The Extra Person

I have for some time been the extra person, the one single among couples or the one who brings the children.  I have not minded the role and at times have not found it an uncomfortable one, but neither is there anything satisfying in it, and as the boys are getting older I could do without it.  I am tired of being alone, alone at least as I have become.  I have no interest in marriage and like the independence that begins at my door, but it is sometimes less independent than it is lonely.