“I know that too.”

He left without asking me to take him back.

I watched him walk down the steps, remembering how confident he had once been that the world would rearrange itself around his priorities.

Maybe accountability would change him.

Maybe it wouldn’t.

I could no longer build my decisions on a future version of Gavin I hoped might appear.

Inside, Willa was awake and reaching for the mobile above her crib.

I lifted her and whispered, “Your daddy’s learning.”