There was a bench outside a school where I waited until Lauren said it was time for me to join the boys.

There was a rainy Tuesday when Henry cried because he wanted his mother, not a stranger holding an umbrella.

There was an afternoon when Mason refused to look at me and Theo asked whether two people could share DNA without being kind to one another.

“Absolutely,” I told him.

“Genes don’t make somebody trustworthy.”

“Then why do you want us to trust you?”

“I don’t expect you to yet.