For once, there would be no mystery about what my silence meant, because I intended to speak.

PART 16

At six weeks postpartum, I met Gavin at a family-law mediation session.

We attended with our attorneys and agreed on basic ground rules before entering the room.

He looked thinner.

He wore the same navy suit he had worn to our first ultrasound and kept twisting his wedding ring.

“I’ve missed you,” he said in the hallway.

I didn’t answer immediately.