Will you be here tomorrow?
Are you coming Saturday?
Are you staying for dinner?
Will you come to my game?
Every question meant the same thing.
Are you going to disappear?
Adrian crouched beside him.
"I'll be right here when school ends."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Noah nodded.
Then, after hesitating, he hugged him.
Adrian closed his eyes.
Clara watched.
When Noah ran toward his classroom, Adrian stayed still for several seconds.
Clara touched his arm.
"You okay?"
"He called me Dad yesterday."
Clara smiled.
"I heard."
"He didn't ask first."
"No."
"He just said it."
"I know."
Adrian laughed softly.
"I went into the bathroom afterward because I didn't want him seeing me cry."
Clara laughed too.
"I knew that was why."
"You knew?"
"You were in there fifteen minutes."
"I told you I had a phone call."
"You didn't have your phone."
Adrian looked embarrassed.
Clara smiled.
For the first time in years, being seen did not frighten her.
It felt safe.
Their relationship changed gradually.
There was no dramatic kiss.
No sudden declaration.
Too much history stood between them for that.
Instead, there were small things.
Adrian began leaving a toothbrush at Clara's house because he sometimes stayed late after the children fell asleep.
Clara started keeping the coffee he liked in the cupboard.
He learned that she still hated thunderstorms.
She discovered he still couldn't cook anything more complicated than eggs.
They argued sometimes.
Real arguments.
Not about Victoria.
About parenting.
Adrian bought Noah an expensive tablet without asking.
Clara made him return it.
"You can't buy back five years," she told him.
"I'm not trying to."
"It looks like you are."
"I wanted to give him something."
"Give him time."
The words hurt.
But Adrian returned the tablet.
The following Saturday, he and Noah spent four hours building a wooden airplane from a kit that cost eighteen dollars.
Noah kept it beside his bed for years.
Another time, Clara became furious when Adrian arranged for a driver to pick up the children without telling her.
"I don't want strangers knowing their schedule."
"He works for me."
"I don't care."
"He's been with my family for fifteen years."
Clara stared at him.
"Your family employed people for fifteen years who helped keep me away from you."
Adrian immediately stopped arguing.
"You're right."
She expected him to defend himself.
He didn't.