We also had difficult conversations.

Lauren told me that she wasn’t ready to discuss whether we could ever be a couple again.

I told her that was not a condition of my commitment to Mason.

We were building a family relationship, but it did not have to take the same shape as the one we’d lost.

The distinction brought us both relief.

In October, Lauren decided she was ready to speak with my mother.

They met in a quiet café without Mason or me.