We had to make space for all those truths at once.

When I picked Lucas up from school the next day, he asked if he could take his drawing to his mother.

I told him yes.

Then he asked whether Uncle Kyle was coming for dinner on Sunday.

I explained that his uncle could not visit for a long while because grown-ups were sorting out something serious.

Lucas stared out the window.

“Did he make a mistake?” he asked.