I signed both conditions without hesitation.

I arrived early enough to watch a woman across the street unwrap a muffin for her toddler.

The ordinary tenderness nearly undid me.

Seven years earlier, Camilla and I had argued about whether we wanted children immediately or after traveling.

I remembered her saying she wanted a home where no one had to ask permission to be themselves.

I had thought it was a poetic thing to say.

Now I heard it as a warning.