Chapter 16
Ethan began asking Evelyn to read to him.
That was how she returned to ordinary life.
Not through romance.
Children’s books.
Terrible ones.
One about a bear who refused bedtime.
Ethan loved it.
I hated the bear.
Evelyn laughed whenever I complained.
One evening Ethan climbed onto the sofa between us.
“Are you Daddy’s wife?”
Silence.
Perfect.
Evelyn looked at me.
I looked at her.
Then she answered.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Our wedding didn’t happen.”
Ethan frowned.
“Do again.”
I nearly choked.
Evelyn laughed.
“Maybe someday.”
Maybe.
That word would have terrified me once.
Now it felt healthy.
No forced ending.
No reward for surviving.
No assumption that because she returned, the life stolen from us had to be reconstructed exactly as before.
We were different.
She was different.
I was learning to be.
Ethan accepted maybe and returned to the bear.
Children tolerate uncertainty until adults teach them not to.
I looked at Evelyn.
“No pressure.”
“I know.”
She studied me.
“That might be the first time you’ve ever said that sentence.”
“Careful.”
May you like
She smiled.
Progress.
