PART 1 — The Message Above the Birthday Reminder

The message from Ethan was waiting on my phone at 2:07 a.m., with the words “Please do not come downstairs tomorrow” sitting above the birthday reminder I had set for Noah.

I read it twice before I looked at Ethan.

He was on his side of the bed, propped against two pillows, his glasses folded on the nightstand.

The blue light from his phone showed the edge of his face.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Ethan rubbed his thumb along the side of his phone.

“It means tomorrow will be easier if you stay upstairs.”

“During Noah’s birthday?”

“For part of it.”

It was early Saturday.

The party was Sunday morning.

We had spent Friday evening cutting paper dinosaurs and deciding whether seven candles would fit between the towers on Noah’s cake.

Somehow, in the hours since, my husband had decided that my place at that party required negotiation.

I put my glasses on the nightstand and reached for my phone again.

His message continued: “There will be important people there.

I do not want anything awkward.”

I turned toward him.