Both nervous.
Not mother and daughter reunited in some triumphant biological destiny.
Two human beings meeting.
Renee exhaled.
“She does.”
Zoe watched carefully.
“You okay?”
“No.”
Renee smiled sadly.
“And that is okay.”
Zoe almost smiled.
Then swiped.
A second photograph.
A little boy with the same eyes as Zoe standing beside a bicycle.
“That’s Noah.”
Renee looked.
“He’s cute.”
“He talks too much.”
“So Caleb.”
Zoe laughed.
“Worse.”
That helped.
The next morning was terrible.
Normal terrible.
Everyone had to get ready.
Caleb could not find one shoe.
Marcus burned toast.
Zoe missed the bus because she changed sweatshirts twice.
Renee had slept perhaps two hours.
No one mentioned Lauren until Caleb left with Marcus for school.
Then Zoe stood near the kitchen island.
“Are you going to make me stop seeing her?”
Renee looked up from coffee.
“No.”
Zoe’s eyes widened.
“Not automatically.”
Renee corrected.
“We need boundaries.”
“Like what?”
“I don't know yet.”
Zoe frowned.
“That's scary.”
“Yes.”
“It is also honest.”
Zoe nodded slowly.
“Can you meet her?”
Renee froze.
“Eventually.”
“Why not now?”
“Because I want to meet her as Renee.”
Zoe looked confused.
“Not as the woman who found her name on Dad’s laptop while thinking he was cheating.”
Zoe’s eyes widened.
“You thought Dad was—”
“Do not enjoy this.”
The teenager covered a smile.
“Sorry.”
“You are not.”
“No.”
Renee almost laughed.
Good.
Then she became serious.
“Your father and I need to deal with the lying separately from Lauren.”
“Okay.”
“And you and I need to deal with why you thought honesty with me was dangerous.”
Zoe looked down.
“Okay.”
“None of that means you did something wrong by wanting answers.”
Zoe nodded.
That distinction would take months to become real.
Marcus slept in the guest room for three weeks.
Not punishment exactly.
Renee needed space.
He accepted it.
Marriage counseling began with Dr. Camille Harris, who asked Marcus an irritating question during the first session.
“What feeling were you avoiding when you decided to keep Lauren secret?”
Marcus answered:
“Conflict.”
Dr. Harris shook her head.
“That is an event.”
“What feeling?”
Marcus stared.
“Fear.”
“Of?”
“That Renee would say no.”
Renee looked toward him.
There.
Marcus continued.
“And then I would have to choose between supporting Zoe and supporting my wife.”
Renee’s expression hardened.
Dr. Harris stopped her before she responded.
“Let him finish.”
Marcus swallowed.
“I didn't trust us to survive the disagreement.”
That hurt more than the secrecy in a different way.
Renee looked down.
Dr. Harris asked:
“Did you have evidence?”
Marcus thought.