They were loud, imperfect, funny, and unmistakably themselves.

I wrote back: Keep showing up.

That’s what matters.

Then I put down my phone and joined my children.

Eight years earlier, Terrence had walked away because he did not believe the life growing inside me was real.

For a long time, I had wanted the moment of recognition to hurt him as much as his rejection hurt me.

When that moment finally came, it did hurt.

But it also opened a door none of us could have predicted.