She nodded, then drew a purple rabbit in the Saturday square.

That small, voluntary drawing felt like a step forward.

In the second week Matthew sent a long email.

He apologized for speaking about our future child as if Mabel would become less important.

He wrote that he had grown up in a home where children were expected to keep out of adult affairs and that he had mistaken emotional distance for maturity.

I believed the apology was sincere.