’d agreed to meet.

He handed the kids toys like he was Santa. Tried too hard. Laughed too loud.

Then Mateo showed up, carrying snacks and a tiny pink hat for the baby.

The kids ran to him like a magnet.

And I realized something, right then and there.

Fatherhood — and love — isn’t about DNA. It’s about presence. It’s about doing the boring stuff, the hard stuff, the thankless stuff, with your whole heart.

It’s about remembering steak and potatoes.

It’s been two years now.

Mateo and I got married last spring, barefoot in my sister’s backyard. The baby was the flower girl, chewing on petals.

My oldest stood beside Mateo during the vows, holding his hand. Not because we asked him to. But because he wanted to.

And sometimes, when I make dinner now, Mateo will sneak into the kitchen, wrap his arms around me, and say, “Hey, what does the queen want tonight?”

I smile and say, “Steak and potatoes.”

We laugh. And then he helps me make two plates.

Not because I asked. But because he wants to.

Because love, real love, is service. It’s the little things. The showing up. The not keeping score.

If you’re reading this and you feel like you’re making two dinners for someone who wouldn’t even make you toast, maybe it’s time to ask yourself: is this love or just habit?

Don’t settle for someone who makes you feel like a burden for having needs.

You deserve steak and potatoes. And someone who sees feeding your cravings as an honor — not an inconvenience.

If this story touched you in any way, I hope you’ll like it, share it, or send it to someone who might need to hear that they’re worthy of better.

Because we all are.

And sometimes… better is just around the corner, with a stroller, a smile, and a pink hat.