Austin stood silently in the hallway for a long while, thinking over what I’d said as the afternoon sun poured through the living room windows.

“Can Dad and me still practice baseball at the park on Saturdays?” he asked in a small, hopeful voice.

“That’s something you and your dad can talk about together whenever you feel ready to talk to him, honey,” I told him with an encouraging smile.

He gave a small, serious nod, but just as I got up to check on the sleeping twins in the nursery, he reached out and caught the hem of my shirt in his fingers.

“Mom?” he said in a whisper.