Thomas exhaled slowly.
"I don't think I get to answer that."
"I'm asking."
Thomas thought.
"I think she should choose the life she can live honestly."
Isaiah frowned.
"That's vague."
"Because anything else would be selfish."
Isaiah leaned forward.
"You're her husband."
"Legally."
"So fight."
Thomas smiled sadly.
"Against you?"
Isaiah did not respond.
Thomas shook his head.
"You're not some ex-boyfriend who showed up."
He looked Isaiah directly in the eyes.
"You're a man who was stolen from his family."
The words hit hard.
Thomas continued.
"If Lena decides she wants to rebuild her marriage with you, I'm not going to tell her she's wrong."
"And Maya?"
Thomas's face tightened.
"That's different."
"How?"
"I won't abandon her."
Isaiah studied him.
Thomas continued.
"If Lena chooses you, I still want to be part of Maya's life if all of you allow it."
Isaiah's instinct resisted.
Thomas saw it.
"I'm not trying to take your role."
"You already have one."
"Yes."
The honesty disarmed him.
Thomas leaned forward.
"And I'm not pretending I don't."
Isaiah looked down.
"She loves you."
"Maya?"
"Yeah."
"I love her too."
Isaiah nodded.
Then quietly said, "Thank you."
Thomas stared.
Isaiah hated every second of saying it.
"You were there when I wasn't."
Thomas's eyes filled.
Isaiah continued.
"I don't like you."
Thomas gave a short laugh.
"Fair."
"I might never like you."
"Also fair."
"But thank you."
Thomas looked away.
After a moment he whispered, "You're welcome."
That conversation changed something.
Not everything.
But enough.
Over the next several months, Isaiah stopped thinking of Thomas as the thief of his life.
He began thinking of him as another casualty of the same impossible circumstance.
Lena attended therapy separately.
So did Thomas.
Maya continued seeing both men.
Isaiah's relationship with her deepened.
He taught her to shoot a basketball properly.
Thomas helped with math homework.
Isaiah took her to a military museum.
Thomas took her camping.
For a while, Maya seemed happier than everyone else.
She had decided the adults were stupid and that she would simply keep both fathers.