The new proposal gave Taylor the house and left me a smaller share of the remaining marital property than I had originally sought.

The loss was not abstract.

It was the workbench, the shelves, the kitchen we had painted, the bedroom where Lily used to leave her boots beneath the bed.

I would be accepting final financial terms while the custody conditions remained temporary.

“Does signing this make Lily’s order safer?” I asked.

“It’s not the price of that order,” Ruth said.

“The court has already acted on the safety evidence.

You can continue the property dispute without surrendering the right to protect her.”